Buzz Bomb said:
Florida: Remember that Richt was QB-rich with Greene and Shockley for a number of years. Therefore, it does not suprise me that Tereshinski (or any 3rd/4th stringer) didn't get much development or play time. This past season was the first time in probably 5 seasons that Richt was forced to really develop anyone beyond his primary starters of Greene and Shockley. After several mistakes (Cox) and/or injuries (Tereshinski) along the way this season, Stafford simply appears to be the more reliable and stable QB of the three. Call it fate or innate ability on the part of Stafford, but the Freshman won out in the end. I expect that Richt will develop him into a fairly complete package over the next few years while still maintaining a decent arsenal of backup QBs in case they are needed. UGA may be watching another Greene-in-the-making with Stafford.
Also, Cox is not too shabby. If I remember correctly, he came in to pull out a win for the second game that Stafford started when Richt pulled him for nonperformance. Notice the difference in philosophies between GT and UGA. Richt does not seem to hesitate to pull a nonperforming starter, if necessary.
My general point was that I think you're giving Richt too much credit and Gailey too much blame. This past year, Richt had one five star true freshman, a four star RS freshman and a four star (RS?) senior. Gailey had Reggie, who may not have gotten a single other offer to play QB, and Taylor, a QB who played only one year in HS and whose only other significant offer was from Boise State.
Now, there's definitely a discussion to be had about Chan's recruiting up until this year. I've never been one of those guys that thought recruiting rankings were worthless. So, if we were to compare Richt and Gailey in that department, Richt has definitely done better, academic restrictions or not.
However, the comparison between Richt and Gailey's QB development skills is much less certain. Up until the Georiga-Auburn game, Georgia was suffering greatly from poor QB play. The game before Auburn, a loss to Kentucky where Stafford threw three interception, is the quintessential example of ugag's troubles in the middle of the season. And these QB problems happened with Terenshinski, Cox and Stafford on the roster.
I won't defend GT's QB play, nor Chan's decision to stay with Reggie. But I will note GT's far inferior recruting success at the QB postion. Who knows whether Richt would have done a better job with Reggie and Taylor or whether Gailey would have done a better job with Terenshinski, Cox and Stafford.
