HOOVER, Ala. — Give Georgia coach Mark Richt credit, he knows how to excite his team.
Richt, as he tends to do when it comes to the Bulldogs’ uniforms, decided to have a little fun as they unveiled the new Nike Pro Combat uniforms the team will wear against Boise State in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game.
He called a mandatory team meeting for 6 p.m. Wednesday, made it clear that tardiness would not be tolerated and gave no indication it would be anything other than a serious-minded gathering that was strictly business.
As the meeting-room clock struck 6, Richt surveyed the room and noticed a couple of players were missing. He turned to Brad “Moby” Hutcherson, football-operations director, and shouted, “Who’s not here, Moby?”
“Boykin and Murray,” Hutcherson replied.
This sent Richt into a rage. He slammed down his notebook and began to chastise the team. “This,” he yelled, “is exactly what’s wrong with this team. Here are two guys who are supposed to be leaders and they can’t even get here on time!
“Find ‘em and get ’em in here,” Richt snapped.
Moments later, quarterback Aaron Murray and cornerback Brandon Boykin burst into the room. “Looking for us, Coach?” they said.
Turns out they were in on the gag all along. The two captains were decked out in the new Nike uniforms that will make their debut in the Georgia Dome on Sept. 3.
“[The players’] jaws dropped,” Richt recounted Thursday. “Then they started to get excited in that room for at least five or 10 minutes. There was a lot of energy in there.”
“It was pretty sweet,” Murray said with a laugh.
Fans will get to see the new look at Picture Day on Aug. 20.
“I am glad the uniforms will be presented prior to the game rather than try to keep it a secret until game day and all that kind of stuff,” Richt said. “I’m glad it’s not going to be a such a shock.”
Murray gushes about Mitchell
Georgia has solid starting wide receivers in Tavarres King and Marlon Brown. But they’ve been looking for another “defense stretcher” who can be a legitimate vertical threat.
Sounds as if they may have identified one. Or at least Murray has.
Murray was gushing Thursday about freshman Malcolm Mitchell. Mitchell, who was recruited out of Valdosta as a cornerback, has blown away Murray during voluntary summer workouts.
“I haven’t seen speed and quickness like that for a while,” he said. “The other day he ran a post pattern and split our starting safety, and one of our starting corners. Shawn Williams, came up to me afterward and he’s like, ‘Aaron, I’ve never seen somebody with that kind of speed before.’”
Murray was asked if he thought Mitchell could be a factor on offense early in the season. “He’s ready to go,” he said. “The thing I like about him most is he works harder than anyone. I would say he knows already 70 to 80 percent of the playbook. He’s been studying every day.”
More suspensions for Dogs?
Richt, who confirmed the one-game suspension of tailback Carlton Thomas on Thursday, was asked if any other players would be suspended for games or ineligible this season: “Well, I’ll say this: If there’s anybody else we need to announce, we’ll announce it at the appropriate time, which is not today. We’ll see.”
Jones queries his coach
OK, maybe it wasn’t exactly a hard-hitting question, but UGA’s senior center surprised reporters when he grabbed a microphone in the grand ballroom, introduced himself — “Ben Jones, University of Georgia” — and asked Richt, “do you trust your offensive line this season?”
Richt actually didn’t answer the question directly but said, “Ben Jones is going to have a monster year and should become an All-American and win the Rimington Award.”
Chizik on the defensive
Auburn coach Gene Chizik spent more time answering questions about his confrontation with the NCAA’s chief of enforcement this summer than he did about the Tigers winning the recent BCS title.
Chizik actually answered three questions during the SEC Meetings in Destin in May about the reportedly contentious exchange with the NCAA’s Julie Roe Lach.
Chizik described it as a cordial exchange. “I didn’t see that it was at all an angry or agitating exchange at all from my opinion,” he said Thursday. “Again, it was a clarification of process. That’s how simple I can make it.”
The New York Times, citing six eyewitnesses, described it as confrontational, with the NCAA official saying, “you’ll know when we’re finished [investigating] Auburn when we tell you we’re finished, and we’re not finished.”
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