Can Mark Richt become an elite coach at UM?

Elite head coaches in my opinion are:

Meyer
Saban
Snyder- He is old, but he does so much with lesser talent. It seems like he goes JUCO so often bc he can't get the frosh there.
Harbaugh- But he hasn't actually won title yet.
***********************************************
Next tier
Miles
Jumbo
Rich Rod
Dana H
Art Briles
Richt

We could certainly add a few more coaches here!

2 of the top 5 coaches in cfb aren't on your list.
1. Saban
2. Meyer
3. Gary Patterson
4. Jim Harbaugh
5. Mark Dantonio

then I'd put Jimbo in 1b, then tier 2 is Richt, Briles, Miles, etc. LOL at Rich Rod and Dana Holgerson on your list
 
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Tier I - Saban, Meyer, Harbaugh
Tier II - Jimbo, Les Miles, Bob Stoops,
Tier III - Richt, Dabo, Gundy

Richt is not an elite coach. Doesn't mean he won't win it all at Miami. Every coach at his tier level has the opportunity to win a championship maybe two. You don't have to be elite to win a championship and there's no reason to lie to ourselves about Richt. He's a good coach, but he's not elite.

:q3XKXeX:

Well, based on accomplishments Richt is the best pure coach of all the names up there. 3 of his QBs at FSU while coordinating were in contention for the Heisman with 3 completely different styles of play. 2 won the Heisman and 1 came in second. Who up there directly coached more than one heisman player, let alone 3? What happened at UGA was a high-character coach, good enough to win it all, who ultimately didn't get it done. Does not mean Richt is any less the football "coach" than a Saban or Meyer, who have demonstrated questionable characters throughout their coaching careers by Jumping ship for greener pastures when it suited them.

Maybe had he been more selfishly hellbent on winning at all costs, he would have been able to get over that hump at UGA. But I don't believe there is a more respected coach/person in the game. He's a better coach and person than anyone up there and it's not even close.

You should clarify what you mean by "coach". If you mean Xs/Os then you're all wrong, because Richt is elite and in a class by himself. If you mean win-first--develop kids second--type egomaniacal CEO and champion, then yea, he's not at Saban and Meyer's level.


Best post in this thread
I couldn't have said it better myself.

As a football coach, at his craft(offense) richt is the best of the bunch. Just because he isn't a snake or a sleazeball doesn't mean he isn't elite.

Saban coaches dbacks and that's, annually, the worst part of Hamas defense. Urban bout had another heart problem when herman left him.
 
I think by the time Saban and Meyer had entered the league, Richt was no longer "coaching" as much as being the CEO. I think he knows it and knows what he was pressured to do at UGA. He has none of those constraints at Miami.
 
I like dantonio, Snyder, Gundy, Patterson and pinkel.

I like harbaugh but lets be real. That guys name and family carry major weight in the coaching network. He can call far more coaches than just about any coach in the nation. It's unfair, really. I swear no other coach has a better network.
 
Going into 1984, who was considered the better coach. Barry Switzer, Tom Osbourne, or Jimmy Johnson? JJ was what, 0-10 against OU and Nebraska while at OSU?
 
Elite head coaches in my opinion are:

Meyer
Saban
Snyder- He is old, but he does so much with lesser talent. It seems like he goes JUCO so often bc he can't get the frosh there.
Harbaugh- But he hasn't actually won title yet.
***********************************************
Next tier
Miles
Jumbo
Rich Rod
Dana H
Art Briles
Richt

We could certainly add a few more coaches here!

2 of the top 5 coaches in cfb aren't on your list.
1. Saban
2. Meyer
3. Gary Patterson
4. Jim Harbaugh
5. Mark Dantonio

then I'd put Jimbo in 1b, then tier 2 is Richt, Briles, Miles, etc. LOL at Rich Rod and Dana Holgerson on your list

the last two may have something to do with overs and money. Lol

the Utah hc is solid as well I agree on GP and MD!!


i think that there are only a handful of truly elite head coaches. I would add Pete C is he returned to cfb. Otherwise it is amazing that out of what 115 schools we would say five-ish elite head coaches and probably no more than 10??!!
 
Good discussion. A couple of flaws I noticed in the OP: 1. Comparing the UGA gig to Oklahoma State and Washington State doesn't work. Richt did much better than JJ and Erickson did at their pre-UM gigs, but he had a much better job than they did. He should have done better than them. The talent bump won't be anywhere near as significant for Richt as it was for JJ and Pink.;

2. The "it was his first HC gig" argument makes little sense when he was there for 15 years. He's a veteran HC now. If you were looking to use that excuse for him, it would have been valid early in his tenure at UGA not now.

My hope is that he's reenergized and that we see a guy who goes from the world's highest paid cheerleader, which he called himself at UGA, to a guy who gives us an X and O advantage offensively, which is something we haven't had since Pink brought his one-back spread here.

He's going to be a mega recruiter. But he was also a very capable playcaller and QB developer when he did those things early in his career. If he can bring those 2 skills here along with his great recruiting skills the sky should be the limit. I'm not sold on his DC choice, but he hired the best DL coach in the country, so that could do a lot to help Diaz.

