Richt, who was dismissed by Georgia on Sunday after a 9-3 regular season, had one of the most successful and longest runs in program history.
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Richt informed the Bulldogs of the decision Thursday afternoon in a team meeting, a source said.
Coaching at Miami serves as a homecoming for Richt, who went to high school in Boca Raton and played quarterback (behind Jim Kelly) for Miami in the late 1970s.
In his final press conference at Georgia, former Bulldogs coach Mark Richt made it clear – if he was to coach football again, he wanted to be hands on, to call plays, and he wanted to work with quarterbacks. Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity did not reply to an interview request from The Associated Press on the status of the search.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) Mark Richt will be introduced as Miami’s new coach on Friday morning. He also spent 11 years coaching at Florida State prior to taking the UGA job, so being south of the Georgia border is nothing new to him.
It is unclear if Richt will coach the Bulldogs in their bowl game.
Recruiting in Miami is never the hard part, but Richt will get it done and he’ll get it done at an elite level, especially after the wins start piling on. “You’re talking about a guy who is going to develop players and who could also be a father figure in their lives”. They are waiting until after Saturday’s Alabama-Florida SEC championship game.
Durkin, 37, whose MI defense ranks fourth in the nation this season, emerged as a strong candidate after an interview with Maryland officials last week.
Richt posted a 145-51 record and won two Southeastern Conference championships in 15 years at Georgia.
Richt was excited about coaching Georgia in its bowl game before he found his new job at Miami, his alma mater, so quickly.
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Scott’s younger brother, LaVaar, said over a direct message on Twitter that he had not spoken to his brother several hours after reports of Richt’s hire surfaced. 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.
