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The state of the program as it pertains to the layperson. (long)

Posted on 10/8/12 at 10:10 am
Posted by JStanDawgFan
Evans, Ga
Member since Jul 2012
3987 posts
Posted on 10/8/12 at 10:10 am
First I would like to preface this by saying, I am a person that takes college football with a grain of salt with regards to what it means to my life. Meaning, I am as passionate about as the next person, but it doesn't control what my actions are away from Saturday. I do believe, however, that things are never as bad as they seem and never as good as they seem. Some guys on here are ready to jump off the deep end because of a loss to a team that played-1)at home 2)in the biggest game of their stadium's and schools existence, and 3)Has arguably the best defensive front seven in the conference. I am obviously not one of those people, but I do have some questions about where our beloved program may be heading and how it equates to how what the direction would be in our chosen professions and our everyday lives...


It is well documented that the football program is now 0-9 in the last 2 years against teams that finished the season ranked in the top 25. We are taken for granted here that USC will end the season in this years top 25, but I think we can all unequivocally say that is an inevitability. On the flip side to that is the fact that we have been winning games that we are supposed to win to the tune of, the recent ended, 15 game regular season winning streak; which was tops in the nation until last week. I think we can all agree that is nothing to scoff at. But what do those numbers really mean and how does that apply to how we conduct are lives on a daily basis in our professions juxtaposed to Mark Richt's?


I myself manage a business and have direct reports that I am responsible for, I also have a manager that is responsible for my yearly reviews within our Region. Now within how we conduct business, my subordinates and I have many clients that spend a good amount of money with us and we are on a roll with closing those clients at a frantic clip but none of those client really spent the amount of money that is simply mindbending. I have had opportunities however to close 9 clients that were prepared to spent an obscene amount of money with my company but in so doing I fall flat on my face with each sales pitch and every one of those clients walks out and are never to be heard from again. This is when my performance matters the most because it is most visible by my company's most important people. Theoretically, next month I have a review that will be filled out by my manager and he asks me for a self assessment before the review is to begin.

The question now is, am I doing a job that is worthy of promotion,(in this case, a contract extension) or am I doing what is necessary to just survive in my current position? Would I expect my manager to be happy with my performance?

The purpose of this is for me to convey how we should feel about Greg McGarity and Mark Richt to self assess themselves when the review is due. In no way am I looking for Mark Richt to be fired; at this moment or any moment, but I would like to see both men be publicly accountable for what has been transpiring on the field recently. As well as letting us as "billpayers" know where we are heading as a program and is this the behavior we can expect from here on out. What is the state of the program, and are we doing just what is necessary to survive?


I just wanted to get some thoughts from you guys as fellow fans on this, aside from the "FIRE RICHT" rhetoric that is the usual here.
This post was edited on 10/8/12 at 10:13 am
Posted by bulldawger
Fish Creek, GA
Member since Jul 2010
2886 posts
Posted on 10/8/12 at 10:21 am to
Man, I appreciate it, but that was too long.

I feel like I got the gist of your article without reading completely.

But let me just say this. No top coach gets it handed to him like what happened this weekend and wins championships. The man has had 12 years to get it right, and it's hasn't happened.

I always hold out hope that my team can win at the highest level, but it's all but faded for me in regards to Richt.

I understand the good qualities the man has as a person and a coach (yes, there are some), but his will to win is not on par with the most successful coaches in college football.
Posted by Chris_topher
Member since Sep 2012
7674 posts
Posted on 10/8/12 at 10:40 am to
quote:

I do believe, however, that things are never as bad as they seem and never as good as they seem.
For me, the best part is to know that many factors are involved in this great game... a team can have the best players at every position and STILL LOSE.

