It looks like Miami has their coach, and it is former Georgia coach Mark Richt.
This is a hire I really like for Miami. For the first time in years, you get the feeling the Hurricanes are ready to make a real commitment to becoming a football power again.
Richt is well respected, and 145 games in 15 years at Georgia. That’s nearly 10 wins a year. He has 8 top 10 seasons, and Georgia typically put together top 10 recruiting classes.
As recently as last season Georgia finished in the top 10. Richt’s failure at Georgia was that he never got the Bulldogs over the hump. The Bulldogs were good, but never won or even played for the national title. He hadn’t won an SEC Title since 2005, and hadn’t played in a BCS/Big 6 Bowl game since 2007. Richt hadn’t even won the a division title since 2012. That’s why he was let go at Georgia. He won, but he didn’t win big enough.
At Miami that’s going to be OK. I don’t seem him winning a national title at Miami, but I do see him winning a lot of games, and making Miami a solid program. Richt brings instant credibility to Miami.
We know he can recruit, and I think he’ll get big time talent to Miami. He knows how to compete against elite competition, having coached in SEC during it’s 7 year title run before the conference’s recent decline.
Now he joins a Coastal Division with 3 head coaches, Larry Fedora, David Cutcliffe, and Paul Johnson that have all won 10+ games at least once in a season during the last 3 years. Pat Narduzzi at Pitt had a good first season. Justin Fuente rebuilt Memphis and is headed to Virginia Tech. Fuente managed to hold on to DC Bud Foster there. That was his first recruiting win. Add Mark Richt to the mix, and the ACC Coastal Division now has a wealth of coaching talent.
