On second thought, Mark Beard is going to stick around.
Beard, an offensive lineman and rising senior on the Georgia football team, informed the Bulldogs on Thursday of his intention to graduate this summer and transfer to another school. But given the night to think about his decision, Beard went back to head coach Mark Richt and asked if he could remain with the team. His wish was granted.
“Sometimes making a decision and living it out are two different things,” Richt said Friday. “As I’ve mentioned before, the same thing happened to me. As a player (at Miami) I told my coach I had decided to leave for what I thought were all the right reasons. But after a few days, I realized it was a bad decision and asked to come back. He took me back and I’m happy Mark will still be part of our program.”
That has actually happened a few times at UGA the past couple of years. Brandon Burrows, Ken Malcome, Marc Deas are among players who decided to transfer only to return within days or hours. Malcome actually decided a second time to leave and completed his eligibility elsewhere. Burrows and Deas graduated from Georgia this year.
A native of Adamsville, Ala., Beard played in 26 games (including two starts) mostly at left tackle over the past two years after transferring from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College. He is expected to contend for playing at either guard or tackle this fall.
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