Hell yeah!!!
Posted by davesdawgs
Georgia - Class of '75
Member since Oct 2008
20307 posts
Posted on 10/8/12 at 11:20 am to
Valid analogy that applies to many things including football. To answer your hypothetical questions:

1. Yes, you are probably doing enough to survive your evaluation short-term but

2. No, neither you or your manager are happy with your performance.

The main question is what happens if your performance doesn't improve? This is where the comparison takes a sharp turn. In your hypothetical case, you can probably be replaced any number of junior executives who might be able to improve on your performance. However, in Richt's case I don't see many viable possibilities. Many teams lose or fire coaches only to end up in a worse situation in terms of wins and loses. Change in this case means lack of continuity which often hurts recruiting and the bottom line. Also, we don't have insider info on success criteria that has been agreed upon in Richt's contract and through verbal exchanges. But considering McGarity's background at Florida, my guess is the ineptness vs ranked teams can't continue indefinitely. However, considering Mark had his first losing season in 2010, McGarity will likely see 2 subsequent 10 win seasons as improvement regardless. Thus the quandary.
This post was edited on 10/8/12 at 11:45 am
Posted by Leghumper
Lawrenceville, Georgia
Member since Dec 2003
2330 posts
Posted on 10/8/12 at 11:29 am to
one major flaw...nobody is trying to knock your head off while you're trying to sell/manage/administrate...

Richt is a very good administrator of the program. his "fatal" flaw is his bobby Bowden-like loyalty to his staff. If you remember when he first came here, he stated that the players have to execute and if they don't, it's on them, not the coaches. I bet, to this day, he didn't see firing WM as justified, but was forced to in order to save his own hide. As long as we are in the top 5 most profitable programs year in and year out, Richt will not be let go. Perhaps the new UGA pres will have a different opinion, and if so Richt won't last 2 years.
Posted by WG_Dawg
Hoover
Member since Jun 2004
86619 posts
Posted on 10/8/12 at 12:07 pm to
quote:

loss to a team that played-1)at home 2)in the biggest game of their stadium's and schools existence, and 3)Has arguably the best defensive front seven in the conference


Just more excuses. I've been driving the Richt bandwagon for 12 years now, and after Saturday I sadly had to take the keys out of the ignition. It's time to go, regardless of what happens the rest of the year. This isn't an aberration, it's a trend. Well SC was just too fired up! The atmosphere was crazy! Excuses, excuses, excuses. They are South frickin Carolina, and in about 4 years they have managed to severely close the talent gap between them and us, that should never happen. We're #5 in the country playing against #6 at night, and we came out with NO emotion, no energy, no life. That falls squarely and directly on Richt, and we've seen it time and time again.

This wasn't just a loss man, this was a game that set our program back years. That's not hyperbole either. It took 3 years to really recover from the perception that followed us after bama 08. And this game was twice as bad as that one. There is literally no excuse to look and play like we did. and then to say "well we just got whipped. We lost to a better team" and all that shite, that is on Richt and nobody else. We are by God Georgia, and we are now something like 0 for the last 16 against teams that finished the year ranked. That is sickening, disgusting, and I just can't even fathom how something like that at a program like ours happens. It is 100% on leadership and coaching. Beating up on teams we're clearly better than is fine, but when we face a team similar to ours (one that finishes ranked) that has quality talent and coaching we shite the bed again and again. For the last 16 times. Inexcusable.

It's been happening for years and I sadly realized that we will never, EVER win a title with Richt. Teams adopt the personality of their leader, and our leader is soft and for whatever reason can't seem to inspire and motivate when it is needed most. Next year won't get any better as we replace every defensive starter and add clemson and likely bama/lsu to the schedule. It's gonna be a down year anyway, so we might as well cut ties after this year. Sadly, I doubt we will, but we should. What's that saying, "what should be done eventually, must be done immediately"? Richt isn't the answer, so why hang on longer than we have to? After the tech game we should start looking for better answers.
This post was edited on 10/8/12 at 12:10 pm
Posted by FaCubeItches
Soviet Monica, People's Republic CA
Member since Sep 2012
5875 posts
Posted on 10/8/12 at 1:43 pm to
quote:

the recent ended, 15 game regular season winning streak;


Of course, that "streak" is sort of a garbage statistic, as it ignores two back-to-back stinkbomb losses. Yes, they were not regular season games, but they can't simply be dismissed out of hand, either.
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