MARK RICHT

Age:  48

School:  Georgia

Alma Mater:  Miami, 1982

Conference:  SEC

Salary:  $2,800,000

Official Bio:   www.georgiadogs.com

Years Coaching:  7

Career Record:  72 - 19  .791

Years at School:  7

Record at Georgia:  72 - 19   .791

2007 Record:  11 - 2   .846

2007 Cost per Win:  $184,090

Attorney/Agent:   

Contract: 

December 2008 Buyout:  $2,000,000

Coaches Hot Seat Analysis

Mark Richt is a very difficult head football coach to write about, because there have been so very few weaknesses or bumps along the road in his coaching career.  In 7 years at Georgia, Richt has won 2 SEC titles and played in the SEC Championship Game 4 times and has put up an amazing .791 winner percentage in the toughest conference in college football.  Before Mark Richt took over in Athens, he was the offensive coordinator at Florida State under Bobby Bowden for 11 years (1990-2000) during one of the greatest runs of football in the history of the game.  Mark Richt is a devoted family man and in addition to the two kids he and his wife have had on their own, the Richt's have adopted two children from the Ukraine.  A winner on and off the field and a good guy to boot, Mark Richt's career leaves little for Coaches Hot Seat to be critical of.  Richt has had a great run at Georgia and he was able to quickly start winning football games in Athens, 13-1 in his second season, and even Richt would point out that the coach that preceded him at Georgia (Jim Donnan) had a lot to do with his quick start.  Jim Donnan took over from Ray Goff a Georgia football program in trouble and after one losing season, Donnan put up records of 10-2, 9-3, 8-4, 8-4 in his last 4 years at UGA.  Even those records at Georgia, and more importantly a 2-3 record against Ga. Tech, led to Donnan's firing in 2000 in what Vince Dooley called one of the toughest things he had to do in his career.  Donnan left a lot of talent at Georgia, but Mark Richt has really improved on that by both recruiting very well and bringing his experience with Bowden at FSU to Athens and he now has the Georgia program on the precipice of becoming one of the top 4 or 5 football programs in the country every year.  In 2007 Mark Richt turned over offensive playcalling duties to Mike Bobo and that move has had a very positive impact upon Richt's management of his team and the entire football game.  Because so much talent has been recruited to Georgia in recent years, it is really hard to tell if the playcalling is any better under Bobo than Richt, but it does seem like that the Bulldog offense was more efficient in getting plays to the QB and overall the offense seemed to click just a little more in '07 than in recent years.  With Richt now free to listen in on the offensive plays and make suggestions only at certain points during the game, he can see things that are going on behind him on the bench and pay more attention to the defensive side of the ball.  A really good offensive playcaller like Richt can really be helpful to his defense, because he can understand some of the things that are running through the mind of the opposing offensive coordinator.  Besides the emergence of Mike Bobo in the OC position, Willie Martinez as the DC has put together some very good defenses at Georgia in recent years, and all of this good play on both sides of the ball has delivered the Bulldogs to the 2008 season and a possible run for the National Title.

Before we get to the 2008 Georgia season, we do want to say something about Mark Richt's salary, which recently was increased to $2.8 million a year.  Richt's salary places him as the 6th highest paid head football coach in the SEC, with Les Miles ($3.751 million), Nick Saban ($3.75 million), Urban Meyer ($3.25 million), Bobby Petrino ($2.85 million), Tommy Tuberville ($2.825 million) all making more than Richt.  $2.8 million dollars is a very good salary, but we here at Coaches Hot Seat believe Richt is underpaid to the tune of approximately $1 million a year, especially compared to coaches that have achieved similar things in their career.  That Richt is underpaid is an interesting issue, but an even important thing in our mind is imagining what someone like Mark Richt would do with an additional million dollars a year, and the amount of good that he and his family would do with that money.  In our capitalistic-republic, people should always be paid the salary that the market will bear, because it is always preferable that people and not government entities have "disposable income," because people will always put that money to the better use.  An extra $1 million in salary is about $600,000 a year after taxes in the state of Georgia, and we have no doubt the Richt family would put that $600K to very good use.  That is why there is no shame in asking for and receiving a market salary by a head football coach, a corporate executive, or just the average guy on the street, because people can allocate money and help society a lot more efficiently than government can with its large bureaucratic overhead. 

