Why Dan Mullen Would be a Bad Choice for UGA (for now)

The Mullen lovers are out there.  They are few, but they are loud, and they lurk on message boards and comment sections, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Dan Mullen was a very successful offensive coordinator at Florida during part of their recent glory years, before he took over the head coaching job at a struggling Mississippi State program.  In his first season (2009), the little Bulldogs went 5-7.  In 2010, they had a surprisingly good year, going 9-4 (a mediocre 4-4 in the SEC), but with no wins versus the SEC West other than Ole Miss, a team which has taken the same spot as Vanderbilt but in the West as division punching bag.

Yes, his recruiting was outstanding, as he managed to get the #25 and #19 class in the nation according to Rivals and Scout, respectively.

But should we be so excited by 5-7 and 9-4 that we're ready to hand the reigns over to this guy after only two seasons under his belt?

First of all, Mark Richt isn't done yet, despite what some media pundits and strangely interested Alabama fans are saying.  We still have 10 games left to play and who knows what will happen.

Second, if you watched last night's ESPN game of LSU at Mississippi State, you might have noticed some very questionable coaching decisions.  Actually, look back before that to last week's game against Auburn.

Last week, when the Bulldogs had a 2nd and goal against Auburn with 10 seconds left in the game, Mullen decided to have his QB try to run the ball into the end zone.  He was stopped just short, and time ran out.  The game was over.  Anyone with basic knowledge of clock management in football was scratching their heads.  Why not attempt a pass first?  With 10 seconds, you have ample time to make a pass attempt, and if that doesn't work, the clock stops and you still have time to run the ball once more.

Here was Mullen's post-game explanation of the choice:
"You could go pass-pass, pass-run, or just run."

Yes, we are aware Coach Mullen.  You can either have 2 chances to score, or 1 chance to score.  You insanely chose 1 chance, essentially leaving a play on the field at the goal line to win the game.

He says he gave the choice to his quarterback, Chris Relf, who said he was confident he could get it in on just a run.  So he listened to the player, called the play, and they lost the game.

Skip to last night versus LSU.  With the Bulldogs down only 16-6 in the 4th quarter and 10 minutes left in the game, Mullen decides to pull his starting QB who everyone has raved about and put in his backup.  Although this is a surprising and confusing move, maybe Mullen had good reason to believe that Relf wasn't effective all night and that the backup might have more success.

But the real shocking decision came minutes later, when LSU tacked on an extra field goal to be up 19-6, and Mississippi State gets the ball with 2:53 on the clock and all 3 timeouts remaining.  The Bulldogs were still down by only 2 scores.  They would need to score a quick TD, kick a successful onside kick, and then score another TD.  It's extremely unlikely, but it's been done time and time again in college football (see Auburn vs. Utah State two weeks ago).

But Mullen decides to run the ball multiple times on this last drive, letting the clock run and refusing to take timeouts.  It was clear to anyone watching that he had given up; either he had no faith that his team could actually assemble a worthwhile offensive drive, or he just didn't care.  So he quit.  He let the game end without using his timeouts, and let his team go down without a fight.

A sad part was watching the backup QB and rest of the team running desperately to get in formation to run their final play with time running out, despite it being clear that their head coach wasn't going to call a timeout and didn't really care what they were doing out there.  He was just going to let it end, despite still having a chance to win.  What do you have to lose?  You're going to lose anyway, right?  If you turn it over and LSU gets the ball, they will take a knee and run out the clock anyway.  No harm done.

Now I don't want to say that these decisions should define the rest of Mullen's career.  He's still a decent coach who has recruited very well and had one good season at a struggling Mississippi State.  He could still do great things there, or at another school.  But decisions like those shouldn't earn you a job at a program like Georgia.  If anything, they should be warning signs that jumping on the Mullen-bandwagon might be a bit of a rushed decision.

Mark Richt may be done soon at Georgia.  None of us really know.  But I don't think I've ever seen Mark Richt give up on his team when down only two scores in an important SEC game, or any game for that matter.  And whether Mark Richt is good for the future of UGA or not, I'd rather have a coach who is smart enough and cares enough to give his team a chance to win, all other things aside.

