rmcid
Sophomore
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2013
- Messages
- 786
I got the chance to attend a small gathering with Coach Richt and even get one of Lu's questions in. A few points I remembered (note that quotes are paraphrased and rely on my addled memory):
- On rule changes: "Getting an extra coach is very important. In football we have the worse coach to player ratio of any sport. With over 100 guys out there and only 10 coaches, it gets harder to give the individual attention needed. That's a rule that us in the trenches all know makes sense. As to an early signing period, I am not sure. We are going to have to live with it and see how it goes. Maybe it needs to get tweaked. Now it's great to have a guy commit in December and not have to babysit him until February, but when you push signing up, you push up visits and everything else. I'm all about protecting the sanctity of the season. I want to be game-planning and focused on my team during the season and we don't want to interfere with their high school season they need to be focused on."
- On meeting with recruits: "I'm a 57 year old man. If I have a 17 year old in my office, I'm pretty sure I can get him to commit to me if I want to. But if it's easy to get that, it will be just as easy for someone to flip him later. I just want him to understand who we are and what we offer. Why we are going to be there for him during and after. I rather he leave thinking 'I should have committed' or 'I wish I had committed' rather than 'why did I rush in to that' or did I make a mistake.' That's why I get a lot of calls a day or two later when they've reflected and really want to commit."
- On recruiting pitch: "I like to talk about us and what we have to offer. I don't like talking about other guys. Though not everyone does that, I'll tell ya. I just want them to understand who we are and want to be part of our family. We have wonderful things to offer. I told the BOT, I don't need the biggest bat in recruiting, but I'd like the standard size please, which is why it's so great to get the new IPF with all the football facilities. Now there is nothing at all we are missing or needing to explain while kids look around going 'this is Miami, where are all the cool things I saw at X or Y?"
- On commits: "They can be are biggest asset. They can recruit their butts off for you. Mostly you just want them to feel connected and part of our program. I'm on a group chat with all of our public commits. I can text them all whenever I want to get a message out to them. You want them to feel part of the program.
- On gameday (this one's for [MENTION=3]LuCane[/MENTION]): I asked him who his eyes and ears in the box where. "Jon is in the room with me coaching quarterbacks with me everyday. He knows what we are looking for and what we are trying to do. He'll yell out a Rat call from a Cover 1 or something pre-snap. He's talking about the coverages pre-snap everytime. Also post-snap. What they did differently or what he sees. I wish I was up there. You can really see everything, so I rely on that. I guess I would miss stuff I see on the field too though. Like sometimes I'll just look over and say 'that boy ain't keeping up with Ahmmon Rich" in a way I couldn't see from the box. And Searles has a grad assistant up there, they are like blood brothers, that's his guy, and he's talking all about the front 7 and the line while Jon's talking coverages."
A lot of Richt's focus was on how this is a family. He feels he was called by God to help these young men and that's why he's never followed the opportunities to go pro. He wants to help them become better men and prepare them for their lives after football as well. "You can make guys do whatever you want by laying down the rules and throwing out whoever doesn't follow them. But what you want is for guys to understand why the rules are there and why they matter and how it will help them." He prefers coaches who are married with kids. "I want my coaches to know what it means for these families to entrust their kids to us. I gave my son Jon to a coach for 4 years and I said teach him. And that takes trust. You want them loved and cared for. But you also want them disciplined and taught and made men. You got to get after them but then you got to hang on their necks and love 'em too."
Working on a U-Connect program so that after football, we can help them with their real jobs. They need to understand that even the most successful are done by 35. Even those lucky enough to land in the league for a year or two or three, even if they make a million dollars; after the government takes half, and your agent gets a cut, and you get something nice for your momma, once you buy a car you don't have all that much left saved in the bank. Need to think about life after football.
These are the things I thought would be of most interest to you all. I generally just get to add really crappy jokes, so I'm glad I got to share this during the off season. PM me for crank details.
- On rule changes: "Getting an extra coach is very important. In football we have the worse coach to player ratio of any sport. With over 100 guys out there and only 10 coaches, it gets harder to give the individual attention needed. That's a rule that us in the trenches all know makes sense. As to an early signing period, I am not sure. We are going to have to live with it and see how it goes. Maybe it needs to get tweaked. Now it's great to have a guy commit in December and not have to babysit him until February, but when you push signing up, you push up visits and everything else. I'm all about protecting the sanctity of the season. I want to be game-planning and focused on my team during the season and we don't want to interfere with their high school season they need to be focused on."
- On meeting with recruits: "I'm a 57 year old man. If I have a 17 year old in my office, I'm pretty sure I can get him to commit to me if I want to. But if it's easy to get that, it will be just as easy for someone to flip him later. I just want him to understand who we are and what we offer. Why we are going to be there for him during and after. I rather he leave thinking 'I should have committed' or 'I wish I had committed' rather than 'why did I rush in to that' or did I make a mistake.' That's why I get a lot of calls a day or two later when they've reflected and really want to commit."
- On recruiting pitch: "I like to talk about us and what we have to offer. I don't like talking about other guys. Though not everyone does that, I'll tell ya. I just want them to understand who we are and want to be part of our family. We have wonderful things to offer. I told the BOT, I don't need the biggest bat in recruiting, but I'd like the standard size please, which is why it's so great to get the new IPF with all the football facilities. Now there is nothing at all we are missing or needing to explain while kids look around going 'this is Miami, where are all the cool things I saw at X or Y?"
- On commits: "They can be are biggest asset. They can recruit their butts off for you. Mostly you just want them to feel connected and part of our program. I'm on a group chat with all of our public commits. I can text them all whenever I want to get a message out to them. You want them to feel part of the program.
- On gameday (this one's for [MENTION=3]LuCane[/MENTION]): I asked him who his eyes and ears in the box where. "Jon is in the room with me coaching quarterbacks with me everyday. He knows what we are looking for and what we are trying to do. He'll yell out a Rat call from a Cover 1 or something pre-snap. He's talking about the coverages pre-snap everytime. Also post-snap. What they did differently or what he sees. I wish I was up there. You can really see everything, so I rely on that. I guess I would miss stuff I see on the field too though. Like sometimes I'll just look over and say 'that boy ain't keeping up with Ahmmon Rich" in a way I couldn't see from the box. And Searles has a grad assistant up there, they are like blood brothers, that's his guy, and he's talking all about the front 7 and the line while Jon's talking coverages."
A lot of Richt's focus was on how this is a family. He feels he was called by God to help these young men and that's why he's never followed the opportunities to go pro. He wants to help them become better men and prepare them for their lives after football as well. "You can make guys do whatever you want by laying down the rules and throwing out whoever doesn't follow them. But what you want is for guys to understand why the rules are there and why they matter and how it will help them." He prefers coaches who are married with kids. "I want my coaches to know what it means for these families to entrust their kids to us. I gave my son Jon to a coach for 4 years and I said teach him. And that takes trust. You want them loved and cared for. But you also want them disciplined and taught and made men. You got to get after them but then you got to hang on their necks and love 'em too."
Working on a U-Connect program so that after football, we can help them with their real jobs. They need to understand that even the most successful are done by 35. Even those lucky enough to land in the league for a year or two or three, even if they make a million dollars; after the government takes half, and your agent gets a cut, and you get something nice for your momma, once you buy a car you don't have all that much left saved in the bank. Need to think about life after football.
These are the things I thought would be of most interest to you all. I generally just get to add really crappy jokes, so I'm glad I got to share this during the off season. PM me for crank details.
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