Mark Richt

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Mark Allan Richt (born February 18, 1960) is a retired American football head coach, former football player, and television analyst.

For 15 years, he was the head football coach at the University of Georgia, and he taught at the University of Miami, his alma mater, for three years.

His teams captured two Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships, five SEC division titles, and one Atlantic Coast Conference division championship.

He was a two-time SEC Coach of the Year (2002-2005), the 2017 ACC Coach of the Year (ACC Coach of the Year), and the winner of the national Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award.

Richt played as a quarterback at Miami during college.

He spent 14 years at Florida State University, where he served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Bobby Bowden, as an assistant coach, as well as a year as offensive coordinator at East Carolina University.

Personal life

Richt is married to former Tallahassee, Florida, by the former Katharyn Francis. Katharyn earned a bachelor's degree in 1987 from Florida State, where the couple met as she was an FSU cheerleader and Mark was a graduate assistant. Katharyn obtained a nursing degree in 2016. She began playing as "water girl" during Mark's time at Georgia so she could spend time on the sidelines during games.

They have four children: Jonathan ("Jon") (born March 11, 1990), David (born March 11, 1994), and two children they adopted from Ukraine in 1999, Zach (born May 15, 1996) and Anya (born February 13, 1997 with a rare condition known as proteus syndrome). Jon, like his father, was a college quarterback before becoming a mentor. Jon worked at Georgia and in football before becoming Mark's quarterbacks coach during his time with the Hurricanes.

On October 25, 2008, ESPN's College GameDay hosted a documentary titled "GameDay looks at the Richt family's adoption of a young boy and a Ukrainian girl," focusing on the Richt family's personal tale of Zach and Anya's adoption. On several occasions, the Richts refused to reveal their adoption story in the hopes of enthralling new families to discover its rewards.

Richt is a devout Christian, and he owes his conversion to a locker room address delivered by Bobby Bowden when Richt was a 26-year-old graduate assistant. The Richts sold their lake house in Georgia in 2011 for over $2 million, announcing that they would contribute more to charity. They have also been on several mission trips in other countries.

Richt's parents and sisters joined him in Athens during his time in Georgia. Richt's sister Nikki is married to former NFL quarterback Brad Johnson, while Johnson was Johnson's position coach when he played at FSU. In 2020, Max Johnson, his nephew, began playing quarterback for LSU.

Richt and his wife bought a house two miles from campus to the Barnacle Historic State Park in Coconut Grove when Richt became head coach at Miami.

Richt appeared in the 2006 film Facing the Giants as the film's main character, Grant Taylor.

Richt said he had suffered a heart attack on October 21, 2019, but he had survived the incident and was planning to resume normal duties quickly. Richt revealed on Twitter on July 1, 2021, that he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

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Early years and playing career

Richt was born in a blue collar family, the second oldest of five children. Lou and Helen Richt, both born in Omaha, Nebraska, were born. Lou was employed by Western Electric as a tool-and-die maker. When Lou Richt's family took a new job in Boulder, Colorado in 1967, they moved to Boulder, Colorado. Lou was moved from South Florida, where Mark will graduate from high school in 1973.

Richt rose to prominence at Boca Raton High as a result of his numerous awards around the state of Florida. He was recruited by the University of Miami, Florida State University, and Brown University as a high school quarterback. He enrolled in the University of Miami, which is just an hour south of his family's home.

Richt attended the University of Miami from 1978 to 1982. Richt was the back-up to former Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly under coach Howard Schnellenberger. He played with Bernie Kosar and Heisman Trophy champion Vinny Testaverde in later years in Miami. Earl Morrall, a quarterbacks coach, accompanied him. Richt has still have nearly 1,500 passing yards despite limited playing time. The 1981 Miami Hurricanes team finished 9–2, ranked 8th in the country, while the 1980 team finished 9–3, ranked 18th in the nation. Richt drew attention from a number of NFL franchises and spent time with the Denver Broncos behind John Elway.

Assistant coaching career

Richt started teaching after being given a job by Bobby Bowden as a graduate assistant for the Florida State Seminoles. Richt had been recruited as a high school quarterback by Bowden, who had recruited him as a high school quarterback.

Richt was recruited as the offensive coordinator at East Carolina University at the age of 29. Bill Lewis, who had previously been Georgia's defensive coordinator, was hired Richt. Lewis recruited Richt from Florida State in part to assist with recruiting.

