Complete Teleconference Recap

Here's the complete transcript from Mark Richt's teleconference today following the dismissal of Willie Martinez, Jon Fabris and John Jancek...

On whether the coaches knew about this before today...
"No the coaches didn't know about my decision until today and I spoke to the team today at 4 o'clock."

On how difficult the decision was...
"I will say this, I spent a lot of time with these men. People may not have an idea of what we do, but we spend much more time together than we spend with our families. In season, we're probably working 80-hour weeks, if not 100. So you spend a lot of time with these men, you get to know these men, you meet with them daily, you watch their children grow up, you bleed with them, you have defeats with them and you have wonderful victories and celebrations with them, Christmas parties with them and all those things. We have accomplished quite a lot at Georgia over that time frame, so this has not been anything easy at all."

On whether those coaches will coach in the bowl game...
"I have asked them to, I welcome them to, I want them to. But I don't really want to comment on that right now because it's such a short time that even if one said yes, he may want to reserve the right to change his mind. Or if he's not sure, whatever. At this point, I hope they do, but I think we'll have a better idea here after a little time passes."

On what he'll be looking for in a new DC...
"The bottom line is we want to get back to the top of the Eastern Division and the top of the SEC, so we're -- that's the ultimate goal, that's what we're going after, so we want to bring in the finest coaches and men we think we can."

On how much influence public or booster pressure had...
"Zero. Zero."

On what his plan/timetable for finding replacements would be...
"The plan is to bring in the right people and the right coaches. Not only do you want coaches that are very competent but you want to bring in guys that will buy into the overriding philosophies I have as a head coach. So those things can't necessarily happen overnight and quite frankly I don't think it's right to be out there shopping around before I had an opportunity to talk to the men that I had to today. I'm not putting a timetable on anything. The goal is to make sure we get the right people in place."

On what Damon Evans has told him about spending...
"He has said to me and publicly that we're going to do what we need to do to compete at the highest level and do what's appropriate."

On whether he has spoken with recruits about this decision...
"At this moment I have not. Tonight I will spend -- the next couple of days I'll be just a little bit more active than I normally would be. The three coaches that we're talking about won't have any more -- Coach Martinez, Coach Jancek and Coach Fabris will not have any more recruiting responsibilities to Georgia even if they choose to stay for the bowl. So the other coaches and myself, we'll have to pick up a little bit more of the load in that area. But we're going to make sure we do that."

On whether this decision had been building over time...
"It was definitely not a one-year, knee-jerk reaction to this season, I can promise you that. It was more of a decision that was made over the course of time -- more time than just one year."

On what he expects from the defense...
"I want them to make sure that we're playing Georgia ball, playing with the type of speed and intensity that it takes to be champions. That's what we're looking for."

On whether the DC would be allowed to make his own hires...
"That definitely played into the decision. If you're going to bring in a top-notch person, I think every coordinator has one or two or more people that he has worked with in the past, that he's very comfortable with, that he knows exactly what he expects, exactly what the defense is all about. So I want them to have the room and freedom to be able to do that."

On whether Rodney Garner would be considered for the DC job...
"We have not talked about that at this point."

On what the status of the other coaches is...
"It's not the time of year to sign contracts, but all the other coaches are in good shape."

On the reaction from the players to the coaching changes...
"It's difficult to tell exactly what they might have heard before they got into the room. We know how news travels so quickly. That's part of the reason I wanted to make certain I had a chance to talk to the coaches and then not long after that meet up with the players. I didn't have any wild ideas that word wouldn't get out. I'm sure some of the guys knew something, some knew more than others, and some might have had no idea. So I think there was probably some shock and some sadness and there might have even been one or two that felt like this would afford them an opportunity for a clean start. Some guys maybe didn't do as well as they should have or do what he could do in the best way he could. He'll now get an opportunity to show the new coach what he can do."

On who he might want to bring in...
"I'm not going to discuss any of that right now. There'll be another time for that."

On how much influence the new DC will have on other hires...
"I would definitely want the coordinator to have some freedom to suggest other folks. I'm not going to say I'm guaranteeing you can bring in whoever you want, but I certainly would have to feel comfortable with whoever he had on the defensive staff with him. But I do understand that's very important. I was a coordinator at one time, and if I was going to take a new job, if I had someone with me that was knowledgeable of what we were doing and was a guy I knew I could trust with the type of work ethic I was going to expect and a guy who will battle with you through thick and thin, that's important for any coach to have. So I want to be able to afford that to whoever becomes the defensive coordinator."

On what today was like...
"It was a very difficult day, but as difficult as today was, the time that I spent deciding what to do was just as painful. So it's not been an easy time."