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Saturday, August 5, 2006
Richt best at creating best QB
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Athens — Forget about Blake Barnes, Joe Cox and Matthew Stafford. The toughest opponent for Joe Tereshinski regarding the starting quarterback job at the University of Georgia involves those shadows larger than Sanford Stadium.
Those shadows belong to David Greene and D.J. Shockley, the dynamic duo along the way to becoming solo sensations during the Bulldogs’ past. Those shadows only will lengthen during the Bulldogs’ future for Tereshinski or whoever becomes their successor. That’s because, in case you haven’t been paying attention during the Mark Richt era, those shadows have Georgia going from Tailback U. to the College of Runners and Passers.
We’re talking about great passers with brilliant leadership skills, exemplified by Greene, who became the winningest quarterback in NCAA Division I-A history, and by Shockley, who was an SEC legend after his only season as a starter.
“Of course, so much of it depends on Mark Richt, which is why you’re getting such excellent quarterback play, and why they want to come here,” said Vince Dooley, the Georgia icon, who knows a little something about gifted players and coaches. Five years ago, before Dooley became the Bulldogs’ athletics director emeritus, he hired Richt from Florida State, where six of his quarterbacks as the Seminoles’ offensive coordinator reached the NFL.
Added Dooley, speaking on Saturday before Georgia’s first practice of the summer, “Regarding the desire of quarterbacks to play here, we just saw an example of it with the player coming from Dallas [Stafford, considered by some recruiting gurus as the nation’s top high school quarterback]. And then you had Shockley, who could have left — and maybe should have under all rights — but didn’t. And he didn’t, I think, because of Mark Richt.”
It’s all about Mark Richt, entering his sixth year of easing Georgia away from becoming only significant regionally. The Bulldogs are starting to bark nationally, partly because of Richt’s wisdom regarding quarterbacks. Upon arriving at Georgia, he had to choose between the capable Cory Phillips, who started five games the season before, or the promising Greene, and you know the rest of that story. Then Richt did the correct thing for Georgia by selecting Greene over Shockley, but it was the wrong thing for Shockley, who blew years of his football life by not transferring.
The point is, you just know Richt will get it right again, despite an inexperienced senior (Tereshinski), despite a sophomore who has thrown just three passes (Barnes), despite a redshirt freshman (Cox), despite a true freshman (Stafford) and despite those shadows of Greene and Shockley.
Said Richt on Saturday during his news conference, “I talked to the QBs just a little bit today and said basically the same thing that I’ve been saying to the media and our fan base. That is, we do not practice in front of 93,000. We don’t practice on national television. We don’t let our guys get hit in scrimmages right now. So a lot of things that decide whether a guy can handle the job or not won’t be seen until you play a game or two. So even though two guys are battling out, and if that guy at No. 3 might think he’s out of the picture, he might not be, depending on how the other guys react in those games to starting.”
Most likely, Tereshinski will be one of Georgia’s primary guys. Not only has he played in more SEC competition than the others, but Richt says he is the leading candidate to start.
For now. As for later, Tereshinski’s longevity will depend on his ability to conquer opponents along with those shadows. He has a plan for the latter, and that involves embracing those shadows instead of shunning them.
“Well, D.J. was a very vocal leader, and he found a way to rally the team around him and get them geared toward a common goal,” Tereshinski said. “If I can find the common themes with this team and gear them toward that goal, I feel like I’ve accomplished something. And David Greene, he was in competition his whole career, and throughout that time he remained cool. He remained confident and calm and was able to take the team to the SEC championship a couple of times. If I can be as poised as him, then I feel like, personally, I have an advantage.”
Here’s the biggest advantage for Tereshinski, Stafford, Barnes, Cox or even Uga VI, if he becomes the Bulldogs’ quarterback: Mark Richt.
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