No one is celebrating that Mark Richt is out as head coach at Georgia. Nor should they.
Richt is a fine man. He displays class and dignity as every turn. He has a servant’s heart, believing one of his roles in life is to help his fellow man. There is no question that he loves his players and wants them to be good men and good husbands.
A few years ago, a young man I’ve known since he was about 7 signed a football scholarship with Georgia. I saw firsthand Richt’s role in his development as football player and as a young man.
Unfortunately, that player suffered a series of knee injuries and was forced to retire from football. Richt kept him on scholarship and kept him involved in the program until he graduated. That young man and his family will always be indebted to Richt for that love and support.
I’m proud of the way Richt has represented the University of Georgia. I’m proud of the way he elevated our program from the dark days of the Goff and Donnan years. I’m proud of the way he fights for his players.
But it was time for a change.
Richt’s first eight years were terrific – two SEC titles, three SEC championship game appearances. But the difference between his first eight years and the last seven are significant. Since 2008, the trend has been downward.
Since 2008, Georgia is 14-21 against ranked opponents, and the Dogs have lost nine times to unranked opponents, including Tennessee this year. In that time, Georgia has finished unranked more times than it finished in the Top 25.
Georgia has suffered a loss by 18 points or more in each of the last 10 seasons. Sometimes there have been multiple blow outs per year – like this season, when Alabama won by 28 and Florida won by 24.
Then there are the head scratchers – the numbing, hard-to-explain defeats to teams that were double-digit underdogs. Georgia lost to Colorado two weeks before they fired their coach. The Dogs were blown out by Florida last year, right before Will Muschamp was given his walking papers. Two years ago, Georgia was heavily favored against Missouri and Vanderbilt – and they lost both.
Good teams shouldn’t get blown out, certainly not once or twice a year. A team than gets the recruits that Georgia gets shouldn’t lose multiple games a year they are big favorites to win.
It is true that Georgia won 10 games last year and, if it wins the bowl game this year, Georgia will win 10 games this year. But the wins came against soft schedule. Georgia lost any game that mattered.
There’s no joy in Richt’s ouster. There’s also no guarantee that – though it was time for a change – that the new coach will be any better. Tennessee has been through three coaches and a lot of miserable football since it forced out Philip Fulmer. On the other hand, Florida is headed to the SEC Championship Game in its first year under Jim McElwain.
Athletic Director Greg McGarity has a career-defining moment in front of him. Hire the right coach and Georgia could become the Alabama of the East. Hire poorly and McGarity might be the next person in the unemployment line.
Yes, Mark Richt is a fine man. But he was slipping as a football coach. The decision to let him go was the correct one. But it is McGarity’s next decision that will decide whether Georgia football becomes a championship-caliber team.
