Ok, so most everyone has said that Kirby is basically on the same path as Richt, to which I would pretty much agree when it comes to overall record. Not counting this upcoming game, Richt was 42-10, Kirby is now 43-11. What I do find interesting is the conference records for both, Richt was 24-8 while Kirby is 25-7, Richt had only the 2002 season of going 7-1 in conference, while Kirby has gone 7-1 three straight years.
Richt went to 2 conference title games in his first 4 years with a 1-1 record, this will be Kirby's 3rd in 4 years, so far 1-1 record. If Kirby can win this game, he would have two SEC titles in 4 years, Richt had two SEC titles in 5 years. So when you look at the overall picture, it is truly amazing how similar the two coaches are. Course back in the early part of Richt's tenure, we only played 11 game regular seasons.
Also it is interesting to note, Richt seemed to have problems more times than not, with having a good DC, the UGA offense was typically very good while we had trouble on the D side. Kirby, especially this year, is just the opposite. This brings me to something that is also very interesting. As much as I didn't care for Chaney as OC, he did a pretty decent job overall. I loved Brian Van Gorder as his D's were really good when Mark Richt took over our program. After the 2004 season, BVG left Athens, and Richt promoted secondary coach and good friend Willie Martinez-and we actually won the SEC title his first year on the job, masking the fact he was not a good DC. What happens if we win the SEC on Saturday with Coley running the offense??
So here is what I think it interesting about the program moving forward. Richt won 2 SEC titles during his 15 years in Athens, he never won another after 2005, he played for two more in his last 10 years. In 15 years as our coach, his best conference record was 7-1, he did that 3x, 2002 and then back to back 2011 and 2012. Kirby has done that 3x already. But, if you look at Richt after he won that last SEC title in 2005, he had a 4-4 SEC record in 2006 and also 2009, and 3-5 in 2010.
The key to Kirby is where does the program go from here. Richt's last SEC championship team went 10-3, he followed that with 9-4, 4-4 in the SEC. Can Kirby keep this train going next year and the following years after that because Richt was really strong years 1-5. I believe that Kirby's recruiting efforts will allow us to stay at a very high level for years to come but you have to wonder about the hiring of Coley, and although some hated when Bobo and Chaney were OC's, even when Richt was calling plays, this year has been very painful to watch-which I attribute to a number of factors I posted about last week-Fromm being a big part of it. Now that Bobo is out at CSU, should Kirby look to bring him back despite our 11-1 regular season??
Another issue that I find interesting is in state recruiting. We all know the talent the state of GA produces year in and year out, Kirby knows this as did Richt, as did Donnan etc, but this years class is very slim on GA kids. I am glad to expand our horizons with recruiting, heck, look at some of our best players in recent times-Sony, AJ Green, Stafford, Knowshon, Swift, Gurley, Ben Jones, Isiah Wynn, Murray, DBaker, I mean a lot of the guys playing in the NFL right now from UGA are not home state kids. That being said, you can also look at Clemson, Bama, even LSU, Auburn, Tenn, you name it with GA kids being stars. I will never tell Kirby how to recruit because the man is "the MAN" when it comes to recruiting but I do hope that we will continue to hit our home state the hardest for recruits. Currently for class of 2020, we have 15 commitments with only 4 being from Georgia.
In reality, what UGA is and has been since Richt took over is a very solid football program. What we are missing is simply a title and I think that simple fact is the reason some of our fans are so negative a lot of the time (myself included). I was 11 when we won the title in 1980 (really Jan 1st of 1981) and so I have been following this program for a LONG time. My SR year as a student was our only losing year since the 60's, it was brutal. I know what we have now is very good but you are only measured by winning it all and it is very frustrating to especially watch Clemson win two in the last 3 years, with GA QB's no less. Course they won the other one in 1981 with a GA QB as well, kid from Athens. Alabama is tough too but they have been great for so long, it is almost expected. But truly if this program can win a title soon, there is no telling how high the program can go, because that is all we have been missing-and Athens, UGA fans will GO CRAZY when it finally happens. It is just so frustrating because we have been so close, but close is not good enough. I am hopeful that sooner than later, we can all get rid of the 1980, that everyone throws against us. I LOVED that 1980 team and I am glad I got to watch them celebrate, but I am ready for my son and daughter to celebrate and for all the UGA fans to finally exhale and say, we did it!!