After a year as an East Carolina quarterback, Bowden brought Richt back to Florida State to serve as the Seminoles' quarterbacks coach. Richt was promoted to offensive coordinator in 1994 after Brad Scott's departure in 1994. Florida State had one of college football's most exciting offenses under Richt. The Seminoles were ranked in the nation's top five scoring offenses for five seasons in seven years as offensive coordinator, and fifth in passing offense for five seasons. Charlie Ward and Chris Weinke were among the Heisman Trophy winners. Richt worked with a total of six quarterbacks to the NFL, including Ward, Weinke, Brad Johnson (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Danny Kanell (New York Giants), Danny McManus (Kansas City Chiefs), and Peter Tom Willis (Chicago Bears). FSU also captured seven straight ACC championships and two national championships during the 1990-1999 and 1999 seasons.

Head coaching career

Richt was hired as head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs before the 2001 season, replacing Jim Donnan. Richt's teams have won two Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships (2002, 2003, 2005, 2011, and 2012), as well as nine bowl championships (2002, 2003, 2005, 2005, and 2012). Georgia's first conference championship since 1982 was the state's first outright SEC East Division championship and SEC Championship Game appearance since the league's first divisional play and championship game in 1992.

Richt's teams competed in three Bowl Championship Series bowl games (all in the Sugar Bowl) from 2002–2005, 2011–2014), and finished in the top ten of the final AP Poll seven times (2002–2005, 2005, 2014). In addition, his 2008 team finished in the top ten of the coaches' poll, but not the AP Poll.

Richt finished his Georgia coaching career with 145 wins and 51 losses, making him Georgia's second-winningest coach in Georgia history (after Vince Dooley's 201). With more than 29 games at the university, he left with the highest winning percentage of any coach.

The 2015 Georgia Bulldogs football team was favored to win the SEC Eastern Division. The Bulldogs opened the season 4–0 with SEC victories over Vanderbilt, 31–14, and South Carolina by a score of 52–20. Alabama, the eventual national champion, arrived in Athens and defeated the Bulldogs by a score of 38–10. Georgia also lost two more conference games to Florida and Tennessee. Georgia ended the regular season 9–3 after a four-game winning streak, which included road victories over Auburn by a score of 20-13 and Georgia Tech by a score of 13–7.

Richt was fired after 15 years as head coach on the day after the Georgia Tech game.

Richt was named head coach of the University of Miami's Hurricanes after leaving Georgia, his alma mater. Richt made the announcement on December 4, 2015. Instead of saying he was leaving his home in Georgia, he said he was coming home: "My wife and I can tell you this: This is our house." We adore it." "I have no intention of doing anything other than finishing my coaching career in Miami." Richt graduated from high school in Palm Beach County, just an hour north of campus.

Richt's arrival in large numbers was welcomed by fans. The Hurricanes reached 40,000 season ticket sales before his first season, the most since they first played at Hard Rock Stadium in 2008. The Hurricane Club (UM Athletics' booster club) has also grown to a new high level of members and donations.

Richt's signing, according to Howard Schnellenberger, was "a marriage made in heaven." Vinny Testaverde, a Miami Heisman graduate, said, "I know he's going to be a great role model for our boys, that our children will love, and he's going to be a fantastic mentor." “I was shocked that Georgia let him go,” she said. Their loss is Miami's gain, but their gain is Miami's gain." Vincent Testaverde, the team's backup quarterback, is a backup quarterback.

Richt was the head coach of the Miami Hurricanes from the 2016 to 2018 seasons, and he called all offensive plays. Jon Richt, his oldest son and quarterbacks coach, worked closely with quarterbacks at practice. He was a head coach for Miami in its second year as the ACC's Coastal champion. Richt was named ACC Coach of the Year for his work.

Richt began raising funds for a new indoor practice facility right after arriving in Miami. "I'm not just giving lip service to (making Miami great)," he told University of Miami boosters in Chicago, "I'm not just saying it; I'm willing to invest my life in a variety of ways and our resources."

Blake James, the athletic director, confirmed that the new $34 million practice center would open in 2018. The practice center features an 80,000 square-foot indoor practice field as well as a 20,000 square-foot football operations center. The operations center will house coaches' offices on a mezzanine level, team meeting rooms, position meeting rooms, and a recruiting suite, as well as a direct link to the Hurricanes weight room and locker room.

Richt told ESPN, "I didn't come here simply because it was my alma mater" at the unveiling of the facility. I came here because you can win. If you do things right and get the help you need, you will win. It's been established. The players have always been here. With this brand-new building and the improvements to Hard Rock Stadium, you'll just have to make sure you get the right ones, and a lot of the other things they used to ding us on, our facilities, and stuff like that.

