Richt, who will reportedly coach Georgia in the bowl game, compiled a 145-51 record during 15 years as Georgia coach.
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Mark Richt to step down as head coach of the Georgia football team.
Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity announced Sunday that head coach Mark Richt would step down after 15 seasons at the school.
If Georgia wins its bowl game, Richt will have won 10 games for the 10th time in 15 seasons at Georgia – including the last two seasons. The Steve Sarkisian situation at Southern Cal is completely different in many respects, but there were already questions about whether Sarkisian could return the Trojans to the college football elite before his personal issues overtook what was happening on the field. It was the second year in a row that the Bulldogs got blown out by the Gators. 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.
The unknown with Richt is whether he wants to coach a Maryland team that has struggled to transition into the Big Ten. But the people making the decisions took a look at Richt’s’ body of work and decided it’s simply not good enough considering the conditions.
Richt has been offered a chance to remain at Georgia in a new role that McGarity said would include helping former Georgia players and fundraising. Georgia, which had been picked to win the SEC East and play for the conference title in 2015, dropped its October 31 matchup with Florida and first-year coach Jim McElwain 27-3. And there’s really no way to know until he’s hired as a head coach. Oh, while winning lots and lots of games. One person responded: Mark Richt. And Coach, if you happen to read this, I hope you do not mind I shared.
“I don’t know what the world is coming to in our profession”. Mason, a Lassiter High School graduate, played for Richt from 2010 to 2014.
Coach Richt and I at the April 2008 Touchdown Club of Athens meeting. If Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen leaves, Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin and Ole Miss’ Hugh Freeze would be tied for the third-longest active SEC coaching tenure at five years. 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.
The same is true with any coordinator candidate, and even some of those who have been head coaches at the mid-major level before. The winningest coach in program history, with more wins than Barry and Bud; the man who owned the Big 12 since he walked on campus in 1999, was in his last days.
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It appears that Richt will stay on to coach the bowl game, but it will be interesting to see if he has any interest in any of the coaching jobs that are immediately available – perhaps Virginia or his alma mater, Miami – or if he’ll take time away from coaching.