"Sometimes it happens like that," but UGA has promise

Russ sleeping at the 2011 G-Day Game. Photo: B. Spoon

"Georgia outplayed us. Give 'em credit.  They definitely outplayed us.  But we won the game.  Sometimes it happens like that."  Those were Steve Spurrier's words after South Carolina snuck out a win against Georgia in Athens Saturday.

It's hard to take, but it's true.  After an embarrassing week one loss versus Boise State where execution in plays was hindered even more by bad play calling and coaching, the Dawgs seemed to put everything together against the Gamecocks.

The offensive play calling was much better, including a varied mix of I-Formation and shotgun plays (wonder if Bobo caught wind of my 78% stat on the blog...) which worked to almost perfection.  UGA was mostly unstoppable on offense, other than a few key halts after good drives in the 1st half that led to field goals rather than touchdowns, and the turnovers, of course.

The defense was phenomenal for most of the game, other than on a handful of critical drives late in the 4th quarter.

And the head coach finally seemed to realize that this was an urgent game, and we had to do everything possible to win.  Sure, we still ran a draw play on some long 3rd downs, but we also went for a surprise onside kick (which was barely overturned thanks to our favorite zebra Penn Wagers).

The media (ESPN) tried to convince everyone that this game would define Richt's future, and that a loss could mean his immediate firing.  Any realistic UGA fan knew that was false.  We know that Richt will likely have until the end of the season, at which point the AD and others will discuss his future as head coach at Georgia. And can you blame them?  Would firing a beloved head coach who's presumably loved by the players in the middle of the season really be good for us?

But instead, a loss here actually brought more optimism from fans than even last week's loss.  Somehow 0-2 turned out to be better than 0-1, mainly because of the way it happened.  Georgia's coaches began to coach, the players began to play, and everything was clicking.  Our running game appears to have life, as Crowell looked to be the 2nd coming of Knowshon Moreno while bouncing off of defenders and finding extra yards.  Our receiving corps look like they could be even better than last year with AJ Green, if we can just find a way to get the playmakers the ball.  Malcolm Mitchell is a speedster, Michael Bennett is the new Kris Durham, and of course we still have Charles, White, King, Wooten, and Brown back there.  And the defense not only made stop after stop, but they also made big plays, like a big interception by Rambo.

The media and other teams' fans are still convinced that Richt is done.  Maybe he will be.  They're convinced that UGA is "average" again, as one Rivals writer put it.  Maybe they are.  But they didn't look average on Saturday.  They looked like a great team, finally with coaching to match it, that made mistakes at just the wrong times to barely lose.

And while some can still rant about being 0-2, remember that is still 0-2 against the #4 and #11 teams in the country.  Mark Richt can't afford many more losses, and he certainly can't afford any bad ones, but he's still got a chance to make something out of this season with this team.  It's always better to lose early than late, as many teams have learned before.

Losing is bad.  We've lost way too much in the past few years, and we shouldn't be complacent with it.  We shouldn't be happy about 0-2.  If we don't have the type of season that UGA fans expect, maybe we should make some changes.  But maybe Saturday's loss shouldn't be weighed as heavily as the others, such as the Boise loss.  Because sometimes you can do almost everything right and lose.  Sometimes, it happens like that.

Does UGA have to win the East next year to keep Richt?

The AJC's Mark Bradley seems to think so. 

I seem to think he's wrong.

There are plenty possibilities for how the 2011 season could end up, but I can think of a few scenarios that wouldn't involve Georgia winning the SEC East, yet Mark Richt still easily staying as head coach.  So here's a list of some possible outcomes and my predicted results.

GEORGIA 2011 SEASON
1. Georgia goes 14-0 (8-0 SEC).  Obviously, this is what we sort of want here.  Mark Richt could buy himself as long as he wants in Athens with a national championship.

