The school has not yet confirmed the hire.
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Richt won two SEC titles in his 15 seasons in Athens, and the Bulldogs won six SEC East Division titles, with three trips to BCS bowls, and seven top-10 AP finishes.
Richt went 19-3 against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents when he was at Georgia, and Miami can only hope that trend continues.
“He’s outgoing, he’s got a good personality, I think he’ll do a good job in all of the other areas that you’re talking about”, Saban said. “That goes without saying that this guy’s ready to be a head coach”. “You shouldn’t be anxious about it, you shouldn’t be concerned about it. And you also should know that we’ve had these situations in the past and we always seem to bring the next best good coach in, so you’ll continue to get good coaching and help you develop as a football player”.
The Hurricanes hired him after a short stint as an assistant coach with the Miami Dolphins.
ESPN is reporting that Richt, a Miami alumnus, will accept the Hurricanes’ offer to become their next head coach. And obviously, as a head coach, he has been successful, although not successful enough at Georgia to win the SEC, which was his downfall.
“This is home”, Richt said.
Richt interviewed with UM Athletics Director Blake James on Tuesday – and according to reports out of Charlottesville, Va. – met with Virginia officials Wednesday about their opening before mulling a return to Coral Gables.
Mark Richt on Monday said he welcomed the opportunity to coach Georgia for one last game in a bowl. As in the same Miami that Georgia Tech plays every single season. “I miss that part of it”, he said. 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.
How quickly Miami gets “back” is the million dollar question, because the hire of Richt has risen expectations that The U will be back competing for national championships right away.
“Excited about 2016 with Coach Richt”, Miami running back Mark Walton wrote on Twitter. Richt performed two jobs once before and very well could decide not to this time around.
Richt, 55, takes over for Larry Scott, who was named interim coach after Al Golden was sacked in the middle of his fifth season.
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Golden was sacked in October, one day after Miami lost 58-0 to Clemson for the worst loss in the 90-yard history of Hurricane football.
