It's hard to say that a coach with an 86-26 record (49--21 in conference), two SEC conference titles, four SEC division titles and three BcS bowl appearances in eight-plus seasons is on the hot seat, but, suffice to say, Richt's rear end isn't exactly chilly right now.
Enter athletic director Damon Evans, who spoke to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and gave his head coach a (dreaded?) vote of confidence.
"We are in a business that is very public," Evans said. "When things go wrong, there are different reactions that come from people. But our head coach is very good at what he does, and I have the utmost confidence Mark Richt will continue to lead us in the right direction.
"I have confidence in our head coach to make decisions with his program, as I always have. ... I don't think right now is the time for us to talk about staff changes or anything of that nature. What we need to focus on is the task at hand. ... I know [Richt] will evaluate his program at the end of the season, as he always does."
Part of that evaluation will likely focus heavily on the defensive side of the ball, specifically coordinator Willie Martinez. As the prime target of fan venom, it doesn't seem like the DC will be long for Athens after yet another disastrous performance by his unit.
Evans told the Journal-Constitution that he will help Richt in those postseason evaluations in any way he can.
"I am here to provide advice and things of that nature and to work with him in any way that is appropriate. But I have utmost confidence in [Richt]."
Richt's only fault is his loyalty to his assistants. Martinez is a horrendous defensive coordinator and Mike Bobo is as predictable as the sun rising. Georgia has far too much talent to be 4-4 and to get smoked by Tennessee and Florida they way they did. After they get smoked by Tech later this year I'm sure there will be big changes on the staff.
Richt isn't the problem - he's a great coach that has turned that program around.
i think his assists are lacking, and fortunately for richt his fan base and the AD are smart enough to know better.
firing Richt would be utterly stupid and would only send Georgia into a tailspin again. Richt isn't the problem, glad to see they understand that.
Richt probably isn't the problem it will remain to be seen in the offseason if the proper moves will be made to correct the program's downward spiral.
All the problems that need to be addressed are on the coaches mainly Martinez, but Bobo isn't far behind. Martinez should be ashamed of his effort and should give back most of his 4ooK salary to the university. You make Jonathan Crompton look ALL WORLD the fact that you weren't fired by the second half says something about the loyalty of the HC. Your defense becomes a cure all for slumping SEC offenses it's embarrassing!
Bobo is a bad coach but he's basicly an extention of Mark Richt so maybe it's not his fault for running a predictable, uninspired, and medicore offense. Richt didn't even have an OC until 4 seasons ago and he was pressured into turning over those duties. I mean how did we not win the NC last year Stafford, Moreno, Massaquoi all STARTERS IN THE NFL! The Dawgs offense should have been unstoppable with that kind of talent not to mention AJ Green.
UGA still has top ten talent, but the coaching staff has become stale and complacent. None of the assistances or corrdinators seems to be in line for positions opening up at other schools which means they are all happy with their roles. And a national power can't just be a factory for NFL talent it must also produce top coaching prospects and right now none of UGA's coaches measure up.
Agreed with most of the comments here... firing Richt accomplishes nothing. His body of work show that he has more than a clue. OTOH, Richt's stoicism combined with his huge blind spot concerning his assistant coaches is making him look either clueless or arrogant.
I know that someone in his position may just want to focus on X's and O's and eschew PR moves. But in this case he needs to make some PR-friendly statements showing that he's pissed about the state of the program and that substantive change is coming after the season.