Mark Richt and Georgia Bulldogs Set Sights Higher Than SEC East Champs
By Ryan Wooden
Aug 1, 2013; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt shown during practice at the University of Georgia. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
For two straight years, Mark Richt’s Georgia Bulldogs have reigned supreme in the SEC East. For two straight years they fell short in the SEC Title Game, once woefully against the undefeated LSU Tigers and once by just a couple yards to the eventual national champion Alabama Crimson Tide.
But, while a pair of divisional championships in as many years can be not-so-loosely defined as success, there’s a sense of sadness that permeates the program and protrudes from its heart and soul. Somebody give Mark Richt a hug.
In terms of job security and personal wealth, I don’t suppose there’s anything sad about the past 12 years Richt has spent captaining the Georgia Bulldogs. His near BCS Title berth last season earned him a nearly $400,000 dollar raise and his annual salary now eclipses $3.2 million.
He’s procured double-digit win totals in two-thirds of his seasons in Athens, and he currently sits with an impressive .747 win percentage.
However, there’s a growing sense of impatience as he enters Year 13.
That’s not to say that Mark Richt has worn out his welcome or that anybody is truly unsatisfied with his services to the University of Georgia, but rather to say that people are wondering when he’ll win a damn big game. When will he win THE damn big game?
Six times Georgia has finished the season in the Top 10 of the AP Poll under Richt, but for all that Mark Richt and the Bulldogs have gotten nary a whiff of a national championship–something the fans in Athens have been longing for since 1980, when Herschel Walker ran through defenses like Wilt Chamberlain ran through… well… you know.
12 years and nothing to show for it but a consistently good, but not great, football team.
During that time, the Georgia Bulldogs have won a pair of Sugar Bowls, produced a No. 1 NFL Draft pick, sent dozens more players to The League and generally been as talented as any football team in the country. That’s because Georgia is one of the top talent producing states in the country, and Georgia boasts one of the most enthusiastic campuses in the country and serves as the state’s flagship university.
Yet, for some reason, Mark Richt’s Georgia Bulldogs can’t seem to take the proverbial–and tiredly cliche–next step.
Now, I could sit here and play omnipresent sports writer and start talking psychosomatic nonsense about where the disconnect between Mark Richt and true greatness begins and ends, but if I actually knew how to win a national championship–rather than just pointing at Nick Saban and saying, “Seeeeee!!!!”–I suppose I’d be standing on a sideline rather than sitting in a desk chair.
The truth is, I don’t know why Mark Richt hasn’t won a national championship and, while I’m sure some of you have a few breathtaking theories, I doubt anyone else really does either. Whether it’s a lack of luck, an indiscernible (I certainly can’t see it) talent gap, operator error or just that damn SEC West, it has to be eating at him.
Last year, they were inside the five with a chance to win the SEC and earn a trip to the title. In 2007, had they not been inexplicably embarrassed at Tennessee (I was present in body, but the spirits had long-since withered my mind for that CBS noon game) they would have likely gotten their shot. In 2002, they were a seven-point Florida loss away from a perfect season.
Mark Richt has been within a play, or a game, of a national title more times in the last decade than most coaches ever will be in a lifteime, and there’s something to be said for that. However, there’s no mistaking that Mark Richt and the Georgia Bulldogs have their sights set higher than close.
In 2013, the Bulldogs return an offense worthy of greatness. They return quarterback Aaron Murray and a dynamic duo at running back in Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall, all three of which are among the best in the country at their positions. All told, they return nine starters and figure to be as dynamic as any unit in the SEC and even the nation.
The difficulty will be replacing a defense that lost nine starters and 14 lettermen. Luckily for Georgia, they call home to a state that’s two greatest exports over the last 100 years seem to be Coca-Cola and defensive lineman.
Georgia has talent on both sides of the ball, and if they can come together cohesively on one side, while putting up expected production on the other, 2013 could be the year they finally make it to the big time.
Then again, it could be another letdown. That’d make lucky No. 13 for Mark Richt and the Georgia Bulldogs.