“Lack of loyalty is one of the major causes of failure in every walk of life.”
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These are unchartered waters for University of Georgia football coach Mark Richt.
Despite all he has accomplished since arriving in Athens almost a decade ago, Richt, and especially his coaching staff, came under fire for the team’s on-the-field performance in 2009.
Until 2009, it was almost off limits for University of Georgia fans, even with its fringe fanatical base, to criticize anything Richt had done. The wins had been enough to keep the coaching “experts” at bay and Richt seemed to be living the charmed life in Athens. Believe me when I say it’s rare in the world of big-time college football.
That all changed during the 2009 campaign, however, as several of Richt’s coaches were blasted on a weekly basis. “Fire the bums!” the coaches in the stands said. “I don’t care how many games they have won in the past!” the lunatic Bubba Bulldogs cried out. “I demand heads roll!” the UGA lunatic fringe declared on post-game call-in shows where the only requirement to show how big of a fool you are is to know how to use a phone.
Richt has always put forth the image of loyalty meaning something. He pushes it as part of who he is. However, he can no longer use the loyalty ploy as part of his makeup. It’s gone now as three assistant coaches were recently led to the executioner’s chamber. While Richt’s heart may not have been fully into making the moves, he made them none the less.
Quotes after the fact about how solid and full of character and knowledge the fired assistants were don’t change the fact about what was done. Richt asking them to coach in the upcoming bowl game was ridiculous in my opinion and the fact it will be him (a coach known for his offensive background) and two graduate assistants primarly handling the defense for the Independence Bowl says a great deal.
It remains to be seen who the new defensive coordinator at UGA will be.
I must inform the delusional Bulldog base, however, it will not be Kirby Smart and it will not be Will Muschamp. Also, please stop it with the “Bring back Brian Van Gorder” talk. That isn’t going to happen either.
Why would Smart leave Alabama as defensive coordinator to come to UGA? The fact he played for the Bulldogs is not reason enough. His next move will be to a school where he is the head coach.
Muschamp is also not coming back. As the head coach in waiting at Texas (who will meet Smart and Alabama for the national title), Muschamp has absolutely no reason to even consider coaching at UGA.
Van Gorder is happy in the pros and is more suited for the NFL anyway. I don’t think he would return to college even to be a head coach as it was shown by his one year at the helm of Georgia Southern that college and professional football are different monsters all together.
Van Gorder is working toward being a possible head coach in the NFL one day. So please stop calling sports talk shows saying how it would be wise for him to consider coming back to Athens. Enough already.
To me, Richt’s character has taken a right hand to the side of the head. The kind of right hand Mike Tyson used to deliver when he was in his prime. Richt could have drawn a line in the sand and refused to fire the three assistants. He didn’t and any talk of loyalty from him in the future would ring hollow.
As for the fringe UGA fan base, the ones who sit in the stands and think they know so much I offer this: if you knew a tenth of what you thought you knew then your football knowledge might register on some scale. As it is, you’ve proven to once again be as delusional as any fan base in the country.
As for Richt, he’s played his “fire the assistant” card now. The next coach for the fans to call to be executed will be him.
Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal. E-mail comments about this column to cbridges@barrowjournal.com.
