Georgia is up

GEORGIA COACH MARK RICHT

• On Knowshon Moreno and Matt Stafford being gone: "Maybe subconsciously, we thought we could rely on those two guys. Everybody has to work."
  
  
• On quarterback Joe Cox: "One hundred six of the 115 guys who went through spring exit interviews picked Joe Cox as the team's top leader."
  
  
• He claims to have voted for Tim Tebow as first-team SEC quarterback. "Maybe there's a mistake in the calculation. Maybe a typo."
  
  
• On if he has talked with Houston Nutt about preseason expectations: "No. When we get to Destin, we talk about family. We didn't get into (expectations)."
  
  
• Why are Florida teams so good all the time?: "There are a bunch of tremendous athletes in the state of Florida -- a lot of speed there. A lot of coaches have taken advantage of that and built a cohesive unit that can win a national championship. For a time there, it seemed like the winner of the Florida State-Miami game was going to win the national championship." (Richt coached at FSU for a long time.)
  
  
• He didn't want to comment on the idea of moving the UGA-UF game out of Jacksonville. "I just want to win that game."
  
  
• Richt went lighter on practice hitting last year. He said that was because of depth problems. He cut back after the first scrimmage. "I knew right away that I had made a mistake. You can't slow down because your defense needs the speed."
  
  
• On future Blackouts: "We may wear black jerseys again. I don't know. If the fans don't buy into it, it's no good. They have to have a spirit of cooperation. After what happened against Alabama last year, I'm not sure anybody would wear black."
  
  
• A different vibe from this year's team?: "Players didn't feel accountability. They felt like they needed to be accountable to each other more than they ever have. I think a lot of players got sick of it themselves and they don't want that to happen again."
  
  
• On his non-conference schedule (Okla. State, Arizona State, Georgia Tech): "It's pretty heavy-duty. We might have bit off more than we should have. It was never out plan that we'd have three BCS-conference opponent. I doubt this happens again anytime soon."
  
  
• On the rising price of good assistants: "You want to pay all of these guys well because of their experience and their competence. We distribute our money pretty evenly. Some schools' pool is a little bigger than others. You just want an atmosphere where coaches like coming to work. We try to create a really wonderful family atmosphere, which I know they really enjoy." (Non answer!)
  
  
• On his defense: "We're pretty stout up the gut. If you're weak in the middle, you have problems."
  
  
• He's now talking about individual, backup players. Blah blah blah.
  
  
• On playing against Bob Petrino: "His history has been very, very successful. (Louisville's recent problems) are probably not a coincidence. He knew what he was doing. He has a scheme that will allow his quarterback to be great. He's like all of us -- prove we're the best in any given year. There have been a lot of instances where in the second season they break out. That concerns me a little."
  
  
• On being the dean of SEC coaches: "Every decision I've made since I've been at Georgia, it's been a decision that I thought would help up in the long run. I wasn't looking for quick fixes. Everything I've done, I was making sure we'd be here for the long run."
  

THAT'S A WRAP. Next up is Alabama coach Nicholas Saban at 9:35ish.