Richt’s. 740 winning percentage ranks fifth-best among active FBS head coaches and he is tied for ninth among the winning head coaches in SEC history.
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As solid a recruiter as the Hurricanes are getting in Richt, coaches and prospects are confident Miami will see its record improve with Richt on the sideline. A program both blessed and cursed by its glorious past had to get a coach as close as possible to being the complete package.
Also, Georgia announced that Richt will not coach the Bulldogs in their upcoming bowl game. The hiring was met with shoulder shrugs and question marks, and his 8-5 record in 1984 didn’t change opinions. This will be the 11th consecutive bowl for the Cougars under coach Bronco Mendenhall.
When the Hurricanes called again, Richt – who had been approached by Miami multiple times in the past when the school had coaching openings – knew he couldn’t say no.
Tweeted his teammate and fellow receiver Sam Bruce, “Welcome coach, Mark Richt”. The Hurricanes moved into the ACC 12 seasons ago, and still are looking for their first league title. Instead, they must turn their weaknesses into strengths and flip the script on the downward spiral that has characterized recent years relative to the sustained success endured throughout the ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s.
The Seminoles won the 1999 national championship when Richt was offensive coordinator. Considering the National Football League talent on that team, it made sense that the powers that be listened to them.
With 145 wins, Richt is proven and that makes him an anomaly for an incoming Miami coach.
After a few seasons marred by brawls, Coker was sacked after a 6-6 season in 2006.
A couple hours after Thursday’s meeting, Richt boarded a plane bound for Miami, officially leaving Georgia football behind. The Hurricanes are awaiting a bowl bid, where interim head coach Larry Scott will coach his final game before likely returning as the team’s tight ends coach and run game coordinator.
Coming off two impressive seasons at Temple University, a noted basketball institution, Golden had become a hot commodity in NCAA circles. Miami, on the other hand, once associated with Nevin Shapiro. The team had to withdrawal from bowl consideration in Golden’s first two years because of the NCAA issues. Guys are going to respect him.
Richt, 55, returns to his alma mater, where he was back-up quarterback to NFL Hall of Famer Jim Kelly from 1978 to 1982.
The University of Georgia formally announced Richt’s firing on Monday.
The Bulldogs’ bowl game, and their opponent, have not been decided yet.
But after eight years at Alabama, serving as defensive coordinator for the last seven, Smart will no longer be at Saban’s side.
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“An all-in, fiercely competitive, ultra-successful – and now highly-motivated – coach arrives at a program that can barely draw 20,000 fans to home games, is losing elite south Florida recruits to state rivals Florida and FSU (and Ohio State and Michigan) at an alarming rate, and hasn’t won an outright conference championship since 2002”, writes Matt Hayes at Sporting News.
