HOOVER, Ala. — Remarks Georgia coach Mark Richt made at SEC Media Days on Thursday revealed a lot about how he feels about the Bulldogs’ tailback situation and maybe even more about the players that recently vacated that position.
Bulldogs fans have been concerned since learning that Washaun Ealey and Caleb King, Georgia’s leading rushers each of the past two seasons, would not return this season. Earlier this week it was discovered that Georgia would be without a third tailback for the season opener because of a suspension.
But the message Richt delivered at the Wynfrey Hotel was intended to inject some calm into the nervous masses. Maybe, he offered, the attrition wasn’t such a bad thing.
“I’m just going to reserve my decision on whether or not we’re losing anything there or not,” Richt told reporters, who sequestered him before his main media address Thursday.
“We may be gaining, OK? A year ago, I can’t sit here and say I was ever really at a point where I was saying, ‘Man, our guys are being highly productive and kicking butt, and they’re guys I can count on. That wasn’t happening. By the end of this year I might say, ‘These guys were kicking butt and were guys I could count on.’
“So I wouldn’t sit here and say our running-back situation is worse now than it was a year ago. We’ll see on that.”
That was a two-pronged statement that addresses both the players who have departed and those who remain.
The Bulldogs, Richt pointed out, are only one player down at tailback for the season. They lost two, Ealey and King, but gained one. Junior Richard Samuel moved back to the position from linebacker last week. Junior Carlton Thomas, Richt clarified, will be suspended only for the Boise State game, the season opener Sept. 3.
Add five-star signee Isaiah Crowell, redshirt freshman Ken Malcome and walk-ons Brandon Harton and Wes Van Dyk, who Richt insists he would have no qualms playing, and the Bulldogs’ coach paints a tailback picture that for him looks like a glass more than half-full.
“These are talented guys who are going to get an opportunity to make plays,” Richt said. “I’ve seen so many young backs play well over the years. I’m not fretting right now. I don’t lay awake at night going, ‘Oh my goodness, what are we going to do now!’ I know that we’ve got some guys on this team that can be highly productive offensively.
“Now will we find a back that carries the ball 20 times a game? I don’t know. Maybe we will, maybe we won’t.”
Of course, Crowell, the No. 1-rated prep running back in America coming out of Carver-Columbus, is the one on whom people ultimately are pinning their hopes. Richt could not speak with any authority as to how Crowell is doing in Georgia’s off-season conditioning and voluntary workouts. Coaches aren’t permitted to watch or get reports from strength coaches.
So Richt deferred assessments to Crowell’s teammates who were in attendance.
“Very quick, very explosive,” senior center Ben Jones said. “I can’t wait to see how he is in pads because I heard he’s the man. And I hope he is because there’s going to be some big-play opportunities. He can break it, and he’s got power, too.”
Said quarterback Aaron Murray: “Oh, yeah. A lot of talent. All the speed and quickness in the world. I’m excited to see what he might do once he gets a little experience.”
So is Richt. Ever since the Bulldogs assembled their infamous “missing man” formation in late January that ultimately led to Crowell signing (and UGA to reporting a secondary violation), the head coach has been as eager as anyone to see what Crowell can do on this level.
“I’ve got a sense of anticipation, too,” Richt said. “I’m excited to find out what’s going to happen when we put the pads on for the first time and get him in an inside drill or go live and see what he does. I want to see how he handles getting hit real hard and how he handles the speed of the Southeastern Conference. I’m like any other fan would be, just curious to see how it’s going to go.”
Fortunately, Richt said, it won’t all be up to freshmen to carry the load early in the year. Samuel agreeing to return to running back gives Georgia a lead dog who can show the young pups the way.
“I do think moving Richard Samuel back was very much needed,” Richt said. “If anybody needed to be soothed a little bit, that should do it because he’s a very physically mature man and a mature man in the way he goes about his business. ... He’ll be in those meetings and will be a great example of how to prepare and how to play the position of tailback.”
