Interesting quote from now-ACC Network analyst Mark Richt ($$):
Although he did not mention his health as a reason for stepping down when he met with reporters at Miami’s spring game in Orlando back in April, Richt on Wednesday did cite a heavy workload as part of the reason he quit.
“Long story short, I really didn’t do a great job taking care of myself physically,” he said. “You can get into a grind of the job. I’ve coached, I guess, over 30 years. When I left Georgia after 15 years as head coach, I probably could have used a little decompression break at that time or at least considered it. I just kind of wore myself down to the point where I got a little concerned about the pace I was going at.
“And I also cared about Miami. I felt like maybe someone else at this point in time would do a better job than I was. Going into the final game, the bowl game, it was running through my mind pretty heavily.”
Two thoughts on that: one, I keep saying this, but there’s a fascinating book to be written on the inside story of the last two years of the Richt regime at Georgia. I only hope somebody’s gonna write it.
And two, every time I see a coach talk about the grind of the job, I cannot help but marvel at people like Saban and Bill Snyder who seem immune to it. Of course, it helps immensely when you’re not fighting your administration to get your job done.
Get The Picture 
Assuming the picture in the linked article is recent, he looks a lot better now than he did on the Miami sidelines last year. He never should’ve hired his son as QB coach, but at least he had the good sense to step down at the end of the season.
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The guy installed his son in a key position on his staff…His son proved incompetent…he quit instead of firing his son…let’s not over complicate reality
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There is a very small list of football coaches I’d trust to tell the truth. CMR is at the top of it.
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What, simplicity over truth doesn’t work for you? Didn’t CMR quitting save his son’s job?
Losing games just adds stress to an already stressful job. Little Nicky most likely can handle the stress much easier because he could care less about kids or the people he steps on.
Caring about your job and the people around you is a weight. We’ve all experienced it. CMR is just smart enough to know when he should quit. I’m sure he has enough money to enjoy retirement and pursue other passions.
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Did you see him on the sideline? He looked worn out. It doesn’t get more simple than that. Firing his son may have been the last straw, but I don’t doubt he was strongly considering leaving before then.
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Funny. Everything I read said he looked “refreshed” on the Miami sideline relative to his time at Georgia. Lots of articles about him having fun again, etc. Crazy how people will alter reality to fit their narrative. Richt had been publicly called out by the AD before he quit at Miami and there were articles being written about how he needed to un-Richt his own offense. Similar to his time at UGA, the guy could not make tough decisions. So he quit instead. Let’s also not forget he cost Miami a fortune because he waited to quit until after Manny Diaz had already been hired by somebody else and Miami had to buy Diaz out of his new contract before he’d even moved his family out of Miami
If Richt has taken a year or more off before returning to coaching I don’t think anything would be different
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saban ain’t got time for shit like stress….next question
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Saban is also Fortune 500 CEO level organized. Something Richt was never accused of being. When you know and trust that everything is where it’s supposed to be, then you can focus on the parts of the job that set you apart.
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Nepotism is the tits, amirite??
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A Mark Richt autobiography would be a great read. His days as a player at Miami, the gap where he bartended/sold insurance, FSU, 15 years as a HC in the SEC, and finally Miami again. If he gets the right help sorting it out and writing it this could be one of the best CFB books ever.
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I have an incredible amount of love and respect for CMR. Maybe we can start a letter-writing campaign to Robert Caro to write the book.
#RingsCollectDust
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There is an alternative universe where he shows up @ UGA and is allowed to play as fast as he wants on offense and the AD is backing his moves to bring up the facilities.
I doubt that timeline sees CMR without a glass football.
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That is one of the all-time what-ifs in Georgia football history. I think you’re right that we would have had a crystal football by now if it plays out like you said.
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Was it Fulmer who decided to complain about that up-tempo, no huddle we ran early on?
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I don’t know, but I know it was Shaw that said basically they couldn’t let Richt run that because he would have killed the league. At least the officials were open for once about screwing us.
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Wasn’t that Fech grad Bobby Gaston?
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I think so, Shaw was still officiating when CMR came to Athens. He should back to the field and`get out o the SEC office, has done nothing to improve the mess he inherited. Letting Gaston control SEC officials was when the conference began its slide to the bottom of competent officiating nationally.
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Yeah, you’re right. They all still suck, though. I’ll throw Al Ford into that mi as well.
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Is this for real? I had heard stories over the years of boosters and people within our own administration not giving Richt the full support & confidence from the get-go but the league was also against him?
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He did it before the game was even played in 2001.
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Fulmer and Roy Kramer were tight.
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The urnge pumpkins only real complaint is that he can only get one doughnut on his pinky toe…
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That’s the rumor that has stuck the most, but who knows how true it actually is.
Fuller was a snake that was very tied into the good ole boy network in Birmingham, so it wouldn’t shock me.
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Egomaniacs like Saban don’t waste time or energy or even stress over decisions like normal people do. They don’t even consider that they may be or have been wrong or worry about how their actions effects others. Richt is a humble man. It wore him down.
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Dean Legge will be happy to write it. Hope you don’t mind typos.
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I’d rather see you and Legge in a cage match.
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Now we know who Dean is lol.
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Lol. While we’re ragging on Legge, can someone buy him a better camera/microphone for his Youtube vids — especially of press conferences? And tell him to stop putting the mic two inches from his keyboard while he’s typing?
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Gotta give him props for getting us the inside scoop with binoculars from the top of Stegeman though.
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I vote for you to write that book, Brother Bluto. This blog and those who visit it are research resources any writer would envy. I suggest making up an outline of chapters, then start filling in the blanks. Maybe team up with Seth.
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This is actually a phenomenal idea.
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