Georgia HC regrets not cutting players after taking job

First-year Georgia head coach Tom Crean subtly yet harshly criticized his players following an 80-64 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday

Georgia is off to its worst start since 2009 and holds a 10-13 record, including 1-9 in SEC play. The Bulldogs have lost eight of their last nine games.

While Crean ultimately shouldered the blame for his team's performance this season, the 52-year-old suggested the players that he inherited from previous head coach, Mark Fox, are not up to Georgia's standards.

"It’s all on me," Crean told reporters postgame, including The Athletic's Seth Emerson. "Because I’m the one who decided to keep these guys. It's all on me. And I get it, because the last thing I can do, with making decisions on keeping guys in the program in the spring, is now get overly get mad at them because I’m the one who made the decision. So I live with that every day.

"And it doesn’t mean that they’re not great kids. But very few programs, when there’s a takeover, OK, when you guys who haven’t done it at any point really in their career, a lot of those guys move on. That’s what happens when there’s a job change. And I didn’t do that. And so I’m not going to complain. And we’ve just got to do everything we can to fix it."

The Bulldogs bench boss later criticized his players for displaying a lack of communication and mental toughness.

Crean took over for Fox in the offseason after the latter was fired in March 2018.

He was a high-profile hire having led Marquette to a Final Four appearance in 2003 and Indiana to three Sweet 16s. Crean held a career 356-231 record prior to his tenure at Georgia and was the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2016.