Georgia Football: Richt Feels Like A "First-Year" Coach Again

Mark Richt's 8:30 A.M. press conference revealed a little and a lot about how he plans to approach the 2011 football season.

When asked about staff changes, he said there would be none,

“I’m not saying I’m taking over as the [offensive] coordinator or anything like that,” Richt said. “Mike Bobo is the coordinator; Mike Bobo is the quarterback coach, and Coach [Stacy] Searels is the running game coordinator. And they have done a great job . . . so I have confidence in those guys.

That quote says two things to you as a fan, 1) he knows that both Stacy Searles (offensive line coach) and Mike Bobo (offensive coordinator) are under serious fire after the Liberty Bowl loss, and 2) he's still too stubborn to make any real changes.

Now, the one thing that most of us armchair coaches and athletic directors hoped to see from Richt as he approached 2011 is a willingness to see the problems and make the changes necessary to correct them.

How is keeping the status quo the right thing to do?

Richt also stated that Greg McGarity put changes in place that would allow him [Richt] to focus more on the business of football,

I’m going to have the ability to have the time it takes to truly study the game of football, the trends and what’s going on, so a higher percentage of my time is going to be able to be used for that, which is exciting to me.”

While it's nice to know that coach will be getting back to the business of being a coach and not an administrator, you have to wonder why he didn't do that prior to now.

This isn't Georgia's first disappointing season under Richt—just losing one—you mean he didn't see a need to delegate those (i.e. academic liaison and mentor) duties before?

Let's be honest, It's tough to understand changes coming if no changes are being made. Right now 2011 looks a lot like 2010—something no one wants to see again soon.

And, quite frankly, it's becoming alarmingly clear that Richt and McGarity are placing all their bets on what JoeTereshinski—the new head of strength and conditioning—will be able to do with the much-maligned program.

That's a big bet to make in just one offseason.

On the flip side, perhaps Richt is just playing his cards right by not announcing any big changes on offense or defense. Georgia stands a chance at landing a pretty good recruiting class in 2011—barring any staff changes—and what good would it do to announce the firing of your OC and your line coach less than three weeks before signing day?

There's the slimmest of possibilities—because most of us know Richt doesn't operate in that manner—that this is all politics.

We'll see what the immediate future holds, but right now, there isn't much reason to stand up and cheer.







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone