Many people were very surprised that the University of Georgia fired longtime head coach Mark Richt. Both sides were rumored for years that there was an intention to move on, but Georgia finally decided to replace Richt for Alabama DC Kirby Smart.
Mark Richt is an alum of Miami, having played QB for Howard Schnellenberger from 1978-82, being a backup to future NFL Hall of Famer Jim Kelly.
Mark Schlabach reported the firing of Richt at Georgia and was among those to break the news. Miami fired Al Golden mid-season also and were looking for a coach to bring an old attitude and I believe this hire will do that.
Well, was just told with 100-percent certainty that Mark Richt to Miami should be finalized tonight or tomorrow.
— Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach) December 2, 2015
Under Richt, Georgia had numerous top five recruiting classes, and I would expect that Miami can really make some noise, especially with all the homegrown talent right in their own back yard and all throughout south Florida.
While it is not official yet, Richt wants to be more involved in the offense and perhaps taking charge in play-calling. If that’s the case, the athletes of southern Florida will be flocking to go back to ‘The U’.
During his time in Athens, Richt accumulated a 145-51 record with a 83-37 record in conference. He also coached and recruited the likes of current NFL stars such as Matthew Stafford, A.J. Green, Benjamin Watson and most recently Todd Gurley and Chris Conley.
With an eye for developing talent and being a former quarterback himself, perhaps the biggest winner of Richt coming to Coral Gables is future NFL first-round pick Brad Kaaya.
Only time will tell, but in hiring a coach of Richt’s pedigree, ‘The U’ could be back, bigger and better than it could have ever imagined.