Georgia coach Mark Richt went on ESPN Wednesday and addressed a variety of issues heading into the season. Here are some highlights:
On the possibility of recruiting Penn State players:
“If there’s an opportunity for a young man who would fit your program, I mean the NCAA has allowed those young men to have that choice. So if you want to afford that opportunity to a young man and he chooses to come, then great. If not, that’s his choice. … I think everybody’s within their rights to explore that.”
On his team's mindset after losing last year’s SEC championship game:
"We had 10 guys who applied for the NFL draft, so to speak, just to find out where they stood, and nine out of 10 decided to stay. And that was a wonderful thing for Georgia. Because they really had a gutcheck – do I really want to be here and why do I want to be here? A lot of them wanted to increase their chances of a higher draft but most of ‘em wanted to come back and play with their teammates one more time and do big things. And they know in order for us to do big things, we’ve got to finish better. So I think its been that type of offseason, where guys are paying the price for that."
On replacing dismissed RB Isaiah Crowell:
"We’ve got some pretty good backs still on campus. Some of the other young men will have maybe more of an opportunity than they would have had."
On true freshmen RBs Keith Marshall and Todd Gurley:
“Historically, true freshmen trailbacks have been able to come in and play big in anybody’s league, and they’re going to get that chance.”
On whether Georgia takes too many recruiting risks:
“We’re recruiting the same guys everybody else is recruiting. The bottom line is at Georgia, if something comes up and I find out about it, we’re going to deal with it and disclipline it. … That’s how guys learn. You make a mistake and hopefully you grow from it. … The goal is to try to help these guys when they walk out the door, be ready for life. And most of the time they can learn that lesson at Georgia.”
On facing Missouri’s passing attack without suspended defensive backs Branden Smith, Sanders Commings and Bacarri Rambo:
“One of the things we did is took Malcolm Mitchell, moved him to corner. He was there all spring. … Now he’s got a spring, a summer and a full camp on defense, so he’ll have no trouble picking it up. So we’ll be able to match up a little bit better with Malcolm there. And when the other guys come back, I’m sure he’ll play a little bit more at receiver as well. But he’s going to be a two-way player for us this year.”
For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis from SEC bloggers Daniel Lewis and Larry Hartstein, follow @CBSSportsSEC.
