Les survived, but Richt didn't

[SpacemanSpiff]

Cue the silly season for college football coaches.

Les Miles survived the week and will be back for another year; I figure that (a) the powers that be -- meaning the athletic director -- underestimated the fan backlash that would happen if they got rid of The Mad Hatter, and (b) they were probably sending out feelers to some key coach's agents, especially the ones that kept getting rumored (e.g., Jimbo Fisher at FSU) and found that nobody was biting, so they'd end up with a less-than-nameworthy coach instead. In other words, common sense prevailed.

What did surprise me is the news this morning that Mark Richt has stepped down (if you believe UGa's official sources) or been fired (if you believe everyone else).

http://espn.go.com/ncf/story/_/id/14249 ... a-bulldogs

I know it seemed that every year that he seemed to be on some kind of hot seat or another, especially when he lost a big game (meaning any time they lost to Bama), but he's been there for 15 years, had a 145-51 record, and the fifth-highest win percentage among (currently) active coaches. But.... the last SEC Championship was 10 years ago (they were 2-3 in SEC CGs), and despite a 9-3 record this year, only beat one top-tier team with a winning record. Once their top running back (one that UGa alum and Heisman Trophy winner Hershel Walker said was better than he was) got hurt mid-season, the offense looked totally lost, and struggled thereafter.

He will coach in the bowl game, so he might have his tenth season with 10 or more wins in it.

[silverscreenselect]

As a Georgia Tech fan, the firing/resignation of Richt is about the best news I've heard this entire dismal season. Georgia fans believe their own press clippings that every year have them winning the SEC and blame Richt when he finishes "only" 9-3. Rich'ts losses this year were bad, but he had a team that lost its best running back and was very weak at quarterback. They could easily have finished 7-5 this year.

Hiring a new coach is always a crapshoot. Sometimes they work out and sometimes they don't. Look at how many losers Notre Dame shuffled in and out. Look what's happened to USC (CA). Georgia fans deserve what they get.

[SpacemanSpiff]

And, although it isn't/wasn't to be announced until Sunday or Monday (after the SEC Championship Game), it looks like UGa is going to name Bama Defensive Coordinator and former Bulldog player Kirby Smart as head coach, per all the usual sources:

https://www.dawgnation.com/football/tea ... ball-coach

While the turnaround from the firing to the hiring is officially short — Sunday night to Tuesday evening, perhaps earlier — the decision had long been in the works, several sources said. In fact, South Carolina’s interest in Smart may have hastened the decision to move on Richt.

I suspect if the negotiations had been not going the way that Georgia had wanted, they probably would have quietly kept Richt for another year. Then again, it beats looking like fools the way the AD at LSU handled things the past few weeks.

[silverscreenselect]

Mark Richt's unemployment didn't last long, since he signed this weekend as Miami's new coach (Richt played quarterback at Miami). Richt will be back in Atlanta, site of his last game as UGA coach, next year when Miami plays at Georgia Tech. Former Florida coach Will Muschamp has a new gig as well where he'll get another shot at UGA. He's signed as South Carolina's new coach. Smart vs. Muschamp next season rates to be an interesting game. The two games that probably cost Richt his job more than anything else were the losses to Florida the last two years, both of which Georgia had better teams but completely fell apart.

Interesting note: With the departure of Richt and Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech, there are only three college coaches who have been coaching at the same power conference school since the 20th century, Bob Stoops of Oklahoma and Kirk Ferentz of Iowa since 1999 and Gary Patterson of TCU since 2000.

[SpacemanSpiff]

Interesting note: With the departure of Richt and Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech, there are only three college coaches who have been coaching at the same power conference school since the 20th century, Bob Stoops of Oklahoma and Kirk Ferentz of Iowa since 1999 and Gary Patterson of TCU since 2000.

The scary thing is that the coaches are recruiting players now who were barely born in the 20th century. Beamer might be the last of an anachronism. The era of coaches staying decades at a school (like Bear Bryant, Paterno, and Bobby Bowden) are very rare, especially in the "win or you're gone" mentality at many schools.

And, on another coaching front, as we speculated weeks ago - Sarkisian has a lawyer and is suing USC for wrongful termination, not providing him with "reasonable accommodation" to treat his alcoholism (that's the magic words to invoke the ADA), etc.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-usc ... story.html