Richt's gone

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reubenjet said:
No! He is what kept the DWAGS out of the playoff picture every year. With Richt at the helm UGAg was assured to be the place where 5-star recruits go to wallow in a 3-star program. He may have kicked out a$$ a lot but he also kept the Championship drought alive and well!

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That meme doesn't even make sense. Year in and year out he finished with his team better than 8-4. UGA had a record better than 8-4 eleven years out of the fifteen he was there.
 

Sideways

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Legal Jacket said:
It's hard to argue with you when you ground your opinion not in actual numbers, but instead in pure opinion. Looking at the numbers, it's clear that Richt's talent has been good, but his coaching has been about on par. How many active coaches actually have better track records than Richt? I count 3: Saban, Meyer, Miles. I can see an argument for Stoops and Fisher. So at worst that puts Richt #6.

First, for recruiting, Richt has had some great classes interspersed with some good ones. He certainly hasn't had the best class in the country every year. In 2010, uga had the 21st best recruiting class in the country, per scout. Teams above them? Pitt, Tennessee, Miami, UCLA, Washington, Penn State, USCw, Auburn, Texas, Michigan, Florida. The next year they were #4, still behind Auburn and Texas. In 2012 they were top 14, behind South Carolina, UCLA, Miami, Auburn, Stanford, Florida, Michigan, Texas. In 2013 they were 8, behind Florida, aTm, UCLA, Michigan. In 2014, they were #12, behind Miami, USCw, Auburn, aTm, Tennessee.

If Richt was doing what any other coach in the country could do, where are the Tennesee, Miami, UCLA, Auburn, Michigan, and Texases of the world?

Second, for results, Richt has also had some great years interspersed with some good ones. Since 2005 (which, by the way, is ignoring some of Richt's best years), Richt has finished in the top 10 of at least one poll five times; top 5 twice. He won 12 games once, 11 games once, 10 games three times, and 9 games twice (counting this year). And he finished first or tied for first in the division 4 times.

The only teams in a major conference with more wins the last 10 years are Ohio State, Alabama, Oregon, LSU, Oklahoma, USC, Wisconsin, FSU, and Florida.

At Ohio State, that includes Tressel and Urban Meyer. Bama had Saban nearly the whole time. Oregon had Kelly. LSU, Miles. Oklahoma, Stoops. USC, Carroll. FSU, Bowden and Fisher. VT, Beamer. And UF, Meyer (that they could still be listed despite Muschamp shows how good Meyer really is).

What do those schools all have in common?** Long, dominant stretches by who are considered to be the elite coaches of the last decade. And guess which coaches aren't available? Tressel, Meyer, Saban, Kelly, Miles, Stoops, Carroll, Bowden, and Beamer. I didn't put Fisher there because I guess there is an outside chance he goes to uga. But if you can't sign Fisher, who is available and an actual upgrade to Richt?

Just look at a few recent examples of teams that have switched coaches. Tennessee has had just as much talent as uga, but had 7 straight years of 5-7 win football after they got rid of Fulmer. Texas, again just as much talent as uga, hired who was thought of as a lock to be a great coach, but has gone 10-14 since.

Simply put, uga got rid of the only sure thing they had. If it was so easy to win and recruit at uga, guys like Goff and Donnan would have done it. Believe it or not, Saban is only 2.2% ahead of Richt when it comes to win percentage in a career. Among active, major conference guys, the only people ahead of them with more than 5 years of experience are Meyer, Fisher, Petersen, Stoops, Saban, Patterson. Brian Kelly, Dabo, and Les are right behind that.

**Wisconsin is the only outlier, though Bielema, Anderson, and Chryst have all had good years there. I think that's more a product of a relatively weak schedule year to year.
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An impressive set of statistics and reasoning. But it does not answer the question of WHY. You are right it is simply amazing that Coach Richt has a winning percentage very close to Saban and must be considered the best coach UGA has had in a quarter of a century so why throw away a sure thing? It is baffling. They will probably manage to luck into a good enough replacement with all their advantages but it would be really nice to see the "Dwags" sic stumble into a series of unfortunate decisions resulting in a Tennessee like dumpster fire for a decade. Could not happen to a more deserving crew.
 

