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.
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“I’ve asked Bryan to assume all administrative duties of the head coach”, Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said.
“Coach Richt embodies the competitiveness, the integrity, the passion, the abilities, and the experience to lead our young men to ACC and national championships and help them become men of character and success long after”, Miami athletics director Blake James said. Richt takes over a struggling Miami program that hasn’t won more than nine games in a season since 2003, and hasn’t won a bowl game since 2006.
55-year-old Richt played college football as a quarterback for the Hurricanes from 1979 to 1982. Miami has scheduled a news conference at 10 a.m. Friday to introduce its new head coach.
Citing sources, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach reported Tuesday that Richt will interview for the UVA job, which opened up with Mike London’s resignation on Sunday morning. Richt has said that he wants to work hands-on with players, specifically quarterbacks, and Miami is returning quarterback Brad Kaaya next year. He won two SEC titles (2002, 2005) and was 9-5 in bowl games.
The Bulldogs’ bowl game, and their opponent, have not been decided yet.
Richt accepted the Miami Hurricanes job on Wednesday, three days after he was sacked by Georgia after 15 years with the Bulldogs, to return to his alma mater and the Sunshine State.
Richt was 145-51 at Georgia, and has strong recruiting ties in South Florida, which was considered a major point of emphasis for the program’s next coach.
“I think that everybody in this building is very, very focused on what we’re trying to do for our team”, Saban said on Wednesday, “because regardless of what anybody’s opportunities are in the future, all those things get enhanced by us playing well in this game”. That would make for extra drama with Richt’s former players facing his new team.
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This would be great news for Miami fans, many of whom wanted Richt, including 2 Live Crew great Luther Campbell, who ranked Richt near the top of his wish list and called him “perfect”.
