If you're a decision-maker with Georgia's football program, and if you wish to give your talented Bulldogs their best shot at winning a national championship this season, you just can't spend the offseason having two, three or four of your players arrested.

You just can't.

The Bulldogs have had seven and counting, by the way.

It makes you wonder if coach Mark Richt jumps whenever his Blackberry beeps. "Well," he said, after a long pause over the phone, "the main thing is, I'm sad when anything like [the arrest of a Georgia player] happens. Just like you would if it was your own son. You're sad when somebody in your own family makes a mistake or gets hurt or whatever it might be. When things like this come up, you hate to hear it. But these guys are human. They do make poor decisions at times."

That's true, especially since we're talking about those between the often wild ages of 18 to 22. Richt also likes to suggest that the bulk of the 130 or so players in his program are closer to Wally Cleaver than Eddie Haskell. Several Bulldogs took a mission trip to Honduras and worked on summer projects spanning from Habitat for Humanity to Camp Sunshine.

Plus, the publicly laid-back image of Richt is somewhat of a fraud. Just ask the Florida Gators. They were stunned along with everybody else last season in Jacksonville after Richt ordered his Bulldogs to charge into the end zone after their first touchdown and celebrate enough to get a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The point is, Richt swings a big stick behind the scenes before and after one of his players becomes a knucklehead.

"I just wish everybody could see how often we do have those conversations. How often we do sit down with these guys as a group, as individuals, as positions coaches in meetings, and it's a constant message," said Richt, who frequently ignores the university's guidelines for punishment by doubling the penalties for his players.

Added Richt, "The bottom line is, they're going to pay a price for what they did, and then we move forward. In the meantime, shoot, I can't tell you how many good things are going on this summer. The great majority of them are working their tails off. They're running. They're lifting. From what I hear from our seniors and our leaders, they're showing up, and they're doing well in school."

Little of that matters when some of your Bulldogs are spending more time taking mug shots than publicity shots. One guy was arrested and charged with allegedly fracturing the eye socket of another student in a fight. Two other guys were arrested after they were accused of rubbing the belly of a pregnant woman against her wishes. Three guys had alcohol-related arrests, including a DUI. Another guy was charged with speeding and carrying a concealed weapon, but the latter charge was dropped.

If you didn't know better, you'd think a bunch of Bulldogs are getting full of themselves since they will likely be ranked first or second in most preseason polls. "Uh, I don't think it's that at all," Richt said. "I wish I could tell you what I know about every situation, because I don't think you would relate those two things at all."

Well, whatever is causing these Georgia knuckleheads, Richt and his folks need to find more ways to stop it, like now.

tlmoore@ajc.com