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Comments
I thought so then and I think so now. It should have been a no brainer.
Couldn't disagree with you more.
Dooley won the national championship in 1980 with a 12-0 record. He then won between 7 and 11 games every season in the 80's until retirement. If you want to compare apples to apples, that 12-0 record is equal to a 15-0 record today, and those other seasons are more like 9 to 12 wins today. So yeah, Goff inherited a very strong program.
Also, I went out of my way to acknowledge Goff's standing as a DGD. I'm an alumnus and a lifelong fan.
I don't think Ray was the best representative we could have had, but I never wanted him to fail. I'll never forget his line about house painters telling him how to do his job when refering to fans criticizing him.
Yeah,
I remember how he used to catch H.e.l.l on his call-in show
Yep,
Should have finished his career between the hedges.
For those that haven't heard CMR's legendary mentor Bobby Bowden is terminally ill with pancreatic cancer. I have to say Coach Bowden was and is one of my favorite CFB coaches. He was the main reason I was so enthusiastic when Richt was first hired. If for nothing else Coach Bowden's brand of football was never boring. You could always count on an entertaining game filled with plays you just didn't see that often. Aside from that he is one of the most gracious, humorous, and kind men you will ever meet.
Prayers up for both Coach Bowden and Coach Richt.
Can't give this enough up-votes. Once heard CMR give a personal talk about Bowden's impact on his life and it was powerful stuff.
Ehh. An argument can be made in the other direction. Dooley did win 9 games in 1988, but the record does not reflect the strength of the program. The roster was in shambles. In 1989, Goff had a future World Wrestling Champion, Ben Smith, Mo Lewis, and Rodney Hampton. It was even worse in 1990, when both Vanderbilt and Kentucky had more All-SEC selections than Georgia, which only had Mo Lewis. Goff really only inherited Georgia’s reputation.
If I could go back to 2001, would I want us to hire anyone other than Mark Richt? No! From the day he accepted, he brought energy and excitement back to Athens. We were a team unable to beat TN or FL and struggled against KY and SC. We were a team with a 58% winning percentage under Goff and Donnan. Under Coach Richt this jumped to 74% which is just below Kirby who sits at 79%. Coach Richt embraced UGA and Athens. I remember him saying at his opening press conference that he told Katharyn to get all their kids Georgia red clothes and get rid of other shades of red. His family loves us, and we love them back. It was a different atmosphere that we hadn’t had in 11+ years, and he was a breath of fresh air. He made us relevant again, and he did it in a way we could be proud of. I, like the rest of DawgNation, pray God’s peace and grace for him and Katharyn.
Dooley had a 72% winning percentage.
That fell to 57% under Goff.
Donnan built us back up to 68%.
Richt improved that to 74%.
Kirby has bumped that up to 79%.
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The biggest drop off came under Goff. (15%).
The biggest improvement came under Donnan. (11%).
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Three conclusions:
1) Richt is underrated, given that he outperformed Dooley.
2) It is terribly unfair to lump Donnan in with Goff.
3) We are in great hands with Kirby.
Did I read somewhere that CMR lives in Athens now? I met him once at the gas station across from Butts-Mehre when I was a student. He was super nice, of course. I’ve always been and will always be a big fan.
Nothing would have been better than seeing CMR hoist a championship trophy at Georgia.
For real. If he had gotten over the hump in 2012 and was able to retire like he wanted it would’ve been incredible. No dry eyes in my apartment if it went down that way.
I saw them both close up as well. You are right that Goff was much worse than Donnan. I don't hate Donnan. Richt was a clear upgrade though. Donnan could never have done with his players what Richt did with them. Someone like Donnan is kind of like what UTjr. needs right now. Just someone who can come in and beat the Kentucky, Vandy, South Carolina and Ole Miss's of the world fairly regularly. You've got to learn to crawl before you can walk.
An insider told me that although Donnan was a good coach, he wasn't popular with the big boosters. Second, maybe third, hand information, so take it with a grain of salt.