Mark Richt

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

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

His teams won two Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships, five SEC division titles, and one Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) division title.

In 1967, the Richt family moved to Boulder, Colorado when Lou got a new job.

In 1973, Lou was transferred to South Florida where Mark would graduate from high school.

Richt became a star athlete at Boca Raton High and was called "All Turnpike" because of the various awards he received around the state of Florida.

As a high school quarterback, he was recruited by the University of Miami, Florida State University, and Brown University.

He chose to attend the University of Miami, an hour south from his family.

Richt played at the University of Miami from 1978 to 1982.

Under coach Howard Schnellenberger, Richt was backup to future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly.

In later years at Miami, he played behind Bernie Kosar and Heisman Trophy winner Vinny Testaverde.

He was mentored by quarterbacks coach Earl Morrall.

Despite limited playing time, Richt still amassed nearly 1,500 passing yards.

The 1981 Miami Hurricanes team finished 9–2, ranked 8th in the country, while the 1980 team finished 9–3, ranked 18th in the country.

Richt received interest from multiple NFL teams and briefly spent time with the Denver Broncos behind John Elway.

Richt began his coaching career after being offered a job by Bobby Bowden as a graduate assistant for the Florida State Seminoles.

Bowden had recruited Richt as a high school quarterback.

At the age of 29, Richt was hired as the offensive coordinator at East Carolina University.

Richt was hired by Bill Lewis, who had previously been defensive coordinator at Georgia.

Lewis hired Richt from Florida State in part to help with recruiting.

After one year at East Carolina, Bowden brought Richt back to Florida State to serve as the Seminoles' quarterbacks coach.

During this period, FSU won seven consecutive ACC titles and two national championships (1993 and 1999).

Richt was promoted to offensive coordinator in 1994 upon the departure of Brad Scott.

Under Richt, Florida State had one of college football's most explosive offenses.

In his seven years as offensive coordinator, the Seminoles ranked in the nation's top five scoring offenses for five seasons, they were top twelve in total offense for five seasons, and top twelve in passing offense for five seasons.

Richt coached two Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks: Charlie Ward and Chris Weinke.

Richt coached a total of six FSU 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).

Richt was hired as head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs before the 2001 season, replacing Jim Donnan.

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

On January 10, 2023, he was inducted into College Football Hall of Fame as part of the 2023 class.

Richt played college football as a quarterback at Miami.

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

Richt was raised in a blue-collar family, the second oldest of five children.

He was born in Omaha, Nebraska to Lou and Helen Richt.

Lou worked as a tool-and-die maker for Western Electric.

Richt's teams won two Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships (2002 and 2005), six SEC Eastern Division titles (2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011 and 2012), and nine bowl games.

The 2002 season marked Georgia's first conference championship since 1982, and Georgia's first-ever outright SEC East Division championship and SEC Championship Game appearance since the league began divisional play and the championship game in 1992.

Richt's teams represented the SEC in three Bowl Championship Series bowl games (all in the Sugar Bowl), with a record of 2–1, and finished in the top ten of the final AP Poll seven times (2002–2005, 2007, 2012, 2014).

Additionally, his 2008 team finished in the top ten of the coaches' poll but not the AP Poll.

Richt finished his career at Georgia with 145 wins and 51 losses, making him the second-winningest coach in Georgia history (after Vince Dooley's 201).