Richt wraps up his tour

Since his Bulldogs thumped Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl and finished the 2007 college football season ranked No. 2 nationally, Georgia coach Mark Richt has been asked numerous questions concerning lofty expectations for the upcoming year.

How many questions? Richt estimates as many as 400.

“And that was SEC Media Days alone,” Richt said.

Georgia players report Sunday and hold their first practice Monday, but Richt had one more speaking obligation Thursday night before an optimistic audience at the Chattanooga/Northwest Georgia Bulldog Club. A record crowd of more than 1,100 packed the Catoosa County Colonnade in the seventh and final “Dawg Days” event that took Richt around the Peach State and to Jacksonville.

Richt is 72-19 after seven seasons in Athens and has won the Southeastern Conference championship twice, but he has harkened back to his time as a Florida State assistant under Bobby Bowden in dealing with the plethora of preseason adoration. The 1988 Seminoles were tabbed preseason No. 1 and lasted all of one week, getting shellacked by Miami (31-0) in the opener, but the ’99 Seminoles became the first team in the history of the Associated Press poll to go wire-to-wire as the top-ranked team.

The memorable “Wide Right” loss to Miami dashed a perfect season for FSU in 1991, so Richt has experience in dealing with expectations. Just not as much at Georgia, where another 11-2 season and Sugar Bowl win might be viewed as disappointing to some.

“I’ve been a Bulldog fan for 50 years now, and this is our shot,” club president Charlie Berry said. “Our fans need to enjoy the next three or four months, because this will be a ride. When you open up these magazines and you’re No. 1, you want to soak it in. I don’t know if we’re going to be there in Miami on Jan. 8, but it’s going to be a fun ride.

“What Coach Richt is doing is what Coach Bowden did. Coach Bowden was in that top four or five for 14 or 15 straight years, but you’ve got to win the big dance sometime. If you look at next year, we don’t lose any offensive linemen, and if (Knowshon) Moreno and (Matthew) Stafford come back, we’ll be just as good. You’ve just really got to cherish these moments.”

Asked how he’s handling the charged-up fan base, Richt said, “I don’t worry too much about it. I worry more about what our players and what our coaches are thinking. We just need to focus on the process of getting to where we want to go rather than thinking about where we’re going.”

Richt spent Monday in Atlanta, Tuesday in Columbus and Wednesday at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn. His social calendar for the year is winding down with the season rapidly approaching, and his 2009 calendar already is booked.

The best chance at landing Richt as a guest speaker is 2010 or beyond.

“I don’t do very well saying no sometimes, and I’m trying to get a little bit better at that,” he said. “My obligation, as far as my time, really is to my family and our coaches and our players. Sometimes I go out doing some things to help some very worthy organizations, but if I do too much of that, I’m not around where I need to be around.

“I also can run out of gas, so I’ve got to be careful.”

Boling suspension reduced

Richt has reduced offensive lineman Clint Boling’s suspension from two games to one. Boling was arrested in May on a DUI charge in his Alpharetta hometown, but that charge was recently lessened to reckless driving.

“Clint has been remorseful and proactive in handling all his responsibilities in a mature manner with a good attitude,” Richt said. “He’s learned a strong lesson that I’m sure will serve him well from here on.”

Boling appeared in all 13 games last season as a true freshman, making 10 starts at right guard and one at right tackle.

Odds and ends

Senior punter and holder Brian Mimbs was awarded a scholarship Thursday. Mimbs was third in the SEC last year with 42.4 yards a punt. ... Berry said WOGT (107.9 FM) has signed a three-year extension in carrying Georgia games. ... Richt said this may be the most experienced collection of special teams he’s had, pointing out everybody returns on the punt team.