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- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
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- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
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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.
Losing to GT three times in a row is what finished him off. That and hitching his wagon to Quincy Carter, which blew up in his face. I also don't think he kept the best team discipline.
Goff was unpopular with boosters from day one. He was hired by Coach Dooley, he wasn't on anybody else's list of candidates. Ray was dismissive of pretty much anybody's input outside of his staff.
I love this thread started by @BillyDawg1 . Like most all of you, I love CMR. And I love seeing him get so much support. I’ve never thought CMR got the credit he deserved both nationally and from many Dawg fans, for the success he had.
He was really close 2-3 times….but he also never let Georgia’s program fall like every other SEC program has in the last 25 years. Even Bama.
And CMR did it in a way that is seldom seen in coaching.
I love Kirby. Think he is the best coach for our beloved program. But there is no question that he is enjoying financial support that CMR never experienced.
How would CMR have done with college football’s largest recruiting budget, one of the largest support staffs and world class facilities?
Playing in random bowl games is no big deal…. I get it. But not being bowl eligible is a big deal…..and CMR and Kirby have never let that happen to Georgia.
Thank you CMR for starting it and Kirby for continuing it.
And thank you Dawgnation for showing love to a great man. He deserves it.
His worst mistake was hiring Brian Schottenheimer as his replacement for Mike Bobo.
CMR is among the greatest coaches we've had and the best person we could have possibly hired to represent the school and program. I'm all for putting the yeah buts behind us.
I think I’m saying the same type of thing you are in a different way.
Schotty was a mistake, Kirby hired the wrong OC, I'd rather we stop going down that road where Richt is concerned, he's earned our unqualified respect.
And I’ve never said anything to the contrary.
You miss the point, but I won't press it anymore.
@texdawg my brother was a HS coach here in the metro area for 35 years . He met nearly every SEC HC during that time frame and always stated if he had sons good enough to play in the SEC he would urge them to play for CMR. In his opinion the best coach and person to entrust a young man's well being and growth to . I wish him all the best and thank him for his tenure at UGA..DGD!