LOS ANGELES – When it comes to appreciating former Georgia coach Mark Richt, nobody has greater respect than its current one.
Kirby Smart succeeded Richt as the Bulldogs’ coach in December of 2015. Seven years later, they will play in the national championship game for a third time Monday night here at SoFi Stadium.
“We wouldn’t have done that as quickly if it wasn’t for Coach Richt, his staff, the things he built,” Smart said on Saturday at Media Day for the College Football Playoff championship. “There was a good program in place when we got there.”
The National Football Foundation agrees. That august body on Monday nominated Richt for induction into its College Football Hall of Fame for the Class of 2023. A closely guarded secret until Monday’s announcement, that it occurred on the same day as the Bulldogs were playing for a title was a beautiful coincidence.
Richt was at his home in Athens with his wife Katharyn when he got word from the NFF. He said he had no idea it was coming.
“I am honored, humbled and excited all at the same time,” Richt told the AJC. “I want to thank my coaches, players, support staff, administration, family, and especially my beautiful wife Katharyn. And we cannot forget the Georgia and Miami fans.”
Richt becomes the fifth Georgia coach and 21st Bulldog to earn an induction into the Hall of Fame. Also in the Hall are Jim Donnan (2009), Richt’s predecessor, Vince Dooley (1994), who hired him, Wally Butts (1997) and Glenn “Pop” Warner (1951).
Having already won one national championship, it seems likely that Smart will be the next Georgia coach to earn a hall induction. Smart worked for Richt for one season, serving as running backs coach in 2005.
But it was while he was a defensive coordinator at Alabama and competing against the Bulldogs in recruiting that Smart said he gained a true appreciation for what Richt was doing at Georgia.
“I was in the state recruiting and there’s a lot of years that they would have definitely been in the four (team playoff),” Smart said. “If there was a 12, I assume they probably would have been in almost every year. It’s hard to argue that Georgia wouldn’t have won a national championship.”
As it was, Richt came tantalizingly close. The Bulldogs’ went 13-1 in his second season and won the program’s first SEC championship in 20 yards, finished No. 3 nationally. They opened the 2004 season ranked third and finished seventh.
A couple of early-season injuries and trip-ups kept the 2007 team on the outside looking in as it finished No. 2 after a lopsided Sugar Bowl victory. The 2008 season opened with Georgia as No. 1.
But the closest the Bulldogs ever got was in the 2012 season. Georgia had No. 1 Alabama on the ropes in the 2012 SEC Championship game before a tipped pass and fluke reception short of the end zone as time expired sent the Crimson Tide to the national championship game instead. No one doubts that Georgia would have similarly dominated Notre Dame as Alabama did that season.
That would have been Richt’s third SEC championship. His teams won 2002 and 2005 titles. But beyond championships, the Bulldogs were consistent in their annual excellence. During his tenure at Georgia from 2001-15, Richt compiled a record of 145-51 (.738) and was named SEC Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2005. He led the team five SEC championship game appearances, 15 consecutive bowl games (10-5), and eight top 10 final national poll finishes.
Georgia averaged almost exactly 10 wins a season for the entirety of Richt’s 15-year tenure. He was 145-17 with the Bulldogs. Those wins were second only to Dooley, who died in late October at the age of 90. At .895, Richt’s winning percentage was the best ever at UGA -- until Smart came along.
But Richt’s work always went well beyond the field of play, inlcuding his stewardship of the program and daily mentorship of players.
“So many coaches focus only on the on-field production,” said Aaron Murray, his quarterback from 2010-13. “Coach Richt took it to another level and made sure when we left UGA we were ready to take on the world as athletes and men. I could not have asked to have been coached by a better person, mentor and leader than Coach Richt.”
Richt’s dismissal from Georgia was controversial because he had such a strong record of sustained success. But he didn’t stay unemployed even a week. He was hired by Miami, his alma mater, and would coach there for three more seasons before deciding to retire. He left the post with a career record of 171-64 and went 10-7 in bowl games.
Though Richt has stayed busy in retirement as a college football analyst for the ACC Network, he has been battling a significant health challenge in recent years. Richt was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2020.
UGA honored Richt and his family on the field at halftime of the Missouri game in November of 2021.
“We love Georgia; we always have,” Richt said the day before. “We poured our lives into it. I think the fans at least respect the job we did and how we did it. They know we cared about Athens and cared about the university and cared about the players. And we won a bunch of games. We just didn’t win enough, or we didn’t win the national championship, to be specific.”
And as much as Smart appreciates Richt, Richt also appreciates his successor. They live just around the corner from each other in Athens and visit often.
“It just didn’t happen in my time,” Richt said of the success Smart has had and the support he has received. “But I’ve gotten a chance to see most of it, and it’s pretty spectacular, I can say that.”
Richt and his sons John and David were in attendance for Georgia’s national championship victory over Alabama last January in Indianapolis.
Former Georgia players inducted into the College Hall of Fame: Bob McWhorter, 1954; Frank Sinkwich, 1954; Charley Trippi, 1959; Vernon “Catfish” Smith, 1979; Bill Hartman, 1984; Fran Tarkenton, 1987; Bill Stanfill, 1998; Herschel Walker, 1999; Terry Hoage, 2000; Kevin Butler, 2001; John Rauch, 2003; Jake Scott, 2011; Scott Woerner, 2016; Matt Stinchcomb, 2018; David Pollack, 2020; and Champ Bailey, 2022.
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