Mark Richt Leaves University of Georgia

Mark Richt has parted ways with the University of Georgia recently after fifteen seasons with the team. The partnership gave Georgia 145 wins along with a pair of SEC championships.

The official announcement indicated that there was a mutual agreement between the two sides and Richt will step down after he met with Greg McGarity, athletics director of Georgia. Richt worked hard on trying to keep his job last month. He posted pictures on social media with Jacob Eason, a top ranked quarterback who said he will play for Georgia. Richt also led the team to a 9-3 finish for the season after finishing 10-3 last year.

However, it was not enough as the last three seasons of the coach did not give the team any SEC East division championships.

Supporters of Mark Richt highlighted his overall record, particularly during his first eight years with the team. Richt was able to lead the team to 6 top ten finishes from 2001 until 2008 along with two SEC championships. However, he was not able to take advantage of the weak East division in the last seven years as he had a pair of 8-5 records during this period. The team came close to winning the 2012 SEC championship, which would have brought them into the national championship. But, this was considered a deviation from the second half of his tenure as coach.

Mark Richt Leaves Georgia - image credit: foxsports.com

Georgia administrators earlier considered firing Mark Richt after last season after it loss to Florida along with a home loss to Georgia Tech. However, Jere Morehead, president of the school, did not agree to the plan. Richt was given an extension along with a pay raise.

The Bulldogs were exposed as being not quite competitive as it lost to Alabama, 38-10, following a 4-0 start against weaker teams. It also lost to Florida, 27-3, along with a double-digit lead against Tennessee.

While Georgia was able to win four straight games against weaker teams, the school already decided to let go of Mark Richt. A source indicated that the school was quietly looking for a coach over the past week. McGarity did not join a celebration in the locker room after the team won against Auburn.

Richt showed he was aware of the sentiment of the most prominent supporters of Georgia when he flew to the West Coast to meet the future starting quarterback of the Bulldogs. A coaching job at Georgia is considered a prominent position due to excellent program that allowed it to have a good number of players enter the NFL draft. The facilities and support of Georgia also allows it to win national championships and has weaker competition in the SEC.

Speculations have emerged on the possibility that Kirby Smart, defensive coordinator of Alabama, may come in, but Georgia does not offer enough to attract currently successful head coaches. Dan Mullen of Mississippi State was also floated along with Tom Herman of Houston, as possible replacements for Mark Richt.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Monday November 30 2015, 10:40 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0