Richt encourages Wildcats to have unity, perseverance

By Christian Malone

March 08, 2007 12:29 am

— VALDOSTA — A large crowd turned out Tuesday night to honor the Valdosta High football team and to hear Mark Richt speak at the team’s banquet.
When Richt, the football coach at the University of Georgia, agrees to speak somewhere in Georgia, a big crowd usually shows up to see him. Tuesday night was no exception. He received a standing ovation when he came up to the podium to speak.
“It’s great to be in this community,” Richt said. “Every time I come here, I am always greeted very warmly.”
Part of Richt’s speech related to Georgia’s up-and-down 2006 season. The Bulldogs started 5-0 and were ranked No. 7 in the country. Then they lost four of five games, including losses to Vanderbilt and Kentucky, and found themselves reeling. But Richt says the team stuck together, and they finished the regular season with upsets of No. 5 Auburn and No. 15 Georgia Tech, and ended the season by winning the Chick-Fil-A Bowl over Virginia Tech.
“After we lost those games, even more important than having leadership was having unity,” Richt said. “We stayed unified. We had the strength and the unity to survive the barrage of negativity... If we had broken apart instead of staying unified, we could never have won (the Auburn and Georgia Tech games).”
Richt’s reason for telling that story was clear. Valdosta is coming off the worst season in its storied history, a 1-9 campaign in 2006. Richt encouraged the Wildcats’ players, coaches and fans to stay unified as they try to get back to winning in 2007.
“If you guys stick together, awesome things will happen,” he said.
Richt spoke very highly of Valdosta head coach Rick Tomberlin, whom he has known for several years.
“Coach Tomberlin is a great man,” Richt said. “He’s building for the long haul. He’s building the right foundation here. A lot of the characteristics you gave of Coach Hyder you will also find in Coach Tomberlin.”
Tomberlin was just as complimentary of Richt. A couple of Tomberlin’s players at Washington County have gone on to play for Georgia.
“There is no coach in college football I would rather have one of my players play for than Mark Richt,” Tomberlin said.
Before the banquet, Richt met fans, posed for pictures and signed autographs.
“I feel like I’ve now met all of you,” he joked at the beginning of his speech.
Valdosta normally pays its banquet speaker, but Richt turned down any speaking fee. So instead, the Valdosta Touchdown Club made a donation to the Valdosta Boys and Girls Club in Richt’s name.
The banquet was held to honor Valdosta’s 2006 football team. A highlight video was shown, and a copy was given to each player.
Little was said about how disappointing the 2006 season was. Instead, the seniors were thanked for their contributions to the program, and the underclassmen were addressed with optimism for the future, as the team expects to be much better in 2007.
Tomberlin said things were going well in offseason workouts. The team will hold spring practice May 7-18.
Each senior was introduced and given a plaque commemorating their time with the Wildcats. The underclassmen were also introduced, and presented with certificates.
Every year at the banquet several individual awards are handed out.
Brandon Greenhaw, an offensive lineman who has a 96 average and a 4.0 GPA, received both the Howard Bridges Scholastic Award and one of the two Nick Hyder Foundation $1,000 Scholarships. The other scholarship went to center Alex Hall, who was also given the Nick Hyder Memorial Offensive MVP Award. Hall has a 91 average.
Safety Darris Roberts received the Wright Bazemore Defensive MVP Award. Tuzer Chism got the Best Receiver Award. Safety Michael Gilliard got the Best Defensive Back Award. Defensive ends Jamaal Hunter and Derrick Sharper shared the Best Defensive Lineman Award. Jamil Chandler received the Best Offensive Back Award. Left tackle Lawrence McCoy got the Best Offensive Lineman Award. Curtis Ewings won the Best Linebacker Award.
The Most Loyal Award went to quarterback Michael Turner. The Julian Lefiles Memorial Spirit Award went to linebacker Charles Alford. Defensive tackle Damian Doe received the Dynamite Goodloe Memorial Most Improved Award. Wide receiver Brian Mathis got the Mark Stevens Memorial Sportsmanship Award. Offensive lineman Tullis Beasley and linebacker Kendall Lewis received the Super Skinner Awards.
The banquet program was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Joe Crane and Dennis Wetherington, two former Wildcats and longtime supporters of the program who passed away last October.

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