Destin, Fla. — A tired Mark Richt has spent the past two weeks trying to help and inspire others. But at the end of his journey, Richt insisted, it was he who was helped and inspired the most.

"It was just an incredible trip," the Georgia football coach said Tuesday as he arrived here for the SEC's annual spring meetings. "It was just one of those things that I really wanted to do."

Richt's journey began in mid-May with a weeklong mission trip to Honduras with about 20 of his players. After a short break to celebrate the high school graduation of his son, Jon, Richt was off with four other coaches for a tour visiting U.S. troops in the Middle East.

The tour ended on Monday in Washington, D.C. when Richt, Auburn's Tommy Tuberville, Notre Dame's Charlie Weis, Miami's Randy Shannon and Yale's Jack Siedlecki visited President Bush at the White House.

"He thanked us about six times in the first 10 minutes and wanted to know what we thought of it," Richt said. "It was just an incredible honor for all of us."

Richt flew back to Athens Monday night and stayed at his place on Lake Hartwell with his wife, Katharyn.

"It was the first time I had really slept in a while," Richt said. "They had us going pretty much non-stop."

Tuesday morning Richt grabbed some clean shirts, stuffed them in the same bag he had taken to the Middle East, and headed to Destin, where he will meet with his fellow SEC coaches over the next two days.

But as Richt met with the media at the hotel, he had two very tangible reminders that the past two weeks had not been a dream.

Reaching inside his golf shirt, Richt proudly pulled out the dog tags (or should that be Dawg Tags?) given to him last Tuesday at Scott Air Force Base near St. Louis. He still hasn't taken them off.

The other reminder came from one of the first people he met in the Middle East: a serviceman who said he was Georgia fan and gave him a personal note. It was one Richt said he will never forget.

"He just wanted all of the folks back home to know that they love the Dawgs and they'll be getting up a three o'clock in the morning to watch the games this season," Richt said. "He also wanted everybody to know that what they are doing was not in vain."

On the last night before they headed home, the coaches were put in a charge of a touch football game. Richt and Tuberville coached one team and Shannon and Siedlecki coached the other.

"Charlie (Weis) told us he wanted to officiate," Richt said.

Richt's and Tuberville's team won 14-12 after stopping a two-point conversion in the final seconds.

"Now that was a quality road win," Richt said. "Isn't that what usually happens when Georgia and Auburn get together?"

Richt said there were a number of images from the trip that will stick with him forever. But none were as striking as the visit to a hospital in Germany that cared for the U.S. troops wounded in battle.

"We saw guys who had just been in a roadside bombing," Richt said. "There was one guy who had the bottom half of his leg gone. He never complained. The morale there was just incredibly high."

Richt said he looks forward to the transition back to football and what many fans hope is a special season for Georgia. But as he goes about his work, Richt said he will always remember the troops. He knows many will be watching.

"I had a great respect for our military before I went over there. Now that respect has grown exponentially," Richt said. "These are great, great people."