Mark Richt Fired As Coach Of Georgia Bulldogs After 15 Seasons

After another disappointing season, Mark Richt is resigning as the Bulldogs’ head coach, the university announced today. Georgia squeaked past 3-9 Georgia Tech on Saturday 13-7.

Richt is 145-51 during his 15 years as the Georgia head coach. Perhaps Georgia brass saw that result as a power shift in the East; indeed, Florida went on to earn a spot in Saturday’s SEC title game against Alabama.

Lassiter High School graduate Hutson Mason played for Richt from 2010 to 2014 and served as the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback in 2014, leading the team to a 10-3 record and a win in the postseason Belk Bowl.

Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said in a statement that he met with Richt on Sunday morning “to discuss the status of our football program”. He also coached Georgia to 15 bowl games, two SEC championships and three other appearances in the conference title game.

In 2015, Georgia entered the season at No. 9 in the nation, but suffered losses to Alabama, Tennessee and Florida, and failed to beat a ranked opponent. “The older guys, the younger guys, we all love coach Richt”.

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.

Other rumored candidates for the top job at Georgia include Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart and Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen. It was clear the decision was weighing heavily on McGarity and he declined to shed any light on Richt’s future. I had just graduated from the University of Georgia as a proud Grady grad, and was living in Washington D.C., watching every game of Jim Donnan’s previous year between the hedges on my tiny 16 inch tube TV in my tiny studio apartment in Alexandria, Virginia. “It took Vince Dooley 17 years to win a title at Georgia, and Frank Beamer spent 29 years at Virginia Tech and never won a title”.

Georgia needs to get its edge back and fight for championships, not settle for another name straight out of the SEC coordinator bubble, even if it’s someone with ties to the school (an extremely overrated hiring metric anyway).

Georgia has tentatively planned a Monday news conference. Since Richt arrived, Georgia has climbed into the AP top five in eight seasons, but it has come away with SEC championships in only 2002 (finishing No. third and winning the Sugar Bowl) and 2005 (finishing 10th and losing the Sugar Bowl).

“I couldn’t be more excited to receive the opportunity to coach at Iowa State”, Campbell said in a statement released by Iowa State.

Reports came out a couple weeks ago about Richt being likely coaching his last season for the Bulldogs, and after 15 seasons in Athens, Richt’s tenure has reportedly come to an end.

Tom Herman: The Houston head coach is 11-1 in his first season, after serving the previous two years under Meyer at Ohio State, where he was offensive coordinator.

“I am deeply grateful for his many years of dedicated service to the University of Georgia, and I particularly appreciate the positive way he has represented UGA”, Morehead said.