That's actually pretty cool.

Applause for good acts.

I can kind of understand having a rule about supplement pay having to be declared. With big money, the risk of shady dealings increases. But this is stupid. If a head coach comes off his own money to reward people because the university won't, he should be admired, not admonished

Mark Richt is an alright guy.

The NCAA is hilarious. Twiddle your thumbs regarding major violations...

Kudos to Richt, though, even if these were "rules violations."

I guess including a notation about how big his salary is was too much to ask . . .

Good for you, Mark. Tough rule. Georgia fans should be pissed that one of the nation's most profitable programs won't pay the staff their bonuses.

Go state! Beat these cheaters in the outback bowl!

unknowingly violated the rules by paying them under the table.


couldn't get past the first paragraph before calling B.S.

From what I've heard from relatives in the Athens area as well as fellow FSU alums, this isn't surprising. Richt is apparently one of the truly good guys in the game.

Oh sweet Jeebus this is a non-story

jeffrey626: Go state! Beat these cheaters in the outback bowl!

Please explain how Richt giving bonuses to his staff (not his players) is cheating. Thanks

We've put up with this kind of scandalous behavior for too long. Thank you AJC for bringing these scofflaws and naredowells to light.

He broke the rules. Throw the book at him. Zero tolerance and all that.

Rapmaster2000: Good for you, Mark. Tough rule. Georgia fans should be pissed that one of the nation's most profitable programs won't pay the staff their bonuses.

All this occurred under our old athletic director who prided himself on running a very cheap organization...oh as well as getting DUIs with pantyless women of questionable morals. Under Damon Evans UGA usually had the 2nd most income of any SEC school only behind alabama but ranked about 10th in sports related expenses. UGA usually ranked #1 or #2 in the nation in profits but only because Evans did moves a lot of cheap moves like this.

Seems like Greg McGarity the new AD is spending a little more money when and where appropriate.

ColTomParker: I guess including a notation about how big his salary is was too much to ask . . .

He makes about $3.1 mil a year. So this wasn't a lot to give but shows me enough to know that I would like to work for a guy like him. Especially the $15k longevity bonus to Coach Johnson...that was pretty cool to give to a guy leaving the program.

This guy needs to be fired immediately for such blatant disregard for the rules!


_{and be hired at Pitt}

ArtosRC: He broke the rules. Throw the book at him. Zero tolerance and all that.

For the greater good!

Hillbilly Jim: This guy needs to be fired immediately for such blatant disregard for the rules!


and be hired at Pitt

Whoa, whoa, I think he's been punished enough! Nobody should have to work at Pitt...

Primitive Screwhead: ArtosRC: He broke the rules. Throw the book at him. Zero tolerance and all that.

For the greater good!

The greater good.

I'm not a Georgia fan (go Jackets), but Mark Richt has almost always been a very classy guy. Everyone I've ever spoken to, be it Georgia fans or Tech fans, has always thought he's a good man. Kudos to him.

cettin: Hillbilly Jim: This guy needs to be fired immediately for such blatant disregard for the rules!


and be hired at Pitt

Whoa, whoa, I think he's been punished enough! Nobody should have to work at Pitt...

Hey now we aren't kiddy diddlers, so we got that going for us which is nice.

Rapmaster2000: Good for you, Mark. Tough rule. Georgia fans should be pissed that one of the nation's most profitable programs won't pay the staff their bonuses.

Yeah I was think the same thing, they were what number 2 in profits last year and in the top 3 for the past 10 years or so? UGA needs a new president, the old one has got too much power.

What's weird is that I was thinking yesterday that coastal Carolina coach saying he would pay out of his own pocket would be a rules violation.

And for those asking his salary is a matter of public record just google it lazy.

babysealclubber: Well, I for one, am glad we have the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to be watch dawgs (SWIDT?) for the NCAA and took this cheater down before he could ruin the integrity of college football.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Governor has a statement today about the AJC (re: yankees) being mean to the Dawgs. It's kind of a meme around here.

Well, the new Governor might not because he's fairly cozy with metro business interests, but the old one definitely would have.

RickyWilliams'sBong: From what I've heard from relatives in the Athens area as well as fellow FSU alums, this isn't surprising. Richt is apparently one of the truly good guys in the game.

Yeah he's shockingly clean, I like him but would rather my coach be a little nastier sometimes, that being said the one time I met him made it impossible for me to hate him. It was just one of those quick deals with a bunch of people but he took time to speak to my nephew and the GFs kid about staying positive in life.

I started to say I'm no fan of Richt, but that wouldn't be true. I can't think of a single coach who does so little with so much and manages to keep his job. Since I'm a Bama fan, I hope he stays forever.

Bad coaching aside, what he did was a first class standup thing. The NCAA gave him a letter of reprimand - hopefully, he'll frame it up nice and hang it on his wall. I would.

/I hope he also sent a bonus to the schedule makers this year. Got to make it all the way to the SEC championship game without facing Alabama, LSU, or Arkansas. Pretty easy way to win the East.

When my son was a lowly freshman at the Univ of Georgia, he and a friend went to a "midnight bowling" charity event one evening. The place was pretty crowded, but somehow my son and his friend end up having a lane to themselves. Right before the event begins, Mark Richt walks in with a handful of UGA players. He walks up to my son and asks....ASKS...if he and his group can join my son on his lane.

Why sure, coach!

My boy said he spent the next hour and a half "chillin' with CMR". Needless to say, he's a Mark Richt fan 4 LIFE!