2. Georgia loses 1 game (13-1) Of course if UGA wins the SEC, it would buy Richt a lot more time (years).  But even if Georgia doesn't win the championship game (but gets there) Richt will no longer be on the "hot seat."

3. Georgia loses 1 game (12-1) This would require Georgia's 1 loss to somehow prevent it from winning the SEC East.  Only way this could happen is if Florida, South Carolina, or another East team beats Georgia and goes undefeated, winning the East.  This is extremely unlikely, but it could happen, and it's one scenario where Georgia not winning the East will certainly NOT get Richt kicked out of Athens.

4. Georgia loses 2 games (10-2 regular season).  Once again, even if Georgia doesn't make it to the SEC Championship but only has 2 losses, Richt should be fine.  A 10 win season, no matter how you slice it, can't be bad enough to oust a coach.  Any coach.

5. Georgia loses 3 games (9-3 regular season).  This is where things start to get tricky.  Georgia could win the East with 3 losses, in which case Richt would be fine.  But if not, I still think 9-3 should be enough for Richt, but the only way it could be really, really bad is if Georgia has:
A. 3 losses to rivals (Florida, Tech, Tennessee/Auburn) and gets blown out in these games
B. An embarrassing loss to a cupcake (Coastal Carolina, New Mexico State)

If those things happen, his future could be questionable.

6. Georgia loses 4 games (8-4 regular season).  This is pretty much the tipping point.  With 4 losses, Georgia COULD win the SEC East and go to the championship game, where a win would be a huge success for Richt at UGA (even with 4 losses).  However, if Georgia wins the East but loses the SEC with 4 losses, things could still look bad for Richt.  8-4 with no SEC East title probably won't cut it, and it could be the end of the Richt era, UNLESS things go a very specific way:
A. Georgia beats Florida, but loses very close games to good teams in 2011.  I think it's possible that this could save Richt for another year, but it's very unlikely.

7. Georgia loses 5+ games (7-5, 6-6, and below).  Richt will not be safe with any record with 5+ losses, UNLESS Georgia miraculously wins the SEC with that record (which still is technically possible).


So there you have it.  There are plenty of scenarios where UGA could not win the SEC East but still have a good season.  I think it would be hard to get rid of Coach Richt if he brings a 3+ win improvement from this year (9 wins or more).

RELEASE THE AARON!

So many have pointed out by now that it looks like Aaron Murray was being controlled too much by the coaches yesterday.  After he went all scramble-crazy and took over the offense last week against Louisiana-Lafayette, Mark Richt and Mike Bobo likely gave him a friendly reminder that he needs to stop being a hero and protect himself.  After all, that was Coach Richt's mantra during the pre-season.  The idea has been to keep the offense simple and ease Murray into the gameplan.  Judging by last week's game, Murray doesn't want to play it that way.  He wants to run at it headfirst.  

Richt acknowledged the leash on Murray after the game yesterday:

“Even in the second half we were inclined to just call whatever the heck we thought we needed to call. I think early on you’re trying to, let’s make sure we can run the ball, be his best friend, all that kind of stuff. And call things that maybe don’t’ take an awful lot of thinking as far as progressions and that kind of thing. And try to get him off on a good note. But he’s handled everything very well and I think he’s prepared to just run the system as we have it.”

This offense will continue to struggle if Aaron Murray remains caged and treated like any normal freshman quarterback.  But he isn't a normal freshman QB, as we've seen from his play.  He has the potential to be great, starting now.  It is time... to do what must be done.  It is time.... to....

Bulldog Nation Rap: Oh Boy

This might have already floated around the blawgosphere while I was away, but it's worth posting again.

Go to MarkRicht.com and you'll hear an interesting tune.

That tune can also be heard in the video below. I'm sensing some more sideline dancing this season.

Mark Richt "gets excited on the inside sometimes"

One of the few times in history Mark Richt got outwardly "excited".

ESPN decided to make their "Blue Ribbon Preview" of the 2010 Georgia team free to public viewing, and while it really doesn't give any information most Dawg fans don't already know, it does offer up this nice quote from Mark Richt:

"[Grantham] is intense, there's no doubt," Richt said. "And that's what you want -- a guy that's got some fire. Everybody knows my demeanor & and I think it's probably good to have somebody who's a little more outwardly excited. I do get excited on the inside sometimes."