Richt visits local youth football teams every Thursday during football season. He has stated that he wants to visit the teams at all the parks in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach County. Richt also established a regional clinic to prepare youth coaches and players. The collaboration continues to benefit AYFL's coaches with a customised concussion regimen that supports coaches with overall safety.

Tolbert Bain, a member of the national champion 1987 team, works with South Florida Youth leagues and helped Richt to expand the outreach. Richt told ESPN, "I'd do this either way," Richt said, "I'd do this either way, but in my view, it's also building for the University's future." "I want to finish my teaching career in Miami."

The team was responsible for all Division I FBS Football teams with the most community service hours in Spring 2017.

Richt and his partner Katharyn announced in July 2016 that their 'The U Network' would premiere. If it's right after college or after their pro days, the U Network is supposed to help guys find jobs when their playing days are over. My wife is supposed to be the one who is really facilitating everything: all of the paperwork and all of the procedures that would be needed to connect people with events and connecting employers will be shared. It's also about reunion and family ties, but the main aim is to find jobs for these guys, and I'm talking about the guys that actually want jobs. We're not just going to give someone something. They've got to do their part, but often all they need is a little bit of direction, link, and networking."

Richt is being asked to commit three, four, or five years of their lives to him and this program," Richt's former teammate said. "In turn, he's pledging to them that their professional life is secure after football." "I think it's the greatest payback."

Despite less than eight weeks before signing day, ESPN lauded Richt for bringing the country's 18th best class. Richt was limited to three weeks of NCAA-allotted face time with recruits during this time. Richt had assembled the country's top recruiting class in two years and had more committed players (18) than any FBS program before the early signing day period.

Richt is adamantly opposed to oversigning, a Southeastern Conference (SEC) strategy that has resulted in older or injured players losing their football scholarships. He believes that if a team offers a scholarship, it is a four-year commitment from the university. Players who wish to leave before graduation are given lifetime scholarships, allowing players who wish to leave early enough to complete their diploma.

Richt told ESPN that due to the fact that the head coach is giving a long-term commitment to his players, he believes it is unethical to pursue other careers: "I never once tried to leverage another profession for more money." I don't believe that is correct. My mentality has always been "If you're the head coach, too many lives depend on you." If I just say on a whim,' you know, many of these recruits are here to help, so what about them? Anytime you recruit a coach, you're taking the coach, his wife, and his children on an adventure. They're trusting you and relying on you enough to be a staff member. I don't want to walk into a room and say, 'Hey, guys, thanks for helping me get to where I really want to be.' This is the same with these boys. They've had enough disappointment, and enough men have left their lives. You're trying to build trust, but then you give up because of money or some other determinant. I've just never been able to get past the part of it."

Richt is the host of "Paradise Camp," a summer football camp for high school students at UM. Prospects with invitations and promises are encouraged to attend. The camp is designed to promote the benefits of playing and living in Miami's "paradise." The camp is open to students in grades 9th-12th, prep students, junior college students, and four-year college transfers. The absolute minimum for its on-campus camps is charged by Miami. Richt regularly brings in UM football alumni as mentors:

The team finished 9–4, including a triumph over West Virginia in the 2016 Russell Athletic Bowl, in Richt's first season at Miami. In the AP College Football Poll, the team came in second nationally.

Richt received the Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award in 2017, when the Hurricanes reached their high point nationally with a No. 1 in 2017. ACC Coastal champion Mike Duote is ranked 2nd in the ACC's top 10 rankings after 16 wins in a row.

Hurricane Irma brought Miami off 1–0 before being forced to sit idle for three weeks. The game against Arkansas State was postponed, and the Sep 16 rivalry match-up with Florida State was postponed until October 7. Though the University of Florida was briefly closed due to the storm, the Hurricanes trained at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. The Hurricanes won the game and climbed to #10 in the AP College Football Poll after a last-minute tie. The team advanced to defeat No. 58. And No. 14 is a student at the University of Virginia. Despite two remaining conference games, 3 Notre Dame's ability enabled them to win the ACC Coastal crown on November 11. Miami climbed to No. 1 on the charts. Before losing to Pitt and No. 2 in the CFP rankings, the two were ranked 2nd in the CFP rankings. 1 Clemson played in the ACC championship game and finished the season with a loss to No. 6 Wisconsin in the Orange Bowl.

In the Preseason AP and Coaches Polls, Miami ranked eighth in the 2018 season. The Hurricanes, on the other hand, had a four-game losing streak in October and early November to a 7-0 record in the regular season. In the Pinstripe Bowl, the season came to an end with a 35–3 loss to Wisconsin.

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