Sports

Should Tech's Johnson or UGA's Richt be on the Hot Seat?

If you're a Yellow Jacket or Bulldog supporter and your team loses for the fifth time this season Saturday afternoon, are you OK with your team's head coach coming back next season?

By Hunt Archbold 

Just for the sake of conversation, if you’re a Georgia Bulldog or Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket football supporter and your team loses the annual season-ending rivalry clash on Saturday, would you want your head football coach returning for the 2014 season?

There’s no doubt that Georgia’s Mark Richt and Tech’s Paul Johnson have their share of detractors. Just click on Fire Mark Richt.net or theFire Paul Johnson Facebook pageamong other sites to see how much some fans want a change. 

Both teams enter Saturday’s game in Atlanta with 7-4 records, but it’s hardly been the kind of season that supporters of either program had hoped for.

Without knowing how strong Florida State would be this year, Tech felt that it began the year with a shot at an ACC crown. But the Jackets have beaten the teams they were supposed to, and lost to the ones where they failed to step up and play solid football against. The Jackets are 0-8 against Clemson, FSU, Virginia Tech, Miami-Fla., and the Bulldogs the last two seasons, and just 28-22 overall since 2009.

While Johnson’s Tech teams are 4-3 against Clemson, they’re just 3-14 against the other ACC powers Virginia Tech, FSU and Miami, and have dropped four of five against the Bulldogs. His teams have been good enough to average seven to eight wins and a bowl spot (1-4 in bowls) each season, but many die-hard fans have grown restless with a run-oriented offense, which struggles when playing from behind, which often it is against the better teams Tech faces.

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Georgia has been besieged with injuries this year on offense, and it along with a young defense that’s struggled at times are a pair of reasons why the Bulldogs, who began the year ranked in the top 10 and were expected to make another run at a Southeastern Conference title, have dropped four games and failed to live up to expectations.

Richt is recognized as an outstanding recruiter and eight of his previous dozen Georgia teams have won at least 10 games and three others won eight or nine games. His teams are 11-1 against Tech and this season the Bulldogs made it a clean sweep of their longtime chief division rivals with wins over Tennessee (four straight victories), Florida (three straight), and South Carolina.

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But even with a win Saturday and a bowl victory, the Dawgs won’t reach double digit wins and supporters gripe that his teams, from year-to-year, rarely seem to achieve to the level of their talent.  

For supporters of both programs, it would appear to all be about expectations and overcoming the fear of telling your coach to hit the road, and then hiring a guy who is a lot worse than what you currently have.

But honestly, if your team loses for the fifth time this season Saturday afternoon against its state rival, are you OK with your head coach coming back next season?


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