LORAN SMITH: A farewell to Mark Richt

The problem with the sports world today is that, with the advent of social media, everybody can be heard whether there is a brain in his head or not. Further, football is still played with a ball which takes funny bounces; and people get very emotional about the game, results and coaches.

Verne Lundquist, CBS announcer, says that “You can’t win with fans. You can pick any two teams in the league, say Alabama and Auburn. The Auburn fans swear we are biased toward Alabama, and with Alabama fans, there is no doubt that Gary (Danielson) and I are wearing Auburn colors underneath our dress shirts.”

Driving over to Atlanta for the Tech game, I had no idea about Greg McGarity’s decision. However, I had a sense that he might call for a change, but as I always tell my friends—when there is a decision, you will know when I know. It is not important for subordinates and associates to be aware of your plans and decisions. For an athletic director to confide in staff and friends would be as foolhardy as kissing a rattlesnake. Nonetheless, you often gain a sense about things. Most of us knew that Mark Richt was swimming up-stream and felt comfortable in saying that privately. I knew that the first time I saw him after the decision, I would have a hard time not choking up which is the way it was.

It would be the most resounding story in sports for Richt to have been a big time winner. Few have ever represented the University of Georgia more honorably than Mark Richt. I can remember his first weeks on the job—everything was so favorable. The atmosphere turned positive, congenial and upbeat when he arrived. He made people feel good; he made you laugh and smile. He generously signed autographs. While waiting to do his pre-game show or during commercial breaks, he would sign autographs. He spoke everywhere in the state, many times for free. He gave of himself which set him apart. He supported charities, and he gave generously to charity. He loved Athens, and he loved the state.

In my case, he made me feel part of the program. His door was always open unless he was in a meeting. He would always return my call promptly. As busy as he most often was, he would honor the courtesy of returning calls.

I had a friend who had an emotionally troubled son, who eventually took his life. The distraught father asked if I would arrange for Mark to counsel with his son over the phone. Mark did. Even though he did not know the young man, Mark did his best to offer comforting advice, praying with the son over the phone. He made the call during a busy time in his schedule. While it was awkward, not knowing the family and having to offer counsel by phone, he did his best to help. He is a very compassionate man.

I grew up in the fundamental environment which contained all the preachments you have heard from and about Mark Richt during his time in Athens. I think spiritual values are important, but also feel that religion should be private, but the Georgia coach, once a Catholic, joined the missionary Baptists whose modus operandi is to spread the Gospel in everything you do. When he thanked Jesus on network television following the winning of his first SEC championship at Auburn in 2002, church advocates everywhere swooned and celebrated while those in the control truck, parked by Jordon-Hare Stadium went bonkers. They, for the most part, were Jewish and were just as passionate about not using the CBS network to espouse his religious views as Mark was in taking the opportunity to speak up for his beliefs when he had the opportunity.

When he made testimonial statements as the head coach at the University of Georgia, there were a lot of folks, faculty and public officials, who thought he should refrain from such. I never had a meal with him in which he did not say a blessing. I’ve heard him pray for 15 years in the locker room, a thin line between generic vernacular and asking for victory. Whatever your personal beliefs are, it should be pointed out here, that Richt’s position, when it came to his faith, was honest and consistent. I have known a lot of coaches who have embraced religion but only for show. His sincerity and his consistency kept me from finding fault with his commitment to his beliefs.

The view of many is that God doesn’t take sides in football games. Following the Alabama game at the Georgia Dome in 2012, it appeared that God held his servant in disfavor. It looked as though He might be giving the Bulldog head coach the same treatment He gave Job in the Old Testament.

In retrospect, if you evaluate wins and losses in the latter part of his career to his first six or seven years, something went wrong. His laid back style, caused critics to conclude he lacked fire in the belly. His first half dozen years, I heard him time and time again at the start of spring practice remind his players that his unwavering goal was to win a National Championship. He knew what it was like to claim a title, when he coached for Bobby Bowden at Florida State. He passionately wanted to enjoy that experience at Georgia.

I remember a scene in about 2004, he and I were flying somewhere, just the two of us. I was driving us through the campus to the Athens Airport. It was springtime, blooms everywhere, and students were changing classes. The smiles of coeds sparkled in the sunshine , the weather was balmy and there was electric energy permeating the scene. I saw him in a reflective mood. He said: “To mess this thing up, we would almost have to try.”