Richt went to 2 conference title games in his first 4 years with a 1-1 record, this will be Kirby's 3rd in 4 years, so far 1-1 record. If Kirby can win this game, he would have two SEC titles in 4 years, Richt had two SEC titles in 5 years. So when you look at the overall picture, it is truly amazing how similar the two coaches are. Course back in the early part of Richt's tenure, we only played 11 game regular seasons.
Also it is interesting to note, Richt seemed to have problems more times than not, with having a good DC, the UGA offense was typically very good while we had trouble on the D side. Kirby, especially this year, is just the opposite. This brings me to something that is also very interesting. As much as I didn't care for Chaney as OC, he did a pretty decent job overall. I loved Brian Van Gorder as his D's were really good when Mark Richt took over our program. After the 2004 season, BVG left Athens, and Richt promoted secondary coach and good friend Willie Martinez-and we actually won the SEC title his first year on the job, masking the fact he was not a good DC. What happens if we win the SEC on Saturday with Coley running the offense??
So here is what I think it interesting about the program moving forward. Richt won 2 SEC titles during his 15 years in Athens, he never won another after 2005, he played for two more in his last 10 years. In 15 years as our coach, his best conference record was 7-1, he did that 3x, 2002 and then back to back 2011 and 2012. Kirby has done that 3x already. But, if you look at Richt after he won that last SEC title in 2005, he had a 4-4 SEC record in 2006 and also 2009, and 3-5 in 2010.
The key to Kirby is where does the program go from here. Richt's last SEC championship team went 10-3, he followed that with 9-4, 4-4 in the SEC. Can Kirby keep this train going next year and the following years after that because Richt was really strong years 1-5. I believe that Kirby's recruiting efforts will allow us to stay at a very high level for years to come but you have to wonder about the hiring of Coley, and although some hated when Bobo and Chaney were OC's, even when Richt was calling plays, this year has been very painful to watch-which I attribute to a number of factors I posted about last week-Fromm being a big part of it. Now that Bobo is out at CSU, should Kirby look to bring him back despite our 11-1 regular season??
Another issue that I find interesting is in state recruiting. We all know the talent the state of GA produces year in and year out, Kirby knows this as did Richt, as did Donnan etc, but this years class is very slim on GA kids. I am glad to expand our horizons with recruiting, heck, look at some of our best players in recent times-Sony, AJ Green, Stafford, Knowshon, Swift, Gurley, Ben Jones, Isiah Wynn, Murray, DBaker, I mean a lot of the guys playing in the NFL right now from UGA are not home state kids. That being said, you can also look at Clemson, Bama, even LSU, Auburn, Tenn, you name it with GA kids being stars. I will never tell Kirby how to recruit because the man is "the MAN" when it comes to recruiting but I do hope that we will continue to hit our home state the hardest for recruits. Currently for class of 2020, we have 15 commitments with only 4 being from Georgia.
In reality, what UGA is and has been since Richt took over is a very solid football program. What we are missing is simply a title and I think that simple fact is the reason some of our fans are so negative a lot of the time (myself included). I was 11 when we won the title in 1980 (really Jan 1st of 1981) and so I have been following this program for a LONG time. My SR year as a student was our only losing year since the 60's, it was brutal. I know what we have now is very good but you are only measured by winning it all and it is very frustrating to especially watch Clemson win two in the last 3 years, with GA QB's no less. Course they won the other one in 1981 with a GA QB as well, kid from Athens. Alabama is tough too but they have been great for so long, it is almost expected. But truly if this program can win a title soon, there is no telling how high the program can go, because that is all we have been missing-and Athens, UGA fans will GO CRAZY when it finally happens. It is just so frustrating because we have been so close, but close is not good enough. I am hopeful that sooner than later, we can all get rid of the 1980, that everyone throws against us. I LOVED that 1980 team and I am glad I got to watch them celebrate, but I am ready for my son and daughter to celebrate and for all the UGA fans to finally exhale and say, we did it!!