So where does this leave the saga? Well Benedict is going to Virginia Tech, so in my mind, the saga is dead. It seems as if the split was indeed mutual, he didn't end up at Florida and I'd bet $100 that says Richt called Beamer and told him to take a chance on the kid if he wanted to be patient. Why? Well, that's the kind of guy Richt is and it also opened up a scholarship in an area where patience wasn't a virtue.Q: I understand this mainly had to do with not seeing eye-to-eye with new strength and conditioning coach Joe Tereshinki about training techniques with respect to your injury. I know he’s employing some old-school philosophies with a lot of lower-body work. Is that what this was about?A: “Coach Tereshinski came in and he has his own philosophy and he and the coaching staff believe that it’s going to work and there’s no reason not to believe that. So, there were a few things going on and I wasn’t able to resolve that (emphasis added). Of course I hope Georgia does well, extremely well. I’ve told all my buddies back there I wish them the best of luck and I really believe it will be successful.”
Benedict had his chance(s). We stuck by him when no one else would and we wanted progression, whereas, legitimately or not, we couldn't get it from him. It made sense to move on and I'm glad that Benedict found a home in a place where he wouldn't have to go up against this team. In my opinion, everyone wins.
Look, I didn't like Benedict leaving just as much as anyone did, but that's where we're at. This season is going to be defined not by the hole the players put us in as much as the hand we're dealt. Benedict leaving was a personal choice because we went too hard in the weight room (the horror). King left because he couldn't cut it in the classroom. Ealey left because he couldn't cut it anywhere, from being responsible to buying in. I'm not saying it's addition by subtraction, but if we're going to begin a new culture at Georgia, it's got to start with eliminating the old culture, right?
I know I'm a Richt apologist, but I tend to believe that when a man has delivered some of the best UGA teams we've seen in the past 40 years, he deserves a little bit of the benefit of the doubt. Those '02, '03, '05 and '07 teams were flat loaded with playmakers. That doesn't happen if SOMEONE doesn't know what they're doing. Should Richt have acted sooner in regards to firing Martinez? Probably. However, how many people right now would accept Grantham as the next guy to be the head coach of this program? My guess is that it's pretty high. If that's the case, shouldn't we as a fan base give Richt a little bit of the benefit of the doubt for hiring Grantham in the first place? So, shouldn't he deserve one more go-round?
My thought is let's ride this train and see where it takes us. It could lead to change or it could lead to championships. The only way we're going to know is to buy a ticket and take the bumps in the road as they come. We don't know the destination, but when we get to the final stop, we'll find out if this was worth it or not. Until then, let's just ride this thing out.
That's just my two cents. I could be wrong, but I wouldn't lie to you, buttercup, would I?
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Yes. That is fine. I mean it is what it is, isn't it ? We have been dropping like flies all Summer long - one and then another; and, well it is 10 off the team in the last year now.
ReplyDeleteAnd, more yet to come, quite obviously.
What we are left with is a depth chart issue on the OL.
And, the RB.
And, the FB.
And, the WR.
And, the Secondary.
And, someone anyone who will tackle the opposing QB.
It is quite extensive.
I would like to point out that we have our softest schedule of all-time, this season.
The SEC East is down. Way down.
The SEC West has 3 of the top football programs in the nation in Alabama, Arkansas and LSU.
We play none of them.
If we do, it is The SEC Championship Game and we have no hope against their teams - who are not with all these holes we clearly have.
Las Vegas is laying odds we lose to Florida, lose to South Carolina and lose to Boise State.
Missy State and Auburn are the type games we manage to lose one of every year too.
All I ask is that, please God forget all the Excuses, Kool-Aid, Apologies, etc. and can we please all be in agreement that we need to have this coaching staff assembled by Mark Richt and the players remaining to GATA ?
I am so disappointed with the 3-9 vs the teams finishing in the AP Poll Top 10 all 10 years and another 10 Losses vs teams who did not even finish in the AP Poll Top 25 all 10 years to-boot.
I don't want to hear what a nice guy our coach is. I want to beat the truly great teams and to not lose to the truly horrid teams.
And, don't tell me how great we are going to be, or were.
2007 we beat no one who finished in the AP Poll Top 10. And, we lost to 2 really lousy teams, in addition.
2005 we did beat # 6 LSU for The SEC Championship, but this coaching staff told us how great Joe Tereshinski III would be for us and we ended up with 3 Losses. LSU beat 2 teams who finished in the AP Poll Top 10 in 2007.
2002 we beat no one who finished in the AP Poll Top 10 and we lost to a team who finished not in the Top 25 of the Coaches' Poll - in fact, only Auburn ended in the Top 25 Coaches' Poll 2002 from all The SEC teams.
2003 was not a great year either; we certainly beat no team who finished in the AP Poll Top 10.
So, what are we left with ?
That this is all we are capable of over the last 40 years ? I think we can do much more than this. I would like to think we are not settling for what has been rather mediocre teams playing soft schedules and losing to 1 of those every year, too. And, losing to all the truly great teams in addition.
I frankly am more than a little tired of it.
I want the coaches and the players and the fans to quit telling me how great we are or were and actually do something such as beat the great teams and not lose to the bad teams.
Seems we should be unanimous on that.
That we tell them it is unacceptable.
And, dream that it might actually be something we all wanted to do.
Instead of telling me we have already done it.
We haven't. You know that.