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Fran Tarkenton Criticizes Georgia Coaching Staff, Program Culture
Fran Tarkenton criticized the Georgia coaching staff and program culture on a radio show in Atlanta this week. Here's what he had to say.
November 5, 2015
Fran Tarkenton and the Georgia Bulldogs have a long history together. Before the Hall of Fame quarterback broke records for the Minnesota Vikings, he was a UGA quarterback.
Tarkenton was on the 1959 Bulldogs team that won a Southeastern Conference championship. But the UGA football he used to know and love is no longer there apparently.
“This staff that is over there today — and I am going to be very kind about it — it is not functioning properly,” Tarkenton said (via OnlineAthens.com). “I think the culture there of the staff is not functioning properly. As we all know Mark Richt is a good, fine, wonderful person. I think there are things going on inside of his staff that are unsavory. If you don’t have your whole staff and your whole organization of respect and understanding the roles of everybody, things happen badly.”
Tarkenton believes the problem with UGA isn’t about the plays being called. It’s about the culture of the program.
“We’ve got troubles in our program over there that needs to be fixed. It’s not about play-calling, it’s not about a defense-calling. It’s about a culture that has the right culture of love, respect, together,” he said.
If the former Bulldog was going to single out any coach on the UGA staff, it was defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt.
“I think he has come over and been very boisterous, been very loud,” Tarkenton said. “I think he’s taken advantage of things over there. He personally has hired four of the assistant coaches over there including the weight guy. I’m not a great fan of Jeremy Pruitt. That has not been a good, workable solution.”
And if there was a last straw for Tarkenton, it might have been a 27-3 loss to the Florida Gators, which he called a “total disgrace.”
The Bulldogs are 5-3 on the season and will host Kentucky on Saturday at noon. A win would make Georgia eligible for a bowl game. A loss, well, that might make the Bulldogs eligible for a lot more criticism.
