If McGarity flops with his new pick as coach, it will be viewed as his fault.
Advertisement
And yet Richt has not done enough.
The university is presenting Richt’s exit as a mutual decision, and the announcement came padded with tributes usually reserved for retiring legends.
In a statement Sunday morning, Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said Richt and the school “mutually agreed that he would step down as head coach and would have the opportunity to accept other duties and responsibilities” at Georgia after its bowl. With Tanner needing to make a decision quickly, and with a long time period between Saturday and the bowl season beginning, that gives him plenty of opportunity to sell the SC job, unless Herman decides to take Houston’s offer or put out feelers for the Georgia post. Richt won two SEC championships and 144 games with UGA. Our fans are passionate.
The same is true with any coordinator candidate, and even some of those who have been head coaches at the mid-major level before. LSU have a national championship with Les Miles and another visit to the BCS national championship game. In 2013, Florida State claimed the title. Richt’s winning percentage was close to that of the legendary Vince Dooley, who was 201-77-10 and won one national championship during his 25 seasons. You can say it’s time for Georgia to better capitalize on the SEC brand and the Bulldogs’ recruiting territory, and you’re not wrong, either. But Georgia freshman quarterback David Greene marched the Bulldogs down the field and tossed a short touchdown pass to fullback Verron Haynes with five seconds left to give Richt his first big win.
Alabama will get the final playoff spot if they can beat Florida in the SEC title game. “Mark Richt’s been a really good coach and a really positive person in our profession for a long, long time”.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney: “When they’re firing a coach like Mark Richt, that gives every coach out there perspective”. While he fared better than Ray Goff did at the helm, he couldn’t get us over the hump to the next level, and he couldn’t beat hated rivals year after year. Tebow played on a sprained ankle but he was still too much for Georgia. It happened against Florida and Alabama in 2008, and it happened again vs. those two this season. Bauta isn’t known for passing, yet he threw the ball 33 times and got intercepted four times as Florida won 27-3. “That’s the standard here”, he said. However, the fiery defensive coordinator who was brought in to give the Bulldogs the edge that Richt didn’t have stuck around, and now he might actually be the guy to take what’s already in place, infuse an Alabama attitude, and be that Point C guy.
Advertisement
The high-profile losses combined with this year’s quarterback issues have created an understandable amount of angst among Georgia fans.
