Head coach Mark Richt
Opening statement…
“Texas A&M is an outstanding football team with a great
football tradition. Coach [Mike]
Sherman has their team on the rise and playing extremely well late in the year.
It will be a tremendous challenge for us.
“To start out with their offense, they are No. 1 in [the Big
12] offensively in total yards and in the top three in just about every
offensive category. That all starts with No. 1, [quarterback] Jerrod Johnson. He’s 6-5, a 240-pounder,
and throws the ball extremely well. He’s hit over 61 percent of his passes, has
28 touchdowns and only six interceptions – that ratio is tremendous. He
has close to 700 yards rushing and over 3,200 yards passing, so he’s really
been the guy, absolutely the catalyst of that offensive football team. They
love to spread it out, go fast-paced, go with three-receiver sets,
four-receiver sets, a no-back, five-receiver look.
They get into certain personnel groups and give you every formation known to
mankind and do it in a very quick manner, so it’ll be a challenge just to
recognize what’s happening and get lined up properly. We’ll try to get after
it.
“Up front they’ve got three senior linemen really in the
best spots you can hope for as a coach. Both tackles and the center are seniors
and have done an outstanding job of paving the way for [Cyrus] Gray and
[Christine] Michael, their top two runners. They both have run for over 750
yards apiece and are very much alike, really – their statures are pretty close,
5-10, 5-11, and around 200 pounds, give or take a few. Their running styles are
very similar. Receiving-wise, [Ryan] Tannehill is
their leading receiver. I don’t see him on this depth chart, so I don’t know if
he got hurt or not. I don’t have that figured out yet. Then [Howard] Morrow,
and [Uzoma Nwachukwu] is a
freshman receiver, very fast and talented. [Jeff] Fuller is their
fourth-leading receiver. They throw the ball around a lot. They like to spread
it out to throw and so they can get you thinned out and run their running game.
It’s mostly a tailback running game, with some quarterback running, as you can
see in the amount of yards that Johnson has as a quarterback rusher.
“Defensively, they have a young man by the name of Von Miller, No. 40, who has 17 sacks and leads their league in forced fumbles and
tackles for loss and is one of the better rush hands in the country, I’d have
to say. As far as leading tackles are concerned, their safeties are their top
two tacklers, [Trent Hunter and Jordan Pugh] with 87 and 75 tackles,
respectively. Then their linebackers, [Garrick] Williams, [Kyle] Mangan, and [Michael] Hodges are their next three tacklers
– all pretty close, and about where it ought to be.
“The special teams I haven’t really spent a lot of time studying
yet, so I don’t want to start spouting off things that I haven’t looked closely
at. It’s been a little different from a normal week. I haven’t had a chance to
sit down with the staff and talk about anything. We gathered today to get ready
for today’s practice. We’ll practice today all the way through to the 22nd,
then on the 23rd it will be a travel day. The 24th we are
to report around 2 p.m., and will not practice the day we get there. We’ll
practice the 25th and 26th, then the 27th
– the day before the game – do our normal walk-through and meeting
routine. We could practice, but more than likely it’ll just be a normal
day-before-game. Christmas day we will treat like a normal Tuesday and the 26th
we will treat like a normal Wednesday. We kind of miss that Thursday practice,
but we’ll get plenty of things done and because of the multiple practices I
don’t see a problem. If I feel like we need a practice day before the game, we
may do that. That’s the plan right now, where we’re sitting. We did have practice
yesterday between our class and exam schedule. It was a very spirited practice.
We designed it in hopes that it would be – short, sweet, and high-tempo,
high-competition. Everybody responded really well. Our players are excited
about the challenge and looking forward to working really hard and getting
after A&M. From what I hear, the travel time from Texas A&M to
Shreveport is about three or four hours, so they should have a strong
contingent of fans. We anticipate crowd noise as an issue so we’ll be
practicing with that.”
On juggling bowl
preparation, recruiting and hiring coaches…
“It’s busy. It’s busy for sure. First of all in recruiting
we have a good number of commitments. At this point all the young men are
holding firm. Who knows what any recruiting class will bring as you go down the
stretch whether you have a situation with staff or not, you just never know
what will happen down the stretch. I think everybody has done a pretty good job
of covering those areas and getting on the phone and getting in person. I think
we’ve done a good job there. The preparation for the bowl has been interesting
on the defensive side of course with a couple of graduate assistants working
with coach (Rodney) Garner and myself. I’ve really been encouraged by what they’ve
put together, and I think the players are, I think their spirit is going to be
right to be cooperative and take it as a challenge that they have to step up
to, so I don’t see any issues in that regard. As far as the search, we all know
it’s a very important hire and one that I’m doing the due diligence I think
that it takes, but I’m working towards that end.”
