The Most Critical Spring for Georgia HC Mark Richt Since 2011
In 2011, Georgia head coach Mark Richt entered the offseason on one of the hottest seats in America.
Fresh off a two-year span that saw the Bulldogs go 14-12, including a 6-7 mark in 2010, Georgia had to win and win right now.
It didn't.
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Back-to-back losses to Boise State and South Carolina turned Richt's seat from hot to scorching before the Bulldogs rattled off 10 straight wins and claimed the SEC East title.
Richt won't enter this spring's practice session on the hot seat, but the next 15 practices in Athens represent the most important camp since he was coaching for his job in 2011.
Into the Great Wide Open
Even when Richt was coaching for this job, his quarterback position was set with then-sophomore Aaron Murray. Even after Murray left, it was a foregone conclusion from the moment the 2013 season wrapped up that Hutson Mason would be the guy.
Now, it's a mystery.
Junior Faton Bauta, sophomore Brice Ramsey and freshman Jacob Park will square off for the top spot on the depth chart, and Richt admits that it's as unstable as it has been in quite some time.
"It's just a lot of work to be done between now and that first game and a lot of competition to happen," he told Ryan Black of the (Columbus, Georgia) Ledger-Enquirer. "You know, the quarterback position is as wide-open as it's ever been since I've been at Georgia probably. It's going to be an interesting battle I would say."
Ramsey played well during limited action last season, particularly in mop-up duty vs. Kentucky when he went 5-of-5 for 80 yards and a touchdown. In the Belk Bowl, following Mason's injury, he did enough (4-of-9) to keep enough pressure off running back Nick Chubb and help lead Georgia to a 37-14 win.
At best, Richt needs to name a starter following spring practice, and at worst, the battle needs to be cut to two so that the trio of signal-callers aren't all splitting snaps during offseason conditioning and the early stages of fall camp.
With wide receivers Chris Conley and Michael Bennett gone, receivers like Justin Scott-Wesley, Malcolm Mitchell and others need to get as many reps with the eventual winner as possible during the offseason, and narrowing the competition down quickly is a good way to do that.
More Money, More Problems
Georgia has made it clear this offseason that it isn't going to mess around anymore and let the rest of the SEC lap it in the financial arms race.
Richt got a raise and a two-year extension that will pay him $4 million per year, $800,000 more than he made in 2014. Defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt got a bump from $850,000 to $1.3 million. New offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer came to Athens for a cool $950,000, which is $375,000 more than his predecessor, Mike Bobo, made last year, according to Seth Emerson of the The (Macon, Georgia) Telegraph (via the Ledger-Enquirer).
What's more, Georgia's version of a unicorn—an indoor practice facility—appears to be moving forward after years of work from Richt and his staff.
That's all great news for Richt, his staff and everybody associated with the program. It also means, though, that the status quo might not cut it for long.
Georgia won back-to-back SEC East titles in 2011 and 2012, but even in those years, the inexplicable loss is something that has haunted Richt during his career. Last year, that came on the First Coast in Jacksonville, Florida, when the Bulldogs fell to rival Florida 38-20 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated.
A bigger investment in the program and Richt, in particular, means expectations have been raised, and Georgia missing out on the SEC Championship Game due to bizarre losses won't be acceptable for much longer.
Is This the End?
The new edition of the SEC East will look much different than it has in years past, as the days of the East being down are coming to an end.
Tennessee has turned into a recruiting machine under third-year head coach Butch Jones, reeling in top-10 classes in each of the last two seasons. The young Vols earned a bowl berth following the 2014 season for the first time since 2010 and return virtually all of the pieces of a team that improved tremendously from Game 1 through Game 13 last year.
Florida has attempted to solve its offensive problems by ditching former head coach Will Muschamp in favor of Jim McElwain, who's well-schooled on how to move the football in a variety of ways. Talent has never been an issue in Gainesville, and the Gators—who typically have been competitive with Georgia even in down years—won't be down for long.
Missouri has quietly established itself as a division power, and South Carolina, despite several issues, has still had Georgia's number in four of the last five years.
Richt knows that the window to waltz through the division is closing in a hurry, and while his program will always be competitive, if he doesn't take advantage soon, the early part of this decade will undoubtedly go down as a missed opportunity for the Bulldogs.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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