Richt spent the last 15 seasons as the head coach at Georgia, averaging almost 10 wins a season and leading the Bulldogs to a pair of Southeastern Conference championships. LSU needed a defensive backs coach, and assistant coach Will Muschamp recommended Smart, who had been a player at Georgia when Muschamp was starting his coaching career. McClendon, who turns 32 on December 28, coached Georgia’s running backs the previous six seasons. He was well loved at Georgia, having taken the Bulldogs to bowl games all 15 of his years coaching them, and has led them to at least nine victories in 11 of those years.
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Richt, who resigned over the weekend, is expected to be introduced as the new head coach at the University of Miami Friday morning.
Brian Schottenheimer and Jeremy Pruitt will continue in their roles as the offensive and defensive coordinator, respectively, for the bowl game.
If Alabama, which is now ranked No. 2, knocks off No. 18 Florida in Saturday’s SEC title game in Atlanta, it is a shoo-in to land in the Top 4 of the final College Football Playoff rankings.
After his comments, Saban wanted to make it clear that he would not respond to any questions about Smart.
Barring a last-minute snag in negotiations, Alabama’s Kirby Smart will become Georgia’s new football coach. He favorited a tweet congratulating Richt on his new job. However, he did address the reports after Wednesday’s practice, saying, it’s not his “position to confirm any of this stuff, and I really can’t confirm it”.
Richt exited the Georgia job less than a week ago in what was described by athletic director Greg McGarity as a “mutual” parting.
A couple hours after Thursday’s meeting, Richt boarded a plane bound for Miami, officially leaving Georgia football behind. “I was very thankful for the opportunity”.
One high-ranking UM trustee heralded Richt, 55, as the man to restore the program’s shine. Get to coach one more time with these guys and finish the season?
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Richt would inherit a team that finished 8-4 overall and 5-3 in the ACC in the 2015 regular season. It’s yet to be decided how many, if any, current members of Miami’s staff or the assistants who worked with Richt at Georgia will be with him in 2016.