On when he will hire
the three coaches…
“I would say the safest bet, and I don’t want to put a time
table on it, but I would hate to think it goes much past the first week of
January. You have to get back on the road recruiting. I’m not sure exactly when
you are allowed to get back in the ground after this second dead period. There
is a dead period for the coaches’ convention. You’d like to hit the ground
running at that point with your new staff. Even then I’m not going to say 100
percent because I’m not 100 percent sure when it will happen. I wouldn’t
imagine it going past that if that.”
On whether he will
hire coaches before the bowl game…
“I just don’t know. I think I’ll know when the time is
right. It’s just so hard to predict.”
On Georgia’s travel
itinerary and whether the team spent Christmas in a hotel for the 2001 Music
City Bowl…
“I don’t think we did. It seems like it was a three-day trip.
We might have had to report Christmas day, but it seemed like we reported the
day after, but I’m not sure.”
On the team’s plans
for Christmas…
“We are going to have a nice meal, and we are trying to put
together a Christmas program. We might even get our own players involved in
seeing what kind of talents they have. We’re working on that, but I think that
would be something that everybody would enjoy. I would imagine most things are
going to be closed that day, so we’ll have to provide our own entertainment.
Hopefully the guys will get into the spirit of that.”
On who will call the
defense in the bowl game…
“My answer to that from this point forward is it will be a
group effort, and it will be.”
On the process of
hiring coaches…
“I’m just going to say that it’s a private search. The
bottom line is I’m going to be the one making the final decision on it.”
On Georgia’s offensive
philosophy…
“As always you are going to take the talent base you have
and try to get the best players on the field and guys who are most productive
and try to get the ball to them. You are going to try to do it without
self-inflicted wounds that we’ve had. That’s going to be the biggest issue is
to continue to improve in all areas but also not setting ourselves
back through the penalty and turnover issues. If you can turn around the
penalty and turnover issue it will be a tremendous improvement.”
On whether A.J. Green
will play in the bowl game…
“Unless he has a setback between now and then. He practiced
the last time we practiced. I’m losing track of what day that was that we
practiced, but he’s going to practice today. He’ll be in some non-contact
probably most of the bowl practice, but as we get closer to the game, we are
going to let him get a little block and full-speed and some things that might
let him know he’s confident that it feels fine.”
On whether Montez Robinson will make the trip…
“No, he will not.”
On his involvement
with the defense…
“I’ve enjoyed it. I’m not trying to re-invent anything
defensively. My greatest role is to set some parameters and make sure that
everything is being covered and that everybody not only has a plan
schematically, but a plan to implement strategy. There are some special teams
things that we had to visit as far as how we are going to handle those. Then
I’ll also be keeping a very close eye on how things are progressing as far as
how players are responding to the coaching and all those kind of things. That’s
the biggest part of my role, which is not altogether different than what I normally
do, but a little bit more intensive in that area.”
On special teams
coaching responsibilities…
“We are going to have Mitch Doolittle and Todd Hartley work
on the kickoff coverage team. Coach (John) Lilly will handle punt return and
block.”
On whether he has
talked to Logan Gray about switching positions…
“Have we talked to Logan? Yes. Logan wants to play. Logan is
the one who is going to decide what he wants to do this spring. If he wants to
stay strictly at quarterback and compete in that area, I’m all for it. If he
wants to try another position to see if he could get more playing time in that
role, I’m fine with that. I know that Logan is not going to forget what to do
at quarterback, so even if he does something in the spring at another position,
it doesn’t mean he won’t be back at quarterback in the fall. It’s really going
to be putting the ball in his hands. We love Logan. We think he’s a heck of a
player. We think he’s a heck of a Bulldog, and we want him to feel like he’s
getting his best opportunity to make a contribution to the team, so it’s really
going to be up to him. At this point nothing is changing. He’s not going to
slip out there and try to play another position during the bowl practice time.
It will be a decision that he’ll search after this bowl game is over.”
On whether he would
feel comfortable with Aaron Murray or Zach Mettenberger
starting at quarterback in 2010…
“I don’t want to get into hypothetical things, but I will
say that we think they are outstanding quarterback prospects.”
On whether he has
talked to Richard Samuel about switching positions…
“I have not.”
On Joe Cox…
“He’s a first-class guy. He’s very tough physically and
mentally. He has persevered. He has persisted. I have a lot of admiration for
that. He’s been a leader of this team in a tough season, but he has not ever
shied away from that responsibility or done anything that would even come close
to resembling throwing in the towel or anything like that. He’s had some really
outstanding moments. He’s had some very good days and some things that maybe
aren’t exactly what he wanted, but I have a lot of respect for what he’s done.
I think he’s handled it well.”