Good quote.

And no, I have no idea why ESPN chose to use the ampersand "&" instead of just typing the word "and" in that quote.

Finebaum: Mark Richt and the Invisible Hot-Seat

Oh joy. Another article from the ever-wise Paul Finebaum about Mark Richt and the invisible hot-seat on which he resides.

Exactly two months ago Finebaum made a similar post, and I responded on this blog with a long, drawn-out rant about how wrong he was. This time, I'll try to keep things short.

Finebaum asserts this time that Mark Richt, who apparently is already on the "hot-seat" for Georgia's terrible and horrifying 8-5 season, is in even more trouble now because he'll be having a new boss as Athletic Director.

But as I asked last time: Who decides if a coach is in trouble? Who chooses when the mythical "hot-seat" is placed under their rear-ends with a raising temperature?

The answer to that is easy. The fans decide. And if the fans are content, then the coach is safe.

Of course, Georgia fans in general are not happy about last season's results. But if you can find me a large contingent of Bulldog Faithful who are actively calling for the firing of Mark Richt, or even the consideration of such an action in the near future, then I will spend the rest of my days spreading the gospel of Finebaum.

But even Finebaum seems to agree that Georgia fans are still happy with Richt as their coach.

From his article:

"At first, one can bet the new athletic director will echo the Bulldog Nation, which starts every lame defense of Richt with a recital of his overall record: 90-27 and two SEC titles."

What? So he thinks the Bulldog Nation adamantly defends Mark Richt as their coach, yet at the same time he's "on the hot-seat?" Does that make any sense at all?

So I can only come to this conclusion: Paul Finebaum decides when a coach is on the hot-seat.

If Damon Evans is Gone, is Mark Richt Too?

Obviously, the answer is no.

But ESPN is really trying to play it that way.

Check out the Tweets on ESPN's CFB Rumor Central.

For example:

"The news for Georgia AD Damon Evans -- and potentially for coach Mark Richt -- gets worse"

and

"Report: Damon Evans out as Georgia AD. What does that mean for Mark Richt?"

Is this Coach Richt's Last Year in Athens?

Paul Finebaum wrote Tuesday on al.com that Mark Richt, along with LSU head coach Les Miles, could potentially not return to their jobs in 2011. His reason: both coaches, while very successful at their respective programs, can't compete with their top rivals and will eventually be ousted by rabid and angry fanbases.

He argues that Georgia under Mark Richt has only a 1-4 record against the Corch Meyers Gator, plus a bad season in 2008.

My first thought: aren't the fans the ones who actually choose which coaches are on the metaphorical "hot seat?" Why does it seem like there are plenty of sports writers across the nation who love to designate the jobs of coaches as "in danger," while the local media somehow haven't caught wind of it? Do the sports writers who cover primarily Georgia football think Mark Richt is in a lot of trouble? Doesn't seem that way. That's probably because the fans at Georgia aren't really making a lot of noise about it either.

So where did Finebaum go wrong here?

First, I think Georgia fans, despite hating Florida and hating losing to the Gator Superb, have a sort of empathy with the team and the head coach. It isn't like the curse of the Gator began when Mark Richt first stepped foot on the warm, polluted Jacksonville soil. The Dawgs have been pummeled by Florida since Vince Dooley left behind the almighty headset for Ray Goff (1-6 against UF) and Jim Donnan (1-4 against UF).

But that's not all. Sure, Florida rose from the depths in 1990 and have done well ever since, but Mark Richt has faced the Gators in three of their best seasons in history (2006, 2008, and 2009), losing all three contests. His team has played against two national championship Florida squads, and one that was very close to repeating (2009).

Yes, Georgia fans want Richt to beat Florida more than any team, and no one is going to be happy with more losses to the Gators, but I just don't see Georgia fans calling for the firing of their head coach based only on his record versus our top rival.