If you pose the question of what went wrong, I hold the opinion that things changed when his defensive coordinator, Brian VanGorder left for the NFL in 2005. VanGorder, now the defensive coordinator for Notre Dame, was not only a clever coach, he demanded discipline. His way of coaching had a positive influence on the entire team, different style, but similar results of Erk Russell. You win with defense, which is why the new coach at Georgia will have something to build on.

After VanGorder’s departure, the defense failed to excel (Willie Martinez did well enough initially with Georgia winning the SEC championship in 2005), but post VanGorder, the defense was ineffective until Jeremy Pruitt took over in 2014. Through much of this time, the only way Georgia could win a big game was if Mike Bobo, offensive coordinator, could outscore the opposition.

The view I have come to underscore is that to be a successful head coach in these times, you have to be a “hard-ass” with today’s players. Just don’t think that is in Mark’s DNA. I remember two nights before Georgia played Florida State in the Sugar Bowl in 2002, I was a dinner guest of Vernon Brinson, a Georgia graduate who invited Bobby Bowden, then the Seminole head coach, to join us. Bowden told me he was proud of Mark, but repeated what he told me when Richt was hired. “I was worried about whether he was tough enough.” My response was that he seemed to have “inner” toughness.

If you are the devil’s advocate, there is concern that, lately, Georgia doesn’t win big games. If your goal is to win championships, then an athletic director has to address the question: “Are we on the right path to get to the Georgia Dome?” In a stretch when Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida are off and you can’t beat Missouri to the Georgia Dome, the conclusion is that you are underachieving. Can the incumbent pull himself up by the bootstraps and turn it around? When the conclusion became negative, the athletic director, who has more than one constituency, decided to make a change.

As a Georgia graduate, I support any decision which is in the best interest of the institution. If the athletic director chooses to change, we should get behind the decision and move forward. He doesn’t tell me what he is going to do on personnel decisions. We do have conversations, and he is always insightful and presents a carefully researched view. A change, for example, affects the lives or more than the head coach, it affects the lives of dozens of people. Greg McGarity is not a dispassionate person.

Over the years, Georgia has been patient with football coaches. I can’t imagine a group of advocates organizing, as it appeared to be recently with LSU, to ante up to buy out a coach’s contract at Georgia. It is not the Internet junkies and those who blather away on talk shows that influence decisions. An athletic director does hear from the “quiet” supporters behind the scenes who take a pragmatic stance. “If you want to win championships, you should consider a change.” Those supporters don’t rattle sabers, but they do have influence and their voices are heard and evaluated. That happens everywhere the game is played.

As Mark Richt moves on, I belong to the fraternity which appreciates the good and positive things associated with his stay at Georgia. He was the greatest of ambassadors, he never embarrassed the University and he ran an honest program, as best he could. He once told me that he could not keep supporters from doing things clandestinely for kids. You work to control and eliminate that kind of activity, but common sense tells you that it is difficult to control such conduct absolutely. “There is one thing I can do,” he said. “My coaches know that if they are involved with anything illegially, they will be dismissed immediately. That is one thing I can control. I will give a kid a second chance but not a coach who is violating rules.” If more coaches felt that way, that would solve a lot of problems in recruiting.

Since Kid Woodruff, who coached for $1.00 a year, left following the 1927 season, there have been eight head coaches: Harry Mehre, Joel Hunt, Wallace Butts, Johnny Griffith, Vince Dooley, Ray Goff, Jim Donnan and Mark Richt. Only one was not fired or forced out—Dooley. If you drive race cars, you can expect to experience wrecks, and sometimes it can be bad. If you coach, you are likely to experience change.

There are a lot of people who are upset over this decision, but there are more who agree with Greg McGarity than there are detractors. I think it should be pointed out that it is not like Mark has been thrown out on his ear. He has made something in excess of $35 million dollars, he will get a nice retirement (based on his University of Georgia salary) for life, and he and Katharyn will get health and hospitalization benefits for life.

Speaking as an alumnus, I know I will miss all the good qualities of Mark Richt, but I look forward to working with the new coach. The business of college athletics is a tough business—tougher than it has ever been. This is a fact of life.

As cynical as it may be to some, reality is that the King is dead. Long live the King.