On having A.J. Green
back…
“It will be exciting no doubt. That guy is special. We all
know it. It’s going to give A&M something else to think about besides
trying to stop the run, so that’s what you want. You want a threat to score
anytime somebody tries to single cover him and I think A.J has that ability, so
they have to decide what they want to do as far as how they are going to stop
the run and still manage A.J., so it’ll create a problem for them.”
On the senior class…
“I think that these guys are not a whole lot different from
any other senior class that has come through since I’ve been here. They are
guys that chose Georgia. Georgia chose them, of course, but they chose Georgia.
They dedicated hours and hours of time, blood, sweat and tears. They were as
dedicated to the cause as any of them. Their senior season wasn’t as sweet as
some other guys have had, but they’ve been involved in a lot of tremendous
victories throughout their careers, and a bunch of great memories. A big part
of that night (Georgia Football Gala) is remembering what they looked like when
they were freshmen and seeing what they look like now and knowing that they are
ready for manhood. They are ready for life outside of football, and that is
exciting. I can’t tell you how many moms or parents every year will come up to
me and I’m sure the other coaches and say, ‘Thank you for helping my son grow
up.’ They know their sons have grown up in a very positive way, and they know
they’ve been treated with respect and dignity and they are thankful. The guys
are too.
You’d love to have that banquet after the last game, but
after the last game you are trying to honor seniors who aren’t going to be
there. They are going to be getting ready for the league and that kind of thing
or whatever they are going to do in the future. So I think you have to have it
when you have it. I can’t imagine anybody doing a better job of honoring their players than what we do with that gala. The Athens
Touchdown Club of course is a big part of helping us in that regard.”
On whether the
defensive coordinator will have input in hiring assistants…
“He’ll have say and suggestions, but it’s got to be through
my blessing. I do want to hire the defensive coordinator first so he will have
some input.”
On whether he will
consider hiring a special teams coordinator…
“I would consider it. It has to start with the defensive
coordinator and then just see what that gentleman feels like he needs to
succeed and then move from there. We’ll definitely have our special teams
covered one way or another. Whether or not there will be a special teams
coordinator, I wouldn’t predict that right now, but to say I hadn’t thought of
that as a possibility, I’ve thought about that.”
On whether he is
looking for schemes or philosophies in the coaching search…
“I’m open to championship level defense. I’m not going to
say I will not consider this scheme or that scheme or I have to have this
scheme or that scheme, I won’t do it because there are different ways of
skinning it. If you are really good at skinning it the way you do it, it’s OK
with me.”
#35 Rennie Curran
On other people
stepping up to help coach defense at the bowl game…
“We know that Coach Richt is going
to bring in the best guys for the job. It is kind of an awkward time because we
got our graduate assistants here who we believe in and they are young guys. We
are just looking into the future and seeing what’s going to be next.”
On spending Christmas
in Shreveport…
“It is definitely a bummer to be away from our families on
Christmas day. This will be my first time away from my family, which is
everything to me. Hopefully we will have a program or something to try and make
it like Christmas at home. But we are honored to be invited by them and to have
the opportunity to play, but normally you don’t want to miss Christmas. We are
excited for the opportunity to play another game. A lot people down us because
we do not have our coaches with us, but we are all hanging tight and tough and
staying together.”
On having to play
Texas A&M without three coaches…
“It is a huge challenge. It is going to put a lot of
emphasis on us as a team and as a defense especially. It will allow us to come
together even more and be more of a team and push each other individually and
as a group to make sure that we are coming in every day during these bowl
practices and being focused and not letting us become undisciplined just
because our coaches aren’t around.”
On Mitch Doolittle
coaching during the bowl game…
“I obviously don’t like Coach Jancek
being away, but Coach Doolittle has done a great job. He has picked up on our
system really quickly, and he is a guy that I feel like relates to us so well
being young and energetic. I sat down away from Coach Jancek
with him many times and he has given me tips here and there on how to improve
my play and understanding the philosophy of football. So I have a lot of
confidence in him that he is going to do a great job.”
On Coach Richt’s role for the defense during practices…
“He is just that motivating factor. He is just walking
around and checking up on us during our drills. We haven’t really gotten into
the meat of our game practices yet, but so far he’s just been making sure we
are staying on task, on track, and business-like. As our coach he is doing a
great job—the best that he can.”
On winning the MVP at
the UGA football gala…
“It was a huge honor. I didn’t even believe it when they
called my name out. It was a huge honor to be named in the same sentence with
Vince Dooley, who has been a part of so much tradition of UGA. To get an award
that is named after him was an honor, and to know that is how my coaches look
at me and how my teammates respect me is humbling. Just to know that’s what
they think of my hard work and me. It has been my goal from day one to go and
work as hard as I can and use what God gave me to be a blessing to my
teammates. It was definitely a humbling experience and something that motivates
me to work even harder and be that role model for my teammates and to continue
to make plays and do what I can to help this team be successful.”