Richt, the one-time Hurricanes quarterback and soon-to-be former Georgia coach, has accepted his alma mater’s offer to become head coach, multiple sources with knowledge of his decision confirmed Wednesday evening. Georgia said Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015, that assistant head coach Bryan McClendon will serve as interim head coach in the bowl game.
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He is a South Florida native and played for Howard Schnellenberger at Miami, when the Hurricanes were just becoming the program that would win five national championships in 19 seasons. He was sacked by UGA on Sunday.
News of Smart’s impending hire broke Tuesday night, and it was quickly followed by an Al.com report that Alabama strength coach Scott Cochran would be following Smart from Tuscaloosa. Richt, who played quarterback at Boca Raton High and at UM from 1978-82, was a backup to Hall of Famer Jim Kelly. He coached running backs for Richt in 2005 and also has worked at Valdosta State, LSU and for the Miami Dolphins.
Richt leaves a Bulldogs team that he coached for 15 seasons. Asked if she was excited about what may transpire in the coming days, Miami women’s basketball coach Katie Meier said “I hope to be” after her team beat IL to move to 8-0 on the season.
The university announced Thursday that it will introduce its new football coach at a press conference on Friday. It remains to be seen if he will have the same success within the conference at Miami. Richt reportedly interviewed for the UM job this week, as did Mississippi State head football coach Dan Mullen, Greg Schiano and Butch Davis.
Maryland has hired MI defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin on Wednesday to be its head coach, taking a key assistant away from its Big Ten East rivals. The University of Miami is hoping that Richt cannot only develop certain players to play at the next level, but to restore Miami to the powerhouse program that it was in the 1980’s and early-2000’s. “It’s the first time through for Kirby Smart building his staff, establishing what he’s going to do as a head coach”.
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It didn’t take a search committee and tens of thousands of dollars in related expenses to know that former Georgia coach Mark Richt was the best choice among the coaches available.