Legal Jacket

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Sideways said:
An impressive set of statistics and reasoning. But it does not answer the question of WHY. You are right it is simply amazing that Coach Richt has a winning percentage very close to Saban and must be considered the best coach UGA has had in a quarter of a century so why throw away a sure thing? It is baffling. They will probably manage to luck into a good enough replacement with all their advantages but it would be really nice to see the "Dwags" sic stumble into a series of unfortunate decisions resulting in a Tennessee like dumpster fire for a decade. Could not happen to a more deserving crew.
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The why is simply the lack of national championship, which I always thought was absurd. How many schools are in the running year after year? Bama is the only one that comes to mind. Most schools rotate in and out of national title contention every few years, which ironically is just what Richt did. Richt had them on the door in 2002, 2007, and 2012. For a team that hasn't won one since 1980, you'd think they'd be more patient.
 
BuzzStone

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Legal Jacket is CMR your uncle? You seem to be defending him big time without seeing any other point of view. Richt couldn't get the job done bottom line. Are they taking a risk getting rid of him? Absolutely. But the alternative is a mediocre team for the next 5-10 years till he quits.
 
iceeater1969

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They have been in top 6 recruiting classes for last 5 years and we ( yes we who played terrible this year) played them close.
After a score late we were one score from going ahead. After great kick we had them in their own end zone. The potential embarssment of a sac 6 was too much for uga to bear.
Had we gotton to qb it would be takked about for decades.
He had to go.
 

Legal Jacket

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BuzzStone said:
Legal Jacket is CMR your uncle? You seem to be defending him big time without seeing any other point of view. Richt couldn't get the job done bottom line. Are they taking a risk getting rid of him? Absolutely. But the alternative is a mediocre team for the next 5-10 years till he quits.
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I see the other points of view, but I don't see how you can say with a straight face what he's done is "mediocre." Really? Averaging 10 wins a year is mediocre? Mediocre means moderate; not very good. Winning 10 games a year in the SEC is not that. Doing the things he did is not that. In fact, Richt has the highest uga win percentage of all time. How is that in any way shape or form mediocre? He's put together the best 15 year stretch in the history of their program.

I certainly understand the thought that with the NFL talent he has, he should win championships. I get that. But you are talking about a program that hasn't won one in 35 years. Seems foolish to me to fire someone for not doing something you've only done twice in the 130 year history of your program.
 

TechPhi97

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reubenjet said:
No! He is what kept the DWAGS out of the playoff picture every year. With Richt at the helm UGAg was assured to be the place where 5-star recruits go to wallow in a 3-star program. He may have kicked out a$$ a lot but he also kept the Championship drought alive and well!

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The picture is funny, because he went 8-4 or worse 4 out of 15 times (regular season). He went 10-2 or better 5 times. So, you it could also say "year in and year out, the best 10-2 coach in the country."
 
LongforDodd

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Captain killem said:
With Richt he at least ran a clean program look at the dismissals of late. My opinion is the alumni and fan base only care about wins, I say get ready for university of Georgia correctional institute.lol
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I told my dwag brother something jokingly similar in that there may be a correlation between the arrests/suspensions and on the field success.
 
LongforDodd

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Richt's misfortunes lie in two things - lack of a QB to succeed Aaron Murray and Chubb getting hurt. They were perhaps one play away from a trip to the NC game just a couple of years ago. Richt would still be employed today if Chubb hadn't gone down. His recruiting is still there except for the QB and maybe a WR but he's lost his mojo. I believe the boosters wanted a change and with this year's results in their three losses, even though most programs would give a nut for 9-3, the boosters said they've had enough - it's time for a change.
 
forensicbuzz

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To win a championship takes not only a talented team, but also a little bit of luck (both the fortuitous kind and the self-made kind). I would never hold "not winning a championship" against any coach, regardless of where they were. However, the general feeling since Richt has been at uga is that he's underperformed with the level of talent he's had on the team. There's a reason uga is called the place 5*'s go to die. I don't know the reason, or even if it's just perception, but his teams have had a tendancy to not play up to the level of the talent that is brought in. This may not be true, but it's not a new perception.
 
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