Mark Richt Guys Quotations

The only competition that (Stafford) is doing right now is just trying to learn what to do. The other three guys, even four guys when you count (walk-on Nick) Dalton, have a lot better idea of what to do, even on the basics of calling the cadence. He's a talented passer. I think we all know that, and you can tell he's going full speed as far as trying to learn, but there's so much to learn in such a short amount of time.

We're beat up and fatigued and there are some guys in Gainesville licking their chops. The guys on our defense are flat-out warriors. (Defensive tackle) Ray Gant would not come out of the game and probably should have a couple of times. You have to tip your hat to them and coach Willie Martinez and rest of our defensive coaches.

My goal is not to cause somebody grief or to make anyone upset, ... My goal is to love these guys and put them in a situation where they can grow up to be the best men they can be. We are an authority over them, and I have influence over them, and I take that responsibility seriously.

I am very excited about what's going to happen with D.J. Shockley, ... He is a great football player. I'm just happy for him. You know, guys can mope about the situation, or guys can decide, 'I just don't want to be here,' and take off. He didn't do that. Not only did he stay, but he thrived at Georgia. He is in great shape academically, and he has won community service awards for us. He's just a fantastic guy, a great man. He's probably the most respected player we have on the team.

Guys like D. J. make this business worthwhile.

I was a little befuddled, ... I've seen guys making plays all the time in practice, and I'm like, 'What's the problem?' But when you'd look at the tape, it really was just one guy making a mistake.

It is somewhat of a consideration, but if we think a guy is a player, we won't hold that against him. Sometimes you have a big lineman maybe who is dominating a bunch of little, bitty guys it's hard to get a feel, but there are also camps and combines and those type of things that let you get a little better look at some of these guys.

Our guys did a great job of doing what we had to do to win. It certainly wasn't a very beautiful victory, but to me it is.

I think his goal is to be a coach and he'll be able to do some things as a student assistant coach that a lot of people can't do. He'll get a couple of years of training that a lot of guys have to wait for until after they graduate.

Those guys are hard to tackle. Even if you call the right defense and have guys in the right positions, you still have to bring them down and we didn't.

The good news, ... is that some guys have been able to come in and get some experience.

We've got a lot of experience. We've got a lot more depth. These guys know what they're doing. They've played together a lot.

The same guy that recruited those guys also coached them and that shows. Those guys went from having a lot of potential to having a big impact and that doesn't happen by accident. It takes guidance.

It was a perfect day. The guys are coming off mat drills in good condition. They are flying around and responding to the coaching. It was a very sharp day.

Defensive guys can be, 'What the heck,' ... There was none of that. (From) coaches, there was none of that.

A lot of guys just really opened up, mostly seniors, and the players really responded in a very strong way, in an emotional way. You just felt the team being built. You felt a very strong bond. It looked like the ingredients were there, and you're thinking, 'We've got a chance to be pretty good here.' You just didn't know if it was going to equate into victories or not. So far it has.

It's been one of those years where not many people expected much of us. There weren't many guys getting all kinds of preseason accolades, maybe Max Jean-Gilles a little bit,

Everyone knew who David Pollack was, David Greene was. National-name guys. I don't know if we have a headliner on our team. We have a bunch of guys who are playing real hard, and together we've done a nice job.

It's come a little faster this year than normal. We just recruit real hard and if they're ready to commit, we'll take their commitment. We're real pleased to do that with the guys we've offered.

It was not an indication of a changing of the guard. I just wanted to see what those guys could do.

That's exciting to us to know that there are some national blue-chip players who are interested in Georgia and feel like they can make great things happen here. I think there are certain guys that we signed, certain guys that we got visits from, that we probably never could have gotten five years ago.

Their quarterback, from what I could tell, made the right decision almost every time. Even when you get them in your sights and you call the right defense and you get guys in position, you still have to get them down.

I'm proud of our guys. You always wonder how your team is going to react to some adversity. We were losing at the half, but the guys did a great job of doing what they had to do to win. Some people may not think it's a beautiful victory, but it is to me.

I'm real excited about this class, mainly because of the numbers. We really covered every major position other than the kickers. If these guys unite as a team, behave like they should and work hard like they should, we should be something special three or four years down the road.

I'm really pleased with what they've done in the clutch. Field position, momentum and points. That's what those guys have meant for us.

If you don't sign those guys on signing day and another team does, they will have a much better chance of having them in one semester from now. It's not a binding situation. It's a relationship thing.