Miami defensive tackle Kendrick Norton has gotten a lot of criticism about leaving school a year early for the NFL Draft. There has been a lot of speculation about why Norton chose to do so. Mark Richt gave his thoughts on the Joe Rose Morning on Tuesday on WQAM.
A lot of the prevailing thoughts on Norton’s decisions centered around his roommate, fellow defensive tackle and early entry candidate R.J. McIntosh. Miami Head Coach Mark Richt said that Norton likely felt that it was time for him to become a Pro.
McIntosh also entered the NFL Draft following his Junior season. He was drafted in the fifth round by the New York Giants and Norton went in the seventh to the Carolina Panthers.
Some of the speculation is that Norton followed McIntosh’s lead. If Norton had returned for his Senior season some have thought that he did not want to deal with double teams.
That’s understandable but would it really have happened? Miami returns defensive tackle Gerald Willis who sat out the 2017 season. Richt has repeatedly said that Willis was dominant on the scout team in 2017. Willis and Norton would have created nightmares for opposing offensive coordinator and line coaches.
Discussing Norton’s decision Richt said:
"“There’s a lot of reasons why guys decide to go,…The long and short of it is he felt it was time to become a pro. He felt like he was going to get drafted, and no one knows for sure when they’ll get drafted."
Phin Phanatic
"Kendrick, like everybody else, we try to get them as much information from the NFL as we can. as far as what scouts say, what GMs might say, what a coach might say, and put it in front of them, let them look at it, and see what’s real.”“The good news is he got drafted. He has a chance to make a living doing it and hopefully he does well.”"
Richt also discussed how he felt seeing both his players from Miami and Georgia get drafted plus how the outcome of the 2017 draft was.
"“It was fun…was exciting…The draft is huge. Glad we had nine guys drafted (in 2017). Every guy made a team. We had three other free agents made a team.Jamal Carter made the Broncos, Justin Vogel punted for Green Bay, Malcolm Lewis made the Dolphins squad”"
Five of Richt’s former Georgia players were drafted. That included three in the first round and running back Nick Chubb in the second. Rose’s co-host Zack Krantz asked Richt if he was contacted by any NFL teams about the Bulldogs players.
"“No…might have been asked but not sure.”"
Next: Mark Richt says you better come ready to compete with Miami Football
Richt did receive calls about Miami players but did not elaborate on who or the context of those conversations.