Defending Mark Richt

Following a blowout home loss to one of the top programs in college football, the “Fire Richt” battle cries have started up again. Georgia football fans need not let their emotions get the best of them.

This was the year many thought Georgia had its best chance in recent years to make it to the promised land, somewhere it hasn’t been since 1980. “Promised land” isn’t exactly an accurate term, however. National titles are far from easy to obtain, and for that reason, coaches don’t truly promise that they’ll win them. They might use fine-tailored coach speak in order to build up confidence in the fanbase, but they know not to promise anything.

More from Georgia Football

While the coaches are careful not to say anything that won’t backfire against them (well, most coaches that is. Looking at you, Bielema.), fans often seem to believe that they are entitled to something, whether it be top recruiting classes or national titles, and in no fanbase does that ring true more than the Georgia football fanbase.

The main reason for that is the consistent success Georgia has. Under Mark Richt, Georgia has averaged 9.7 wins per year, which is darn good. In Richt’s 14 years as the boss, the Dawgs have won two SEC Championships and they’ve finished in the top 10 of the AP Poll seven times.

Those are all statistics that resemble a top college football program. There’s just one thing missing though, and that’s a national title. Georgia football has become an embodiment of the term “close but no cigar”, fielding talented and successful teams every that just can’t seem to put the cherry on top. Maybe if the Dawgs weren’t as consistently on the outside looking in, Georgia fans wouldn’t have such a strong craving for that cigar, but it’s Mark Richt’s own success that’s put him in a hole with Georgia fans.

I would like for you to stop for a moment and think about that for a second.

Because a man has been wildly successful, he finds himself on a seat that is perpetually warm. I personally think that is ridiculous. There are 128 FBS programs, and I’d say that if Mark Richt were the coach at approximately 80 of those schools, there would be a statue raised in his honor by the end of his tenure.

When Mark Richt won his first SEC title in 2002, it had been 20 years since the school had last done it, when a guy named Herschel was running the ball, and a guy named Vince was calling the shots as head coach. Twenty YEARS. Richt brought Georgia back into prominence, not only on a conference level, but on a national level as well.

More from Dawn of the Dawg

In the 12 years between Vince Dooley’s retirement and Mark Richt’s hiring, Georgia had a winning percentage of 61.43%. Richt, now in his 15th season at the helm, has a winning percentage of 74.07%. That’s an increase of almost 13%. I’d call that quite an improvement.

Mark Richt not only has changed the culture of Georgia football by winning football games, but he has also created a program of high moral standards. We all know about the strict suspension policies Coach Richt has in place and the emphasis he has on creating men of character, which is evident in the fact that all of his former players have (eventually) graduated from the University of Georgia. Richt has also created the P.O. Network, which is designed to keep former players connected and create a forum for networking in the job world. These feats are all the more impressive when you consider the facts that the head coach prior to Richt was involved in a Ponzi scheme and that the football team was involved in an academic scandal in 1981.

No, Mark Richt hasn’t won a national title yet, but Vince Dooley didn’t win his until his 17th season on the job, so if the 2017-18 seaon ends and Richt hasn’t won a national title, then you can start complaining again, but until then, I don’t wanna hear it.

Next: Alabama Confirms Georgia Football Pre-Season Worries

Home/Georgia Football