If his battery is re-charged like everyone is saying, this hire isn't a home run, it's a grand slam

And the good thing is that no matter what anyone says, this isn't a complete rebuilding job here at UM. The parts are in place to win now, IMO

things could not have worked out any better for both parties....
 
Elite head coaches in my opinion are:

Meyer
Saban
Snyder- He is old, but he does so much with lesser talent. It seems like he goes JUCO so often bc he can't get the frosh there.
Harbaugh- But he hasn't actually won title yet.
***********************************************
Next tier
Miles
Jumbo
Rich Rod
Dana H
Art Briles
Richt

We could certainly add a few more coaches here!

2 of the top 5 coaches in cfb aren't on your list.
1. Saban
2. Meyer
3. Gary Patterson
4. Jim Harbaugh
5. Mark Dantonio

then I'd put Jimbo in 1b, then tier 2 is Richt, Briles, Miles, etc. LOL at Rich Rod and Dana Holgerson on your list

the last two may have something to do with overs and money. Lol

the Utah hc is solid as well I agree on GP and MD!!


i think that there are only a handful of truly elite head coaches. I would add Pete C is he returned to cfb. Otherwise it is amazing that out of what 115 schools we would say five-ish elite head coaches and probably no more than 10??!!

Utah has a good HC, Brian Kelly is in that 2nd tier with Richt. Herman is soon to be in that category and could be the next HC to enter the elite category if he ends up at Texas or something like that. Dan Mullen is close to that 2nd tier imo, with what he's been able to do at Miss State.

Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly would be in that elite status if they were in CFB. So the 5 current and those 2 are the most recent elite HC in CFB. Considering how long Carroll has been in the NFL, that's 7 guys at that time span and probably dating further back than that.
 
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You guys are way overrating Miles. The guy's a moron. He's an elite recruiter with a great budget to hire top coordinators. Yet his offense is amongst the worst in football on a consistent basis.

Patterson coaches circles around him. So does a guy like Dantonio. And Briles. I'd take Herman in a heartbeat over Miles.

Jizzbo is another recruiting machine who is not an elite coach. He and Richt are actually pretty similar to me. Top recruiters who don't get the most out of their talent.
 
Good discussion. A couple of flaws I noticed in the OP: 1. Comparing the UGA gig to Oklahoma State and Washington State doesn't work. Richt did much better than JJ and Erickson did at their pre-UM gigs, but he had a much better job than they did. He should have done better than them. The talent bump won't be anywhere near as significant for Richt as it was for JJ and Pink.;

2. The "it was his first HC gig" argument makes little sense when he was there for 15 years. He's a veteran HC now. If you were looking to use that excuse for him, it would have been valid early in his tenure at UGA not now.

My hope is that he's reenergized and that we see a guy who goes from the world's highest paid cheerleader, which he called himself at UGA, to a guy who gives us an X and O advantage offensively, which is something we haven't had since Pink brought his one-back spread here.

He's going to be a mega recruiter. But he was also a very capable playcaller and QB developer when he did those things early in his career. If he can bring those 2 skills here along with his great recruiting skills the sky should be the limit. I'm not sold on his DC choice, but he hired the best DL coach in the country, so that could do a lot to help Diaz.

Chise, the two points you made are valid and I agree with your logic. I mostly wanted to spark a discussion since it's been so **** slow lately. I also agree that Les Miles is an overrated stooge who as you say, has a huge budget to hire elite coordinators. As far as Richt goes, I liked the hire but the fact he never won a title at UGA was a problem for me at first but he has nonetheless shown to be consistently good over a large time span(15 years).

To me, what separates Richt from a guy like Miles is that Richt has shown that he is capable of being a force as an OC, play called, and QB coach. We all know he can recruit. The question for me is can he take the next step and in effect, reinvent himself at UM. So in essence, my question is... Will coming to UM and having access to all the talent here allow Richt to further develop his strengths while simultaneously mitigating his weaknesses?
 
richt might wind up like roy williams. roy couldnt get over the hump at kansas. goes home to his alma matar and wins a few rings.

I was intending to make a comparison between the two as I think that could be a solid analogy.
 
I think Richt is the better coach, but Jimbo is a master of sweeping stuff under that giant rug in Tallahassee.
You guys are way overrating Miles. The guy's a moron. He's an elite recruiter with a great budget to hire top coordinators. Yet his offense is amongst the worst in football on a consistent basis.

Patterson coaches circles around him. So does a guy like Dantonio. And Briles. I'd take Herman in a heartbeat over Miles.

Jizzbo is another recruiting machine who is not an elite coach. He and Richt are actually pretty similar to me. Top recruiters who don't get the most out of their talent.
 
I think he's the most proven coach Miami has ever hired...

Richt might be the most known commodity we've ever hired...

Coach Saban won a championship in the NFL before he came to the U. How can you compare him to a coach (HS) who was just an OC on an NFL winning team or one (CMR) who only won the SEC?

