Richt not calling plays anymore

[JohnDeere 0]

TimesDaily

Abandoning play-calling best for Richt

Last Updated:July 27. 2007 11:00PM

For six years, Georgia coach Mark Richt was, to use his words, "in there chopping wood like everyone else."

Now, as he enters his seventh season, he's out of the woods and able to take in the whole forest.

And he likes the view.

Richt, who played quarterback at Miami (Fla.), spending most of his career backing up Jim Kelly, made a name for himself as an offensive guru during his 14 years at Florida State. Play calling was his strength with the Seminoles and he continued to do it at Georgia.

Despite the extra demands it put on him, to be head coach and offensive coordinator, Richt stuck with it. He was among the last of a dying breed.

As Georgia assistant coach Mike Bobo developed and earned his stripes, Richt let him call a few plays here and there, including the 2-minute drill. But Richt was still in charge.

That changed before the Bulldogs' regular season finale a year ago against Georgia Tech. That week, Richt secretly passed along the play-calling duties to Bobo, who hardly had a glorious debut as the Bulldogs eked out a 15-12 win (getting one touchdown on a fumble return).

Still, it was a win, and Georgia got another one against Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. After that, Richt made it official: Bobo was the offensive coordinator and he would call the plays.

"(Bobo) has matured to the point that I think he'll do a better job than I was doing, so I think that's healthy for our program and I think it's healthy for me," Richt said Friday during SEC Media Days. "I'm able now to see this program from a different perspective."

Then again, no SEC team has won more games in the past five years than Georgia, so his perspective (and his play calling) must have been on the money.

That leaves South Carolina's Steve Spurrier as the only SEC coach to call his own plays, and he said Wednesday that when it's time for him to stop calling plays, it's time for him to stop coaching.

Richt, who is 61-17 at Georgia, is nowhere near done. He hasn't even hit his prime yet. However, he has entered a new phase of his career.

He might pick up an axe from time to time, but his days of copping wood are pretty much over. Like a lot of coaches, he's moving more toward a CEO-type role, who lets his assistants do their jobs while he makes sure everything is headed in the right direction.

"It's definitely a new role for me," he said. "I'm excited about it. At first I was leery of the decision, but now that I've made it, I'm really excited. It's a little bit of a revival for me."

Whether it turns into a good move for the Bulldogs remains to be seen. Bobo is 2-0 calling the plays, and his sophomore quarterback, Matthew Stafford, who went 6-2 as a starter last season, is destined for stardom.

So far, so good.

John C. Frierson can be reached at 740-5730 or john.frierson@timesdaily.com.

[Longtrainn 2]

Dang, so now I guess whenever they run the ball successfully they'll keep on doing it. I was hoping they wouldn't figure that out.

[quietfan 233]

Then again, no SEC team has won more games in the past five years than Georgia...

So why fix what ain't broke?

Why tamper with what works? Ask the Coke/"NEW" Coke company about the wisdom of changing a formula that works and is popular?

[bellefay1 1]

I thought Bobo was calling games late last year.

[AUdmd07 2]

Dang, no more running plays near the goal line with the clock winding down and no timeouts.

[SouthLink02 8]

Then again, no SEC team has won more games in the past five years than Georgia...

So why fix what ain't broke?

Why tamper with what works? Ask the Coke/"NEW" Coke company about the wisdom of changing a formula that works and is popular?

Because it sucked 50% of the time

Richt was either on or way off.

For every Auburn game, we have a Colorado/Ole Miss offensive game.

Richt handing it over is good, imo but Bobo is unproven (though he did call the Tech/AU/VAtech games