Fran Tarkenton, the quarterback on Georgia's 1959 SEC Championship team who went on to a Hall of Fame career in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings, is not afraid to speak his mind about his Bulldogs. On Tuesday, he offered up plenty of criticism of his former school's football program when he made an appearance on 680 The Fan in Atlanta.
“This staff that is over there today -- and I am going to be very kind about it -- it is not functioning properly,” Tarkenton said on 680 The Fan’s Chuck and Chernoff show, via The Athens Banner-Herald. “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.”
After the critique of the staff as a whole, Tarkenton called out defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt specifically.
“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.”
Tarkenton isn't alone in pointing the finger at Pruitt for much of the internal discontent among the coaching staff. According to DawgNation.com, Pruitt has caused friction within the coaching staff and athletic department as a whole.
You can find an example of that friction between Pruitt and the offensive staff in Pruitt's post-game comments following the Florida game. Pruitt noted that the defense gave up two big plays to the Gators and that was something they needed to fix, but also seemed to take a shot across the bow at the offense.
“Two plays. But those two plays count. We’ve gotta eliminate those plays,” Pruitt said following the loss. “We eliminate those plays, I don’t know, we get beat 7-3.”
Pruitt and the Georgia coaching staff weren't the only targets of Tarkenton's ire. The former Bulldog great also ripped quarterback Faton Bauta following the Florida loss that he called a "total disgrace."
“He’s just awful,” Tarkenton said. “He’s in an uncomfortable position. When you have three quarterbacks that have proven they can’t play, you’ve got to alternate them and hope one of them during the game can come up and play.”
Tarkenton clearly takes issue with some of the things going on with the Bulldogs. He did note that, despite all the issues, he still supports Mark Richt and feels that athletic director Greg McGarity will make the correct decision on how to move forward.
