Richt doesn’t expect any changes to coaching staff

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 pre-season 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.”

Etc.

— America’s consensus No. 1 team in preseason polls, Georgia dropped to No. 16 in the BCS standings released Sunday, 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.