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Georgia football: Head coach mistakes the Bulldogs avoided in 2015

By Payton Wilkerson

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 09: Head coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs celebrates with his players after defeating the TCU Horned Frogs in the College Football Playoff National Championship game at SoFi Stadium on January 09, 2023 in Inglewood, California. Georgia defeated TCU 65-7. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 09: Head coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs celebrates with his players after defeating the TCU Horned Frogs in the College Football Playoff National Championship game at SoFi Stadium on January 09, 2023 in Inglewood, California. Georgia defeated TCU 65-7. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) /
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November 29, 2015 proved to be an infamous and program-altering day for Georgia football. On that day, the Bulldogs decided to let go of 15-year head coach Mark Richt. The move was divisive among Georgia fans and the media, with some feeling it was long overdue, while others claiming it was the biggest mistake Georgia has ever made.

It wasn’t that Richt was a terrible coach. He had just wrapped up a 9-3 regular season, which was the 11th time in his tenure that the Dawgs had nine or more wins in a season. It was the three losses that season to Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida, combined with a lack of championships overall, that spelled doom for Richt.

Then-Athletic Director Greg McGarity and UGA President Jere Morehead were going to have to ace their next hire, as it would be tied to their school legacies forever.

ALSO READ: 30 Greatest UGA Players of the Mark Richt Era

It’s safe to say that they did.

In December 2015, the school announced it had hired longtime Alabama defensive coordinator and former Bulldog safety Kirby Smart as the program’s next head coach. 81 wins, two SEC titles, and two straight national titles later, Georgia has become a premier, if not the premier program in the sport.

Although Smart was the favorite to land the head coaching job from the beginning, other names were floated by the media as potential head coaching candidates. Who were some of these candidates?

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