Rapmaster2000: babysealclubber: Well, I for one, am glad we have the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to be watch dawgs (SWIDT?) for the NCAA and took this cheater down before he could ruin the integrity of college football.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Governor has a statement today about the AJC (re: yankees) being mean to the Dawgs. It's kind of a meme around here.

Well, the new Governor might not because he's fairly cozy with metro business interests, but the old one definitely would have.

It would have been on his "Sonny-Do" List?

I just hope his assistant coaches claimed this extra income on their 1040.

JustGetItRight: I started to say I'm no fan of Richt, but that wouldn't be true. I can't think of a single coach who does so little with so much and manages to keep his job. Since I'm a Bama fan, I hope he stays forever.

Bad coaching aside, what he did was a first class standup thing. The NCAA gave him a letter of reprimand - hopefully, he'll frame it up nice and hang it on his wall. I would.

/I hope he also sent a bonus to the schedule makers this year. Got to make it all the way to the SEC championship game without facing Alabama, LSU, or Arkansas. Pretty easy way to win the East.

You mean by beating every other team in the East?

JustGetItRight:
/I hope he also sent a bonus to the schedule makers this year. Got to make it all the way to the SEC championship game without facing Alabama, LSU, or Arkansas. Pretty easy way to win the East.

WHY U MAD THO

RobDownSouth: When my son was a lowly freshman at the Univ of Georgia, he and a friend went to a "midnight bowling" charity event one evening. The place was pretty crowded, but somehow my son and his friend end up having a lane to themselves. Right before the event begins, Mark Richt walks in with a handful of UGA players. He walks up to my son and asks....ASKS...if he and his group can join my son on his lane.

Why sure, coach!

My boy said he spent the next hour and a half "chillin' with CMR". Needless to say, he's a Mark Richt fan 4 LIFE!

When I was at uga I thought I was way too cool to go to one of those bowling night things. They existed for the sole purpose of providing a Friday night alternative to going downtown and getting wastedface til 3 am. Now I'm actually kinda jealous.

rubertidom: You mean by beating every other team in the East?

South Carolina?

10 year extension

Carl Winslow's .9 MM:
When I was at uga I thought I was way too cool to go to one of those bowling night things. They existed for the sole purpose of providing a Friday night alternative to going downtown and getting wastedface til 3 am. Now I'm actually kinda jealous.

I know! Back when I was at UGA we didn't even have things like midnight bowling, so we HAD to go downtown and get shiatfaced. Bands were pretty much hit-or-miss, we called the lead singer of a new band called R.E.M. "Mumbles" because you couldn't understand him. Love Tractor didn't even have a vocalist, and the Satellites (later the Georgia Satellites) were the band everyone wanted for fraternity parties.

But on a positive note, we DID have Herschel Walker...

/My God, a freshman!
//Oh you Herschel Walker!
///Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott!

Tyrone Biggums: rubertidom: You mean by beating every other team in the East?

South Carolina?

I stand corrected. They were still the Eastern champs with a better record than SC. JustGetItRight is still a doofus though, since he's arguing that anything having to do with West teams affects the East Champions.

bel4sucks: 10 year extension

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Enuratique: I just hope his assistant coaches claimed this extra income on their 1040.

I'm no accountant, but I think (with the possible exception of the $15,000 one), they could be counted as tax-free gifts. No reporting necessary.

rubertidom: Tyrone Biggums: rubertidom: You mean by beating every other team in the East?

South Carolina?

I stand corrected. They were still the Eastern champs with a better record than SC. JustGetItRight is still a doofus though, since he's arguing that anything having to do with West teams affects the East Champions.

I'm sorry, I thought I was talking to an adult that understood the division races.

South Carolina was undefeated in the east (to help you out, that included a win over Georgia). Using your logic that nothing having to do with West teams affects the East Champions, that means South Carolina won the east, right? So tell me then, why did Georgia get Sanduskied by LSU instead of the Gamecocks?

Maybe, just maybe it is because South Carolina lost to Auburn and Arkansas, both of which are western division teams, giving them 2 conference losses to Georgia's 1. Since math is hard for some people, I'll point out that 1 is less than 2 so Georgia won the East even though South Carolina was undefeated in the division. It is quite possible that I am indeed a doofus, but that seems to be pretty overwhelming evidence that things having to do with West teams do indeed affect the East Champion.

Billy Crystal Meth Lab: JustGetItRight:
/I hope he also sent a bonus to the schedule makers this year. Got to make it all the way to the SEC championship game without facing Alabama, LSU, or Arkansas. Pretty easy way to win the East.

WHY U MAD THO

Mad? I'm elated!

Georgia's a sleeping giant. If they ever get someone with the skill and drive of a Miles or Saban, they could dominate the conference. With Richt (who I readily agree is a very good person), they're gonna always be somewhere around 9-3.

If they'd had to face a couple of the western powers this season (or even Florida before Alabama and LSU put half the gators on the disabled list), they would have gotten more beatdowns like LSU gave them and the natives might have awakened from their slumber. This division title will keep them snoozing for at least three more years.

you may disagree with the rules, but the rules are the rules. he should be fired for these multiple blatant violations of the rules

/it's what the idiots say when a player gets cash or a free meal or a free tattoo.
//should apply to the coaches as well.

abrannan: Enuratique: I just hope his assistant coaches claimed this extra income on their 1040.

I'm no accountant, but I think (with the possible exception of the $15,000 one), they could be counted as tax-free gifts. No reporting necessary.

except that richt did this with the full knowledge of the athletic department when the athletic dept failed to pay what he felt the staff was worth. that's going to look a lot like income to any irs lawyer. never mind the fact that the uga athletic department might have signed off on the payments. or hell maybe even wrote the checks/made the transfers.