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Thursday, July 23, 2009

Day 2 Wrap: Georgia

Here's another team wrapup from SEC Media Days. I did Alabama earlier. This one's Georgia:
  • Bulldogs coach Mark Richt didn't shy away from the Matthew Stafford/Knowshon Moreno topic, touching on it immediately in his opening statement. "I think the greatest expectation I have for this team is that we understand how important it is to, you know, put the work in and to work together and to realize that it takes a whole lot more than just two stars that everybody felt like were gonna make the difference last year," he said. "With Knowshon Moreno, everybody expected us to win 'em all because we had these two guys that everybody considered stars, and maybe subconsciously our guys thought, We can count on these guys. Now that they're gone, I think our team understands the only chance they have is to play together, work together, earn it as a team. I think they've done a great job of buying into that, preparing throughout this off season for that type of season. So I'm excited."
  • Naturally, quarterback Joe Cox, Stafford's long-time backup,was a hot topic. Richt said he's a great decision maker who can handle the pressure of the job and lead."We have exit meetings in the spring," Richt said. "We talk to our players after spring ball. One of the things we ask 'em, besides talking about their strengths and weaknesses, what their goals are, all that kind of thing, we ask them, Who are the leaders on this football team, in your opinion? Who are the leaders? I think it was, like, 106 out of 110 guys that did their exit meetings said Joe Cox. I think that's significant. He was the No. 1 vote getter, if you want to call them votes. For a guy who hasn't started but one game his entire career, that was about two or three years ago, I think that says a lot about what the guys think about Joe and what Joe has done in preparation for this moment."
  • Richt voted for Tim Tebow for the All-SEC preseason team but understood how somebody could make a different choice. A few years ago, he went against the grain and voted for Vanderbilt's Jay Cutler. That turned out to be a good choice.
  • Interesting back-and-forth with Richt and a reporter when asked about the Florida game, which is played every year in Jacksonville.

  • Q. The contract on having the Florida/Georgia game in Jacksonville is about to run out. Do you want to see it moved, stay there, and why?

  • COACH RICHT: This is what I want to do. I want to focus on winning that game. That's all I want to focus on when it comes to that game.

  • Q. You don't care where it's played?

  • COACH RICHT: I really just want to focus on trying to win that game. That's my goal from here on in (smiling). That will be my pat answer from here on in.

  • Georgia has lost 14 of the last 17 games played in Jacksonville, which is much closer to Gainesville than Athens.
  • Richt didn't know if the team would have another "Black Out" and wear black jerseys this year after Alabama crushed the Bulldogs in Athens the last time they did it. "The one thing about the blackout is that the fans don't buy into it, it's no good. You can wear black jerseys, any jersey you want. If you're going to say, We're going to ask the fans to all wear black, they have to have a spirit of cooperation. After what happened at Alabama last year, I'm not sure everybody would wear black."
  • Didn't realize how tough Georgia's schedule was this year. The Bulldogs play at Oklahoma State, vs. Arizona State and at Georgia Tech in their non-conference schedule. That's brutal.
  • Entering his ninth year at Georgia, Richt is the dean of SEC coaches, which kind of surprised him. "To think that you are going to be here nine years later in our league, in college football in general, the same team, the way things are going, you can't sit there and start predicting that that would happen," he said. "You know, every decision I ever made since I've been at Georgia has been to try to make a decision that would help us in the long run. I didn't try to do anything in a quick fix fashion. I was used to working for a man, named Bobby Bowden, he had so much success at one place, you know, that was attractive to me. I wanted to provide that same kind of stability for our players and our program and our staff and their wives and children, as coach Bowden did for me and my family. So everything I've done is to try to make sure we will be here for the long haul. But it's humbling, no doubt. I don't know what that means other than we're doing a little something right here."
  • Cox, on the leadership differences between him and Stafford: "We are different types of leaders. I'm more vocal that Matthew was. That's not a good thing or a bad thing. Matthew was a great leader, but the distinction is the team. I don't think he had enough help. This year a lot more guys have stepped us as leaders as well. Obviously there is pressure. But it's not something I think about. The success of this team is not all on my shoulders. There are 10 other guys that get the job done as well. I won't carry the team. We'll work together. And that is where our success will come from, the team."
  • DT Jeff Owens, on last year's hype versus this year's relative anonymity: "It's been a big difference this season. Before last season, it was, 'Georgia this, Georgia that.' Hype can get to you and that was a factor with last season."

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