I'm sorry.
I didn't realize I had to spell that out.
All of these stats (that never got responded to) had to do with an idea that somehow Richt didn't re riot anywhere near as well as Smart, and also that Richt benefited from Donnan's great recruiting.
I really don't care all that much. And I certainly wasn't trying to mislead anyone into thinking that the two coaches had anywhere near the same tenure.
But one of your own seems intent upon claiming Richts 12 of 15 seasons with top 10 classes and mostly finishing in the top 2-3 of all SEC teams is nowhere near what Kirby is doing.
It just reeks of revisionist history and lots of hope that Kirby is somehow miles better st recruiting that's Richt...ironically don't see many arguments that he's also a great gameday coach....which is interesting.
It seems to be all about his recruiting. But....Richts recruiting was Top 10 basically every year.
Why the angst about it?
What’s ironic is that based on their arguments they’re making the OP’s point. They’ve littered this thread with posts about how Kirby is a far superior recruiter and coach than Richt, yet their results theough their first 3 years are basically identical. So how could that possibly be if what they say is true? Especially since Kirby inherited the better program. Either Richt was a much better coach and recruiter than they give him credit for, which ruins the nice little narrative they have, or Kirby is underachieving. How else would he have the same results as a coach he’s so much better than and with better talent to boot? Those are the only two logical conclusions. But nobody has ever accused them of being intelligent.
I think a big part you folks are missing is how youthful this years team was. UGA isn’t losing a whole lot, and other than Baker (who has 2 5 stars waiting on the wings), everyone leaving has very valid options.
Kirby inherited a roster that was experienced, but lackluster in non skill positions. He definitively coached Roquan up as well as baker. The 2015 Richt team had 10 wins, but it was a mirage. Any team with a pulse blew that team to bits.
CMR came in hot, and was a good one. But the first 3-4 years of success were due to donnans elite recruiting. Donnan’s recruits accounted for nearly 50% of the players that Richt put in the NFL. Let that sink in.
To further go down the rabbit hole, many of Richt’s NFL players simply under performed in the NFL, but made rosters due to elite athleticism. Mark Richt is a good coach, and was one, but wasn’t a great one.
Yes, UGA has a distinct advantage in recruiting. Georgia has one of the most talent dense populations of NFL talent, and most live within a short 2 hour drive of Athens. But make no mistake, Smart is murdering recruiting compared to Richt. In other words, Richt was doing what any decent recruiter SHOULD do in Athens. A 4-8 class should be the floor because of the geographic advantages. And GT will NEVER be a recruiting juggernaut. They are almost an Ivey league school, and they really don’t care about football as a whole other than against UGA.
But the difference between a 4-8 class and a 1-2 class is steeper than folks realize. Especially considering most sites only account for the top point values for X number of players.
The final topic is Kirby redeemed the loss against AU. I was at the loss, and I don’t think got could have fielded a team that was walking out with a win against them. We got our butts kicked. But we returned the favor. Then, LSU we inexplicably abandoned the run early. Finally, we competed very nicely against two Alabama teams seemed ‘best of all time.’
Now. A loss is a loss. We lost. But dang, we had a young team this year. We dug deep in our bench to field a roster because of injuries, and fatigue didn’t help us block those huge bama defenders who are super fast too. Our depth made us compete (I thought we’d get boat raced honestly due to said injuries.). Still, no excuses.
Kirby has some lessons to learn for sure. The fake punt and fake field goal, along with abandoning the run early in Death Valley will be inexcusable moving forward. But the dude is young. You can discount his in game calls with validity, but the mo fo straight up coached kids up.
Extra credit: we had 1 returning DB this year. Why was there no drop off? Because the 5 star freshmen filled the void left by the 3 star, no star (Aaron Davis was a walk on converted to scholly player last year, and another 3 star.). If both of those do not show the man can coach kids up, there is no statement in the world I can make to change your minds.
PS: time will tell, but the signs look good to me. I hope you guys are wrong, and I KNOW you hope I am. Sorry for grammar or spelling. Thanks iPhone.
