Randy Smith
For those Georgia fans who want Mark Richt out as the Bulldogs head football coach, I have this warning; be careful what you ask for, because you could get what you want. Tennessee fans back in 2008 didn't heed that advice and they have been wandering in the SEC desert ever since. So, Georgia if that's what you want, go ahead and fire Coach Richt. Fire him just the way U.T. fired Phillip Fulmer. Go ahead and fire the guy who has averaged 10 wins a season in his 15 years in Athens. When you turn loose of an established coach, there is absolutely no guarantee things are going to get better right away.
The Vols went through two hires before they chose Butch Jones, and while things haven't gone the way that Big Orange fans wanted in 2015, there is steady improvement and 2016 should be the "big" year for Tennessee.
Mark Richt is a good man. He is also a good football coach and in a day and age where coaches very rarely stay at one school more than 10 years, he has been a mainstay in Athens. To my knowledge, the NCAA has stayed away from the Bulldogs, which means that Coach Richt runs his program the right way. He has won the SEC East several times, and has an overall record of 141-50; a winning percentage of 73.8%. He has taken his team to 14 bowl games and won nine and lost five. That's a winning percentage of 64.3% He has yet to win a national title, however, which has gotten on the wrong side of the Bulldog faithful.
Now it seems that things are going south in a hurry. There were reports of a fight between Richt and defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt in a meeting this morning. Richt took to his Twitter account to dispel that rumor, but you know things are not going well in Bulldog country. Internally, things never got that bad in 2008 when Fulmer was let go. It appears however, that Richt has been on the outs with Georgia fans more often than Fulmer was at Tennessee. It also appears that Richt has never been able to get that one win, or beat that one ranked team that would put his team over the top. Chances are if Richt had won a national title a few years ago, we wouldn't be talking about this. But we are.
Sometimes change can be a good thing, but not all the time. To change for the sake of change is hardly ever good, and that seems to be why Georgia is even considering parting ways with Mark Richt. I'm sure that the cowards on the talk shows and the internet already have a wish list of coaches to replace him, though none of them are realistic. But this is where we are.
A year or so ago, the current athletic administration at Georgia wanted to fire Coach Richt, but someone from a higher power nixed the idea. Now, I don' have a dog in this fight, (pardon the pun) I really don't care what Georgia does with its football program. However, I have covered a few football games in my career and I know when a school is about to make a bad decision. So, if Georgia wants to fire Coach Richt, they will. But just remember, be prepared for a long dry spell in Bulldog Football.