ATHENS — No, Mark Richt isn’t Kirby Smart’s newest offensive analyst.
A few folks made that leap Tuesday night when they saw Richt’s tweet that he and wife, Katharyn, had moved back to Athens.
They have and kind of haven’t. The Richt’s primary residence remains in Miramar Beach, Fla., near Destin. But they’ve found themselves traveling back to Athens so often that they just decided to set up a residence there.
“We visit quite often to Athens because our family is here,” Richt said in a text exchange Wednesday. “… We plan on splitting time between the two spots, Miramar Beach and Athens. We love both places.”
Richt’s second-oldest son, Jon, and his wife, Anna, live in Watkinsville along with their children. Richt’s daughter, Anya, his mother, his father and stepmother, his two sisters and brother and all the nieces and nephews that go with them all live in the Athens area.
Jon Richt and former Georgia player Fred Munzenmaier own athletic training facilities called D1 Training with locations in Watksinville and Norcross. Mark Richt has a vested interest in them.
Of course, Richt lived in Watkinsville, just outside of Athens, for 15 years while he was coaching the Bulldogs from 2001-15. He was fired following the 2015 season. He remains the second-winningest coach in UGA history at 145-51.
Interestingly, with Richt living in Athens again, that means that the Bulldogs’ last five football coaches all reside in the city — Vince Dooley, Ray Goff, Jim Donnan, Richt and, of course, current coach Kirby Smart.
That does not include Bryan McClendon, who was interim head coach in December of 2015 and is 1-0 in UGA record books. McClendon is currently an assistant coach at the University of Oregon.
Richt, 61, retired from coaching football after the 2018 season. He spent his last three years in coaching at the University of Miami, his alma mater. He now works full-time an a college football analyst for the ACC Network.
And, no, he’s not here as a consultant to Smart, a la Will Muschamp.
Where the Richts might end up permanently is still up in the air.
“We’re not sure what state will be our primary residence, but we plan on being around a good bit,” Richt said.
