Georgia Bulldogs

Bulldogs legend Tarkenton on UGA assistant Pruitt: 'Not a great fan'

Published Nov. 5, 2015 4:40 p.m. ET

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Before he went on to a Hall of Fame career for the Minnesota Vikings, quarterback Fran Tarkenton first made a name for himself in Athens playing for the Georgia Bulldogs. Given his history with the football program, the all-time great is uniquely qualified to comment on the state of the program.

Judging by his comments, he isn't holding back any thoughts on the current situation in Athens. Tarkenton's quotes are via the Athens-Banner Herald.

“This staff that is over there today -- and I am going to be very kind about it -- it is not functioning properly,” Tarkenton said. “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. … 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.”

“I think [Jeremy Pruitt] 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.”

Whatever resolution comes for Mark Richt and his staff, one thing is becoming abundantly clear: Change in some form needs to come for the Georgia program before its too late to save the bright future of the team.

(h/t Athens Banner Herald)