Truth & Rumors > NCAAF

Richt: I was too soft on Dogs

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It has been over two months since Georgia's last football game. It will be six months before their next one. Sometime between now and then, the Bulldogs need to relocate their edge, toughness and resolve, which Mark Richt now concedes was so obviously missing last season. He blames himself. On the eve of spring practice, the Bulldogs coach said Monday he erred by running softer practices last season after the team began accumulating so many injuries so early. "When a lot of guys get hurt and you've got bodies on the ground, you start thinking, 'If we lose one more guy, our game plan is shot,'" Richt said. "Then you have to re-invent the wheel on Wednesday or Thursday. You start making decisions based on that. It affected our defense in particular. Defensive players need to practice with an edge. When you don't do that, you can lose some of that team speed and attitude. We had three scrimmages in the fall. But by the second scrimmage we weren't going at full speed. That's just not football. You make those calls in the interest of the team. But in hindsight it probably wasn't the right thing to do. It's time to go back to old school."

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Mark Richt, Getty Images Mark Richt, Getty Images
March 17, 2009  08:10 AM ET

"Ward, don't you think you were too hard on the Beaver" - June

March 17, 2009  08:22 AM ET

You could have them stomp on a few endzones. That worked well in the long run.

March 17, 2009  08:31 AM ET
QUOTE(#1):

"Ward, don't you think you were too hard on the Beaver" - June

"Well June, you were quite hard on the Wally last night" - Ward

March 17, 2009  08:33 AM ET

Other revelations from the Toupe'...

I could have made better coaching decisions......

I could have won more games....

I probably choked in big games....

March 17, 2009  09:30 AM ET

I'll give him one thing - he did have a lot of injuries last year.

March 17, 2009  09:49 AM ET

ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............

March 17, 2009  11:22 AM ET
QUOTE(#4):

Other revelations from the Toupe'...I could have made better coaching decisions......I could have won more games....I probably choked in big games....

I believe that is all the same revelation.

March 17, 2009  11:53 AM ET

Now that he's 2nd guessed himself, his players will now be 2nd guessing him.

March 17, 2009  11:53 AM ET

Now that he's 2nd guessed himself, his players will now be 2nd guessing him.

March 17, 2009  12:02 PM ET
QUOTE(#9):

Now that he's 2nd guessed himself, his players will now be 2nd guessing him.

In general acknowledging mistakes helps to prevent them in the future. I think the players and other coches will respect him for that. I guess he couldve scapegoated someone on the staff for last years failures, but that's not how Richt operates. I like the "buck stops here" attitude.

March 17, 2009  12:15 PM ET
QUOTE(#2):

You could have them stomp on a few endzones. That worked well in the long run.

At least Georgia has beaten Urban Meyer's Gators.

March 17, 2009  12:29 PM ET
QUOTE(#2):

You could have them stomp on a few endzones. That worked well in the long run.

It worked just fine....we won that game. They got their revenge this year....now we're the ones hungry again. Go Dawgs!

March 17, 2009  12:49 PM ET

Dang-- he almost sounds like Phil Fulmer. His career seems to be headed in the same direction.

March 17, 2009  12:53 PM ET

He needs to give his Dawg Puppies a good taste of the Bear's "Junction Boys" activities, that ought to rattle a few dog cages.

March 17, 2009  01:02 PM ET
QUOTE(#14):

He needs to give his Dawg Puppies a good taste of the Bear's "Junction Boys" activities, that ought to rattle a few dog cages.

Sounds good in theory, but none of those tactics are even remotely in compliance with current NCAA regs.
(Too bad for CFB, in my opinion.)

March 17, 2009  01:46 PM ET
QUOTE(#2):

You could have them stomp on a few endzones. That worked well in the long run.

I say, stomp every endzone! That was the best show of team unity I've ever seen. Those players came together, in that moment, which propelled them through the rest of the season, and into a pre-season number 1 ranking. DO IT AGAIN! (And, I'm not a dog fan, but I love the passion of that display. And football is a game of emotions and passion.)

March 17, 2009  02:02 PM ET
QUOTE(#11):

At least Georgia has beaten Urban Meyer's Gators.

I was acknowledging that it worked there genius.

But since you're bringing it up, I'm pretty sure you got rocked by us 2 of the last 3.

March 17, 2009  02:12 PM ET
QUOTE(#12):

It worked just fine....we won that game. They got their revenge this year....now we're the ones hungry again. Go Dawgs!

I think you will still be hungry in 2010. We've got almost the entire team returning and you lost some key offensive weapons.

March 17, 2009  02:12 PM ET

with all the injuries they had in practices u gotta do the knee jerk reaction of calming it down some...u're only gonna do so well w/your 2nd string guys starting anyways if u keep up the tougher practices and starters are dropping like flies (which they were)

 
March 17, 2009  02:14 PM ET
QUOTE(#15):

Sounds good in theory, but none of those tactics are even remotely in compliance with current NCAA regs.(Too bad for CFB, in my opinion.)

Agreed.

Heck, when I played, even in HS, the coaches made us do stuff that they'd never get away with these days. Run til your tongue dragged the ground, gave you three seconds for a drink at a water hose, then back to running - and that was during two-a-days in the spring in FLA, it was scorching hot, and the humidity was unbelievable! Amazing the stuff we put ourselves through.

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