GEORGIA: Richt: Staff changes unlikely

With some of his assistants, particularly defensive coordinator Willie Martinez, coming under fire from fans, Georgia coach Mark Richt declared Sunday that he expects no changes on his staff for next season.

“I really don’t,” Richt said. “I really don’t.”

He quickly added: “We’re going to get better, and we’re going to do a better job next year. I can promise you that.”

On the day after Georgia’s regular season ended with a 45-42 loss to Georgia Tech, Richt indicated that just about everything except staff changes will be on the table.

“We’re going to start at the top and go to the bottom, or vice versa,” he said. “Everything we do, we’re going to critique it and be willing to do whatever it takes to get better.

“There are so many areas you could improve, and it’s really not a whole lot different than [after] any other season. … But it might be with even a finer-tooth comb than in years past. We just have to be real open and honest in our evaluations of ourselves.”

One thing Richt indicated will be done differently: more live tackling drills in spring and preseason practices. Poor tackling haunted Georgia in the second half against Tech.

“I’m not sure we tackled enough [in practice this year],” Richt said. “We had so many injuries early on in fall camp … that we were more cautious than we had been in the past in terms of live tackle-to-the-ground drills. And in hindsight I think we missed that.”

Richt’s comment about not expecting staff changes constituted his second show of support for Martinez in two days. Asked about his defensive coordinator shortly after Saturday’s game, Richt said: “A lot of times when things don’t go exactly the way you want, people try to find someone to blame. And I’m not going to do that.”

Stafford, Moreno and NFL chatter

A decision made by NFL owners at a meeting in Atlanta in May could push Georgia’s Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Mor-eno toward the 2009 NFL draft.

The owners voted at that meeting to end the league’s current collective bargaining agreement early —- a complicated process that basically puts pressure on the NFL and its players’ union to negotiate a new deal by March 2010.

One issue expected to be on the table in those negotiations is the current system of compensating rookie players, particularly high draft picks. Some owners have said less money should go to unproven rookies and more to proven stars, leading to speculation a rookie wage scale might be implemented to reduce the guaranteed signing bonuses that go to draft picks.

It’s anyone’s guess what will emerge in the give-and-take of negotiations with the players’ union, which currently is seeking a new leader after the death in August of longtime executive director Gene Upshaw.

But the mere possibility of unfavorable changes in the draft for 2010 and beyond is one factor that Stafford, Moreno and other underclassmen eligible for the 2009 draft will consider.

Etc.

> America’s consensus No. 1 team in preseason polls, Georgia (9-3) dropped to No. 16 in the BCS standings, No. 17 in The Associated Press media poll and No. 19 in the USA Today coaches’ poll.

> Richt said it’s “not guaranteed” Georgia will play in the Capital One Bowl. But assuming Alabama and Florida are bound for BCS games, the Capital One is contractually required to select the SEC team with the next best record (Georgia) or a team within one win of that record (Mississippi).

> Given Blair Walsh’s continued struggles on kickoffs, Richt said it’s possible freshman walk-on Jamie Lindley will get a chance to win that job for the bowl.