Mark Richt Fired As Coach Of Georgia Bulldogs After 15 Seasons
Georgia has fired Mark Richt as head football coach. UGA J. Reid Park Director of Athletics Greg McGarity announced Richt was stepping down as football coach in a statement issued on Sunday.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach was the first to report that Georgia had fired Richt.
In his statement, McGarity thanked Richt for “15 years of remarkable service,” saying that UGA has offered him the opportunity to stay and play lesser roles in other duties and responsibilities.
“Coach Richt and I met Sunday morning to discuss the status of our football program,” the statement said, “and we mutually agreed that he would step down as head coach and would have the opportunity to accept other duties and responsibilities at UGA following the bowl game…”
“Mark has the opportunity to remain on our staff at the University of Georgia, and would be heavily involved with outreach programs for our former football lettermen via the PO Network as well as other University and Athletic Association initiatives.”
“I appreciate the opportunity of serving the University as well as considering any other options that may present themselves in the future,” Richt said in a statement.
Georgia will hold a press conference Monday.
Richt took over the Bulldogs in 2001 after serving about 10 years as offensive assistant at Florida State. His resignation comes after a campaign in which the Bulldogs ended the regular season — after defeating Georgia Tech 13-7 on Saturday — with a 9-3 record, winning their last four games and five of final six games.
Georgia has not played for an SEC title since 2012, but Richt has managed to steer the team to season-ending Top 10 on seven occasions, including in 2014. The only time he finished a season with fewer than eight wins was 6-7 in 2010.
Richt recently drew criticism over his decision to hire former New York Jets and St. Louis Rams Brian Schottenheimer as his offensive co-coordinator. Speculations about his future with Georgia peaked after the Bulldog’s SEC championship hopes ended following losses to Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida. But rumors that he could be fired had been making the rounds all season, although some hoped he would last another year after ending the regular season with a 9-3 record.
Georgia has fired Mark Richt, a source told https://t.co/IUb98wmtlA
— Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach) November 29, 2015
It appears that the major sticking point is that Richt has not been able to win a national championship. As ESPN’s Schlabacvh notes, Richt’s 74 percent winning percentage ranks fifth-highest among FBS coaches, only behind Ohio’s Urban Meyer, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, Alabama’s Nick Saban, and TCU’s Gary Patterson, all of whom — except for Patterson — have won national titles.
Besides the fact that he has never won a national title, issues with handling of his players may have contributed to the decision to fire him and find a replacement who can remedy the issues and probably also win a national championship.
Given the lingering frustrations, Georgia has been under obvious pressure to make a move for a new coach. The pressure only increased with Richt’s 5-10 record against archrival Florida, under a new coach.
And although Richt is yet to sign a contract extension offered in January that made him one of the highest-paid coaches in the country, McGarity confirmed that Georgia will honor the deal for a buyout of $4.1 million.
[Photo by John Raoux/AP]