Second, last season was far from being the "complete disaster" that Finebaum thought it almost was. Georgia went 8-5, beating rivals Auburn and the then #7 Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Not a fantastic season by any means, but still a year that the vast majority of Big-Six FBS teams would love to have.

In fact, in the past decade since Mark Richt has been in Athens, 8-5 in 2009 was likely the worst.

Last year some of the national college football "elites" (along with others) had seasons just as bad or only very slightly better.

-Oklahoma was 8-5

-USC, LSU, and Miami finished 9-4

Is Bob Stoops now on the "hotseat?" Would Pete Carroll have been if he hadn't jumped ship and fled to the NFL?

Yes, Les Miles is under scrutiny, but that's more likely because he makes boneheaded decisions during important games.

So does one "down season" with an 8-5 record put a great coach's job in jeopardy? Georgia fans don't seem to think so.

The Florida game last year was perhaps the lowest I've ever seen Georgia football in the past few years. With three losses, the Dawgs were trying to hang on to a possible successful 10-win season by a thread, looking for a miracle and a turnaround. There was a strange excitement about the Cocktail Party, and Mark Richt appeared to have a confident plan. He told the media and fans that they better be watching, because that Halloween game in Jacksonville was going to be fun. Everyone went to the game or tuned in on their TVs with a hope for maybe the biggest upset of all time.

And then the team came out in black pants and helmets.

It wasn't so much the loss that bothered people, I think. It was the fact that when the Bulldog Nation needed confidence, needed to see the best effort in history from a downtrodden football team, needed to see a spark similar to 2007's end zone celebration from the coach and the players... we were greeted with a uniform change. How could Mark Richt have possibly thought that would be a good idea? Especially after the Alabama blackout the year before.

The fallout was terrible. On the Mark Richt radio show, callers sounded so upset and disappointed, and Mark Richt sounded the same. It really seemed at that moment like something was wrong.

But it didn't take long for the doom and gloom to pass, and you really didn't hear much shouting of "fire Mark Richt!" The cry became "get rid of Willie Martinez!" instead, and so it was done. Coach Richt did what he had to do, he atoned for past mistakes, beat rival Georgia Tech and won yet another bowl game to regain the trust of the Bulldog Nation. The only time you hear about Mark Richt being in trouble is when you read a non-local sports news writer's opinion, or see fans from other parts of the country or rival schools speculating on his imminent firing.

But the feeling in Athens and places where the Bulldog faithful gather? Support for the head coach that the vast majority of Georgia fans have come to love. Optimism for the future. Excitement for the 2010 season.

Losing faith in the coaches

I hate to say it. I still support Coach Richt and think he's a great person, coach, mentor, and recruiter. But I, along with much of the Bulldog Nation, am losing faith in the ability of our coaches to make the right decisions.

The 2009 season has been characterized by complacency and excuses. After each of our 4 losses (so far), we've heard the usual coach speak, the "things just didn't work out" remarks and the "we'll might make some changes" concessions. After our embarrassing self-destruction at Tennessee, the coaches seemed to finally agree with many fans that we needed to change something. Whether it was the schemes of the coaches, the starting players, or just the general attitude of the team, something needed to be changed. A good team doesn't lose a game in Knoxville like we did. We heard "changes, changes, changes" throughout the week leading up to Vanderbilt.

So what exactly did we change during that week? Offensive Coordinator Mike Bobo came down from the box and called plays on the sideline. That was pretty much it. After losing to Oklahoma State, LSU, and then that terrible, humiliating loss to Tennessee, all we really did was bring a coach down to the field. Georgia won convincingly, and all was forgotten.

Then, we (and likely the coaches/players) were distracted by the looming threat of Florida. We were fooled into believing that all was well after we beat a pathetic Commodores squad, and we thought we could go to Jacksonville doing exactly what we've been doing all season, with the exact same personnel that were embarrassed by Tennessee, and we could somehow beat the #1 Florida Gators.