Where and when did Saban win an NFL championship?

My bad, I should've said professional championships. He won the AFL twice with the Buffalo Bills about 10 years before he came to the University of Miami.

Chief, Nick Saban never coached at the U. He coached the dolphins... His dad Lou Saban coached at the U and didn't win anything. What are you talking about?
 
I think Richt is the better coach, but Jimbo is a master of sweeping stuff under that giant rug in Tallahassee.
You guys are way overrating Miles. The guy's a moron. He's an elite recruiter with a great budget to hire top coordinators. Yet his offense is amongst the worst in football on a consistent basis.

Patterson coaches circles around him. So does a guy like Dantonio. And Briles. I'd take Herman in a heartbeat over Miles.

Jizzbo is another recruiting machine who is not an elite coach. He and Richt are actually pretty similar to me. Top recruiters who don't get the most out of their talent.

No. He had 2 Heisman-winning QBs and made a runner-up out of Casey Weldon. He an elite offensive coach when he's allowed to be an offensive coach.
 
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I think he's the most proven coach Miami has ever hired...

Richt might be the most known commodity we've ever hired...

Coach Saban won a championship in the NFL before he came to the U. How can you compare him to a coach (HS) who was just an OC on an NFL winning team or one (CMR) who only won the SEC?

Where and when did Saban win an NFL championship?

My bad, I should've said professional championships. He won the AFL twice with the Buffalo Bills about 10 years before he came to the University of Miami.

Chief, Nick Saban never coached at the U. He coached the dolphins... His dad Lou Saban coached at the U and didn't win anything. What are you talking about?

Lou Saban is not Nicks father. They might be distant cousins according to Lou's widow.
 
If y'all say richt is not elite then what does that make Butch Davis? Yeah he put together a great roster but what has he done in his entire head coaching career outside of that accomplishment? He didn't exactly win a championship either. None of our coaches who have been successful here before were anyone near considered elite coaches yet when they got here they won big...

Butch Davis was never an elite coach either. He was an elite recruiter, there's a difference. Also Butch went into a real rough situation and turned the program back into the right direction and basically assembled the greatest college football team ever. Just because he didn't coach that 2001 team, doesn't mean he shouldn't be credited with it. As far as past coaches not having a ton of success before here, well there's a difference between Oklahoma State(JJ) and Washington State(Erickson) than Georgia. Georgia underperformed for many years with Richt. He couldn't win the big games and never won a NC. Winning a NC a Georgia is a lot easier than Oklahoma State and Washington State. Richt is a good coach but not elite and just because you're a homer and think everybody associated with program is great, doesn't make it true. **** you were riding Golden for the longest time too.
Homer? Far from it...
In the past 10 years only 5 different coaches have won championships Nick saban, urban Meyer, les miles, fisher, and gene chizik. And just because you win a title doesn't make you elite see chizik for an example.

You definitely are the biggest homer on this site. Chizik just fell into a situation with a great offensive weapon and a great defense led by Fairley. He's a good defensive mind but Newton was the main reason for that championship. Only coaches I consider elite are Saban, Meyer, and Harbaugh(hasn't won a championship yet but will soon enough). Miles and Fisher fall into that next category. Winning a NC doesn't make you an elite coach but consistently being a top tier team, winning big games, and being top 5 in recruiting year in and year out means you're elite which is what Saban and Meyer do. Harbaugh is elite to me from what he did at Stanford(very hard to win at), what he did in the NFL(turning the 49ers to a winner), etc. Soon enough he'll have a NC at Michigan.
You are crazy if you don't think fisher is elite, won a title in his first 5 years, has the second best roster in the nation annually and is a perineal top 5 team
 
So, like I said, Richt is the better coach.... All Jimbo does is rely on 1-2 players to be WAY better than everyone else. That is not going to happen his whole career. He's not going to luck out and land a Cook or Winston year after year, or even every 3-4 years. Without that one guy that can take over a game, Jimbo is very average.
I think Richt is the better coach, but Jimbo is a master of sweeping stuff under that giant rug in Tallahassee.
You guys are way overrating Miles. The guy's a moron. He's an elite recruiter with a great budget to hire top coordinators. Yet his offense is amongst the worst in football on a consistent basis.

Patterson coaches circles around him. So does a guy like Dantonio. And Briles. I'd take Herman in a heartbeat over Miles.

Jizzbo is another recruiting machine who is not an elite coach. He and Richt are actually pretty similar to me. Top recruiters who don't get the most out of their talent.

No. He had 2 Heisman-winning QBs and made a runner-up out of Casey Weldon. He an elite offensive coach when he's allowed to be an offensive coach.
 
I think that as long as Dabo and Jimbo are at Clemson and FSU, we will never be better than the 3rd best team in ACC. We needed a young energetic coach like Herman, to get this going and try to change things. Was never in the group that thought this hire was best for the program. But, time will tell.

YOu gotta remember as well. people were after Dabo and Jimbo heads for losing games. just gotta give Richt time. our Roster is made of a lot of Bums. we need elite players to come in.
 
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