Coaches Hot Seat Bottom Line

We predict that Mark Richt and Georgia will have a 11-1 record in 2008.  The 2008 season for the Georgia Bulldogs is one of high hopes for Georgia fans, but the schedule is also one of the most challenging in the country.  The season starts off easy enough for UGA with Georgia Southern traveling to Athens, and although this game should not be close, Georgia must be very focused for this game so that they can lay the groundwork for the rest of the season.  Georgia beats Georgia Southern, and they are 1-0.  Week 2 is a visit by a very good Central Michigan football team to Athens, and this is the type of game during Mark Richt's tenure that have often been too close for comfort.  CMU should give Georgia a good game in the 1st half, but there is just way too much talent for the Bulldogs to lose this game.  After two games, UGA is 2-0.  Week 3 is the first of several big games with a trip to Columbia to play Spurrier and South Carolina.  In '07, Georgia played very poorly against USC and lost at home to the Gamecocks, so Richt should have no problem getting the Bulldogs up for this game.  We see a very close game until sometime in the 2nd half when the Bulldogs will start to pull away to get the win.  After three games, UGA is 3-0.  Week 4 is one of the most interesting intersectional conference games of the year, as Georgia travels to Tempe to play Arizona State.  Dennis Erickson is revitalizing the Sun Devils and no doubt the ASU crowd will be fired up to play a team from the SEC.  In what should be a great game that will go back and forth probably into the 4th quarter, we see Georgia's experience in big games being the difference, as the Bulldogs get the win to run their record to 4-0.  Georgia returns from Tempe and immediately has to turn around and play Nick Saban and Alabama.  Alabama will have already been tested in a game against Clemson in the Georgia Dome to open the season, and the Tide will not have forgotten the overtime loss to the Bulldogs in '07.  In another close game, Georgia playing at home gets the win over Alabama to take their record to 5-0.  After three straight tough games, Georgia gets an off-week before hosting Tennessee in Athens on October 11.  Tennessee whipped Georgia in Knoxville in '07, and Tennessee has historically played UGA very tough in Athens and we see another close game between these two teams in '08.  Georgia coming off a week's rest will have an advantage over Tennessee and we see them pulling away in the 2nd half to get the win over the Vols.  After six games, UGA is 6-0.  After four straight tough games one would think that a rest would be in order, but here comes Bobby Johnson and Vanderbilt who had Georgia beat in Nashville last season.  Richt's teams at Georgia tend to play down to competition, and this game against Vanderbilt could be a trap game for the Bulldogs.  In a close game into the 2nd half, we see Georgia getting the win over Vandy, and that takes their record to 7-0.  There is just no rest for the weary, as Georgia travels to Baton Rouge to play LSU in Week 8.  We think that Georgia's very tough schedule will catch up to the Bulldogs against the defending National Champions, but not before fighting throughout the game and losing to the Tigers in the 4th quarter.  LSU gets the win, and Georgia is now 7-1.  After a very physical and tough game against LSU, Georgia has to turn around and play another very tough game against Florida in Jacksonville.  We believe that Florida will come into this game against Georgia undefeated, and this game will determine who represents the Eastern division in the SEC Championship Game and possibly a spot in the National Title game.  Florida gave up 42 points to Georgia in '07, and the Gators will be sky high as they hope to continue their march to the SEC and possibly National championships.  In what will be a game for the ages, we see Georgia beating Florida in a very close game, which runs the Bulldogs record to 8-1, and gives them the inside track for the SEC East.  Florida also leaves Jacksonville with 1 loss, but they know that unless Georgia stumbles against Kentucky or at Auburn, Florida will be sitting at home watching the SEC Championship Game again on TV.  After a tough win over the Gators, Georgia must refocus again quickly, because Kentucky comes calling in Athens in Week 10.  Kentucky will probably be down in '07 from the '08 season, but they will still be a challenge for teams on their schedule, and the Bulldogs will have to be up to beat the Wildcats.  In a another physical SEC game, Georgia gets the win over Kentucky and runs their record to 9-1.  After beating Kentucky, "the season that never ends" continues with a trip to play Auburn on the Plains, and we believe that Auburn will enter this game undefeated.  Auburn will be riding very high when the Georgia game kicks-off, and in a slugfest from start to finish we see Georgia finding a way to get the win.  After 11 games, Georgia is 10-1.  The Georgia season wraps up as always against Georgia Tech, this time in Athens, and this will be a very tough game because Paul Johnson should have the Yellow Jackets humming by Week 12.  Even though Georgia will probably be beat up going into this game, we still believe that the Bulldogs will find a way to get the win, which that will run their 2008 regular season record to 11-1.

Looking back over Georgia's very difficult 2008 schedule, we find it hard to believe that we are predicting that the Bulldogs will have only one loss.  Mark Richt has recruited a lot of talent to Athens in recent years, and the depth of the Bulldogs will be severely tested during the '08 season.  To finish at 11-1 Georgia will have to play almost injury free, especially at the critical positions of QB, RB, LB, DL, and CB.  If Georgia does win the SEC East, then we see them in a rematch against Auburn in the SEC Championship Game, and that will be another huge challenge to the Bulldogs, before they will even get an opportunity to play for a National Title.  That the Big Ten and Pac-10 does not play a championship game points out the huge inequality that exists between different football conferences, and why it is amazing that the SEC has won the last two National Champions.

2008 Coaches Hot Seat Prediction:        11-1

Will Mark Richt be back for the 2009 season?      YES