Mark Richt's SEC Conference Call Comments

See this tag to find links to all coach comments from the April SEC coach conference call.

• Spring is a great time of year. He loves the weather and loves figuring out dynamics of a new team. The competition for some spots was exciting. Bringing in a new defensive staff "kept everyone on their toes." He likes the new schemes being implemented throughout the team.
• New defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s experience in college and NFL coaching was attractive. He has coached under a lot of good guys, and his football IQ is high. His expertise with defensive line play is high. He's intense and energetic.
• He believes Joker Phillips and Derek Dooley understand the SEC. "Every once in a while you get a gentleman that might come from across the country and have an idea what it’s about. Until you really coach in it, you don’t really know for sure." Becoming a head coach for first time is a bigger shock than changing leagues though.
• He's not surprised about the Logan Gray situation. The post spring depth chart doesn’t guarantee anything for the fall. Gray is deciding if he wants to stay and if so, which position he'll play. This kind of thing happens more often than most know, but usually things are handled in private. There's no timetable for Gray making a decision.
• During the spring evaluation period, recruiting Georgia is the first priority. Coaches may go outside the state before doing their in-state tour some years, but this year all of the coaches will get their Georgia rounds done in the first two weeks of the four week period. They will take care to make out-of-state visits "special" this year.
• He expects Trinton Sturdivant to be ready by preseason practice. Sturdivant says this repair feels better than the first one. They will take their time with him to make sure he’s healthy, but he's projected to be fine.
• He will consider A.J. Green as a return man, per Green’s wishes. Richt is not concerned about him getting injured during a return.
• He thinks SEC expansion is doubtful. He would "be surprised" if it happened soon. He thinks the 12-team format works great. Other conferences going to 12 makes more sense than a superconference, which is more like having two different leagues.
• The team is starting from scratch schematically on defense, but not personnel-wise. They have a lot of good players there.
• The switch to 3-4 came as a result of hiring Grantham, who he thought was the best man for the job. He didn’t try to go find a 3-4 coach specifically. Georgia has the personnel to be 1-deep and maybe 2-deep across the board on defense, but they now must recruit to fill the system properly.
• Rising coordinator salaries are a result of "the market." He tries to be sensitive to how it looks to the academic side, but it’s not "out of whack" based on high SEC football revenues.