Richt on Logan, Recruiting & Expansion

Some highlights from today's SEC coaches teleconference call with Mark Richt...

On Logan's decision...
“He wants to play, and right now he’s not sure that he can. I made it real clear – clear as a bell – that we just had a post-spring depth chart that did not name anybody the starter at any position, including quarterback. So the way it is, he’s No. 2 behind (Aaron) Murray, so I’m sure that’s what triggered it. So he’s trying to decide what he wants to do – whether he wants to stay here, and if he stays, what position he wants to play and all that kind of stuff. If he wants to be at Georgia, I’ll work with him on what position he plays. But this type of thing actually happens a whole lot more than anybody knows. It usually doesn’t become a public issue, but I guess nowadays with the way news travels, somebody caught wind that he’d come see me about discussing what to do. Usually those things are done in private, and those kids have a chance to think about it without everybody hammering them on it and wondering what everybody’s opinion of it is, but the bottom line is if he wants to be at Georgia, we’re glad to have him and we certainly are a better team with him than without him.”

On the possibility of going into the season with just two freshman QBs...
“That happens in different cycles. Even if Logan’s with us, it’s not like he’s thrown a bunch. He’s thrown maybe 10 or 15 balls. So whether he’s here or whether he’s not here, we have a tremendous amount of inexperience at the quarterback position.”

On Todd Grantham...
“I love his experience. He’s coached with some outstanding people. He coached with (Frank) Beamer and Nick Saban. He coached in the NFL with Dom Capers and Romeo Crennel and with the Cowboys. He’s got a great wealth of knowledge. People talk about football IQs, and this guy is very, very sharp. He gets it not only on the front end as far as the defensive front, which is mainly what he coached his pro career. But he understands what’s happening at the linebacker play and at the perimeter. He does have a great understanding of what’s going on. He’s a guy that a lot of people have gone to over the years to learn how to pressure people and to learn how to maximize their players’ ability to rush the passer and things of that nature. He’s a great communicator. He’s got a very strong presence about him. He’s a guy that has got a high level of intensity and energy, too. All of those things put together are why he’s here.”

On UGA's in-state efforts on the recruiting trail...
“We’ve always wanted to recruit Georgia first. What happens is you have four weeks to recruit, so strategically it might be better to get up north real quick and then come on back and get to our Georgia schools when they might be in spring ball and that kind of thing. But what happens is you end up going out of state before you go in state. One of the biggest differences is regardless of where we wanted to go out of the state, I was making sure within the first two weeks, we’re going to hammer Georgia the way it needs to be hammered, and do it in mass numbers. Usually during the four weeks we would get the same thing accomplished, but this year in particular, there’s maybe one or two days where we are going to sneak out of the borders, but the bottom line is every coach has got to cover his Georgia area within the first two weeks of this recruiting season rather than if it’s a little more convenient in Week 3 or 4. We’re not doing that. We’re saying Georgia is No. 1 as far as our thoughts, and that’s how we’re going to handle that and make sure we do that not only by philosophy but in actuality. The other thing is, we know we’re going to recruit out of state. We must, and we want to. But when we go out of state, he better be special.”

On Trinton Sturdivant...
“I expect him to be ready by the preseason. He’s been rehabbing. He’s been making very good progress. He feels like this repair just feels different to him, feels better to him. Whether that’s psychological or not, I don’t know, but we’re excited he feels that way. It’s just going to be a matter of going back out there and doing it again. I would think that we’re going to take a good pace and take our time and maybe not give him every single rep that he could take just to make sure that he’s healthy. We want him healthy. But he’s really projected to be a go.”

On the possibility of conference expansion...
“In my mind, it’s doubtful, but I don’t know. I haven’t really read it real closely of what’s going on, and I don’t know the possibilities if it’s just a discussion or there’s some kind of movement that’s more serious. But I’d be surprised if it happened any time soon. I could see the other leagues getting to the format we have which I think is a great format with six teams on each side and a championship game. There’s some leagues that might be trying to get to that. That would make more sense to me than trying to get these super conferences because you don’t get to play everybody if you do that. It’s almost like two different leagues when you do that.”