ATHENS, Ga. - Guess what Georgia football coach Mark Richt was doing as a sportswriter entered his office Thursday morning?

Watching videotape of quarterbacks: What else?

When Georgia begins spring practice in two weeks, Richt and his quarterbacks coach, Mike Bobo, will begin the search for a new starting quarterback.

Their decision will have ramifications beyond Bulldog Land. In five years under Richt, Georgia has established itself as the most consistent football program in the SEC. Maintaining that consistency means finding another competent quarterback.

Richt found redshirt freshman David Greene in his first year at Georgia. All Greene did was quarterback the Bulldogs to 42 victories and pass for an SEC-record 11,528 yards in four years. When he graduated, Richt replaced him with D.J. Shockley who led the Bulldogs to the 2005 SEC championship.

That's just Richt's quarterback history at Georgia. The pictures on his office wall take you further back.

One shows Richt as a quarterback at the University of Miami. In the same picture are Miami quarterbacks Vinny Testaverde, who won the Heisman Trophy, and Bernie Kosar, who led the Hurricanes to a national championship.

Another picture is a group shot of Florida State quarterbacks coached by Richt. The group includes two Heisman winners, Charlie Ward and Chris Weinke; a Super Bowl winner, Brad Johnson; and a Heisman runner-up, Casey Weldon.

The names in Georgia's current quarterback picture aren't quite as recognizable: Joe Tereshinski, Blake Barnes, Joe Cox and Matthew Stafford.

Tereshinski started against Florida when Shockley was injured and played occasionally as a backup. That's the sum of this group's college experience.

"It's wide open," Richt says. "I want to go into this (competition) open-minded.

"I would be shocked (if a No. 1 quarterback were chosen after spring practice). I don't even know how much we can narrow it down to be honest."

Five years ago, the competition was between Greene and Cory Phillips. Although the competition was heated, Richt had a hunch Greene would win the job.

He doesn't have a hunch now.

None of the four has Shockley's running ability, but Richt says they're all fairly athletic and capable of running for a first down when needed - "somewhere between Shockley and Greene," he adds.

Stafford is the most intriguing of the candidates. He enrolled at Georgia this semester after an All-American season at Highland Park High School in Dallas.

It's not surprising Georgia signed the No. 1 quarterback in Texas when you consider all the connections.

Stafford's father is a former swimming coach at the University of Georgia. His sister enrolled at Georgia before he did. So did his girlfriend with whom he has since broken up. And the daughter of family friends worked in Georgia's sports information office.

There's one more connection. Since Stafford grew up a Florida State fan, some of Richt's former quarterbacks were Stafford's childhood heroes.

That quarterback history was a plus in Stafford's recruitment. And the same history makes you think Georgia can break in a new quarterback and contend for another SEC championship in the same season.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.