Georgia Bulldogs

Sources: Georgia coach Richt dealing with friction as staff styles collide

Published Nov. 5, 2015 11:46 a.m. ET

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Bruce Feldman

Mark Richt has had a long, very successful run as the head coach at Georgia, but things have gotten very messy in the past few weeks. As FOX Sports reported Monday, another blowout loss — this one a 27-3 thumping at the hands of Florida and its first-year head coach Jim McElwain — is eroding the support for Richt significantly among Georgia power brokers.

On Thursday, sources told FOX Sports that Richt is dealing with lots of friction inside the Georgia football program, some of it stemming from the old guard Bulldog staff vs. the new guard regarding many of the changes in how the Dawgs program is run.

Many of these changes, from staffing moves to operational decisions to how the team gets ready for its games, were pushed for by second-year Georgia defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, a Nick Saban disciple who came to Athens after helping lead Florida State to the national title following the 2013 season. Things have come to a head because the product on the field is struggling and there is frustration from all sides.

The Bulldogs are 5-3, but have dropped three of their past four. Two of those losses, against the Gators in Jacksonville and Alabama in Athens, came by a combined score of 65-13. Their remaining two SEC games are against Kentucky and Auburn — teams with a combined 3-8 league record. After that, Georgia faces Georgia Southern and 3-6 Georgia Tech.

Even if Richt finishes the regular season at 9-3, he still probably won't be able to get back some of the support he's lost there. At this point, the Bulldogs' best victory this season is a 9-6 win in Athens over a Missouri team that is now 1-4 in SEC play.

Richt is 141-51 in his career at Georgia.

For more on Richt, click on the embedded player above to listen to The Audible. You can also get every episode of The Audible delivered to you by subscribing on iTunes.

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