Bryan McClendon Named Interim Head Coach for UGA Bowl Game

Former Georgia coach Mark Richt will not coach the Bulldogs in their bowl game as originally planned.

The decision to hire the 55-year-old Richt came after Miami interviewed several candidates including former Hurricanes coach Butch Davis, former Rutgers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano, who was also a defensive coordinator for the Hurricanes, and Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen.

³I¹ve asked Bryan to assume all administrative duties of the head coach, ² said McGarity.

Smart, at least according to Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage, is expected to coach the Alabama defense through either the College Football Playoffs or a bowl game should it lose to Florida in this Saturday’s SEC Championship.

Nov 28, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs linebacker Jordan Jenkins (59) celebrates while waving the Georgia flag after their game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Richt was excited about coaching Georgia in its bowl game before he found his new job at Miami, his alma mater, so quickly. LSU needed a defensive backs coach, and assistant coach Will Muschamp recommended Smart, who had been a player at Georgia when Muschamp was starting his coaching career.

Mark Richt needed help to figure out which way he should be driving, accidentally said Georgia once when meaning to say Miami and barely recognized his former campus.

“At this position you have the opportunity to affect lives in a positive way and that’s a big part of why I coach”, Richt said Friday morning.

His press conference is set to start in a couple of hours and we’ll get to know a little bit more about Richt the coach, but I’m sure we’re going to fall in love with Richt the person. Get to coach one more time with these guys and finish the season? He made the same assertion regarding Smart’s future Thursday while appearing on SiriusXM College Sports Radio. He was the Seminoles’ quarterbacks coach (1990-93) and offensive coordinator (1994-2000). Miami has not won a bowl game since 2006, having lost five in a row.

In 15 years leading the Bulldogs between the hedges, he compiled a 145-51 win-loss record, pretty damn impressive if I do say so myself.