SEC Media Days 2012: Mark Richt finishes smooth

Mark Richt lamented the possibility of a playoff taking away from college football's regular season. (AP)

HOOVER, Ala. -- Tomorrow's headlines today! Has Mark Richt lost control of Aaron Murray? Spoiler alert: He has not. Richt's star quarterback won't be appearing at SEC Media Days this year, owing to a prior commitment to help out at an Elite 11 camp. (Just putting this right up top in case any falsely inflated scooter-related arrest stories pop up later.)

Other highlights from Richt's Q&A session, which was the final interview at Media Days (sometimes the snow comes down in June, y'all):

• Richt went on to basically call Murray a nerd, at least in terms of football: "I think he loves preparing as much as he loves playing."

• On the emerging playoff system and the value of the regular season: "I just hate to see a day where we might play Florida, and whether you win or lose, you still go to the playoffs, no one thinks it's that big of a deal. It is a big deal every game we play. I don't want college football to lose that."

• On UGA's strict-for-football drug infractions policy and whether he's lobbied for stricter punishment standards within the league: "I think every university has the right to decide what's in the best interest of their students. [...] When a guy makes a mistake, you want to stick him. You want to hopefully have a discipline that would teach a lesson and be painful enough to where they wouldn't want to do it in the future."

Malcolm Mitchell