But maybe we would secretly make some changes? Maybe something would be different on Saturday and help lead us to victory. In fact, there was a significant change in our Georgia Bulldogs, and it was apparent from the very beginning.

We wore black helmets and pants.

That was, sadly, the most significant change our coaches have decided to make this season. Then it was revealed how poorly thought out our strategy was, and we saw more of the same from Georgia in the Cocktail Party. Why? Because we didn't change anything other than the uniforms.

I'm afraid that our coaches and our team are too complacent with the way things have been. Losses are shrugged off and they claim to focus on "finishing the drill." If these last 4 games are so important (as they should be), then why are we not doing anything possible to win? What we've been doing has not been successful. We're 4-4, and bowl eligibility is actually not guaranteed. If what we've been doing all season just hasn't worked, shouldn't we try something different? Isn't it worth it?

And as a final note: It's not just looking ahead to the future to want to play a freshman quarterback. Many worry that we could have better options at the most important position on the team, and UGA fans are most concerned with winning the next game. With our performance at that position this season, it's worrisome that the coaches maintain that who we have starting is our best option still.

Unfortunately, with closed practices and our beloved program having a red and black clad security person pacing the Sanford bridge, telling passersby to move on when trying to just see for a moment how our options look, none of us can really know what's going on. And that's why we can't trust the decisions being made right now. We have no way to keep accountable our program and coaches, no way to really vote or take action for the good of our team.

But if our coaches continue to refuse to take chances, to make real changes other than fashion, and we continue down the road that we've been on throughout this season, I don't think we'll have to.

Georgia: Everything is Alright

Tony Barnhart (AKA: Mr. College Football) has a great blog post on the AJC.com about Mark Richt's success at Georgia, including the most wins and SEC wins out of any coach during his time here. It's a good read, although it ends with the doom and gloom of the Gator Empire. Check it out.

Why the Dawgs Should be Bearded

(Note: The following post is completely ridiculous and purposefully unsubstantiated.)
(Note #2: Click the title of this post to see pictures in full size.)

David Hale at the Bulldogs Blog wrote on Thursday that Georgia's head football coach Mark Richt is tightening the rules for players this spring, by making tucking in shirts and snapping chin straps mandatory. It seems that enforcing small rules such as these actually helps players to find more success academically and to stay out of trouble when not on the practice field. I love the fact that the coaching staff and the players are working hard to succeed on and off the field, but I believe that one aspect of the new rules program is restricting something that is natural and glorious in God's creation of man (and some women): the beard.

According to Coach Richt, the players used to be allowed to have facial hair, as long as it was trimmed and neatly presented. Now, however, prohibition of beards will be in full force.

Shocked and confused, I commented on David's blog, asking if I read the quotes correctly. He replied that although beards will be allowed during the spring (and summer I presume), in the fall, hair "from the lip down" will be punishable (by death, I presume. Or running laps).

I simply don't understand. Beards are the purest symbol of manliness, an outward expression of the strength and boldness of all that is male. Beards also symbolize wisdom and experience, and thus should be worn by our team's leaders.



Besides, plenty of famous athletes have beards, sometimes even during the best parts of their sports careers.

Ben Roethlisberger recently led the Pittsburgh Steelers to win SuperBowl XLIII, all while sporting a goatee+moustache combo.


Brian McCann, one of the Atlanta Braves' star players and representative in the past 3 MLB All Star Games, almost always sports a full beard, which is possibly responsible for his strength and finesse while hitting homeruns with ease.

And this is Rasputin. As far as I know, he was never an athlete in any sport, but he did have a pretty awesome beard. With a beard like this representing his manliness, it's no surprise that it took him getting stabbed, shot multiple times, clubbed, and thrown into an icy river to finally die. In other words, he'd probably be able to take plenty of hits at the running back position.


Now I understand that allowing facial hair above the lips means that moustaches are alright, but not all moustaches. For instance, the "fu manchu" 'stache by definition reaches below the lips on the sides of the mouth. So, Coach Richt, if these rules really are to be enforced, you won't be able to pace the sidelines wearing one of these.


Sorry, Coach, but rules are rules.