Players fondly look back on Mark Richt's recruiting efforts

ATHENS -- Georgia head coach Mark Richt knows how to leave an impression during a recruiting visit.

A widely circulated picture from Richt's Twitter account showed him eating breakfast with highly prized quarterback commit Jacob Eason at Jake's Cafe in Snohomish, Washington on Sunday, less than 24 hours after completing a victory over Auburn.

According to 247sports.com's Rusty Mansell, Richt downed a hefty 10-egg omelet and some biscuits and gravy.

It's not the first time Richt has garnered a reputation with his food consumption, either. Senior offensive tackle John Theus, a former five-star himself, said that Richt's affinity for Theus' mom's pumpkin squares -- a pumpkin cake or brownie type dessert with cream cheese icing -- has followed both of them back to Athens.

"He came for my in-home visit, and my mom made these pumpkin squares that she makes in the fall as a dessert," Theus said. "To this day, he requests them from my mom, so my mom brings them up every year."

While the Eason story shows a different side of Richt than what's usually seen on the field, it also shows the kind of effort that coaches have to put in now into securing commitments from top-tier talent.

So when a head coach at a major Division I school like Richt flies all the way across the country to have breakfast, no matter the size, with a recruit, people take notice.

"I wish I got flown out to when I was in high school," senior offensive lineman Kolton Houston joked. "I'm glad my recruiting days went how they were and not how recruiting is now. It's too much of a process for me."

Despite all of the hoops coaches have to jump through now for recruits, Theus assures that Richt is genuine in his words with players.

"I remember him and (former offensive line coach Stacey) Searels, because it was Coach Searels, came and watched me at basketball practice, like who wants to come watch me practice basketball?" Theus said. "He does a good job of making you feel special and he means it."

But there's also the other side of things when the recruiting trail ends and the players get on campus. With the accolades and the stars, top-tier talent are expected to produce and do so immediately.

"Part of the issues you run into these days is the hype you get -- is it fair, is it not? Who knows, but it's part of it," Theus said. "I had a lot of hype coming into my career here. Fans have a lot of expectations, and you make a mistake, the same people that put me up are the same people that cut me down."

Theus knows that pressure being a five-star recruit himself. He also has limited knowledge of Eason after hosting him on a recruiting visit. Theus described him as "an awesome kid" who "handled himself very well."

And with that knowledge, Theus has a plea for the fans who will be placing those expectations on Eason, an 18-year-old quarterback who will have to try to handle those well, too.

"I hope he is the next best thing, but, I mean, if he struggles as a freshman, I just ask fans to remember he's a freshman," Theus said. "Who knows if he comes in and starts, who knows if he doesn't? It's college football, it's a complete other level. To put that amount of pressure on a kid that early, it's not fair, but it's part of it. We realize that. Just don't cut him down to begin with."

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 9:39 PM with the headline "Players fondly look back on Mark Richt's recruiting efforts ."