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Mark Richt. What did he really do for Miami

caneULM said:
I brought his name up to friends the other day and this question was asked of me. I was like well, I'll tell exactly what he did. He donated a $1M of his own coin to the new facility. He stepped down when he knew his time was up and didn't take a dime of what he was owed on his contract. But the thing he REALLY did was show what Miami could be with all the right pieces in place. Yes 2017 was full of lucky bounces but tell me what other year prior (other than maybe 2002-05) Miami was discussed as being a title contender? Yes he was stubborn, letting his son call plays but man come on, what coach isn't? The only coaches that love Miami as much as Richt is JJ & MC and MC is showing in real time what Miami was and what it should be. I believe CMR would have done close to the same had he come in much sooner.

When Miami raises #6, he needs to be on the field with the team.
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Lou Saban won nothing at UM except, I think, a nice upset at Auburn where OJ Anderson ran crazy against the Tigers.
However, he took over a program which was in the dumps, which had people wondering if it would last at all, and showed
that one could recruit with the big boys, which up to that time it was never done.
He also recruited some great local coaches like Joe Brodsky (HML), Christ Vagotis (Killian), and Jerry Anderson (Carol City) who helped
him lure some of the country's best local talent who otherwise would have ended up at OSU, Oklahoma, Pitt, Michigan, USC, Alabama, ND, etc
which were the national recruitng superpowers of this era.
He also nabbed Fred Marion from Gainesville HS who later became an NFL Safety standout for many years with the Pats.
In addition to Marion, the '78 Class had players like Mark Richt, Jim Kelly, Lester Williams, David Jefferson, Mark Cooper, Tony Chickillo,
Clem Barbario, John Canei, Bob Nelson, Larry Brodsky, Mark Rush,etc.
The players from this class plus other guys he brought in his first makeshift class the prior year like Jim Burt, formed the basis of our first great super team which in 1981 was as good as any team in the country.
So, like Richt, one could argue that they didn't win big, but they undoubtedly set the stage for what was to follow.
Saban proved that UM could recruit against anyone locally and nationally, Richt proved that UM could this again if the school
wanted and were willing to commit to excellence (again).
Saban (and Richt) may not have earned the proverbial on-campus statute, but they deserve recognition.
 
Rickd said:
He was one of the most respected head coaches in the game when he took the Miami job. He took the job with the AGREEMENT from the UM administration that they would improve $$ support for the program and invest in facilities. The IPF was THE major facility upgrade that he demanded support for. Then he went a step further and donated the first $1Million dollars to kick off the IPF fundraising campaign. That facility was a total game changer.

He wanted to promote his son to OC but the admin said no. He wasn't happy with that but rather than drag it out and force UM to fire him ... he just said .... time to retire and he did so without requiring UM to buy out his contract. Total class individual. Our church - in Central Florida - had a sports dinner one weekend "A night with Coach Corso". A Nole fan asked Coach Corso "do you thing FSU will go undefeated this season". Corso laughed and said "not a chance. But I will tell you one thing about college football today .... if I had a son who was going to play college football today ... I would want him to play for Coach Mark Richt and the University of Miami". Coach Richt had the support and respect of his peers. That says it all.
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Wait he wanted to promote Jorn to OC? If so I might have to rethink my sentiment on him but I think he just didn’t want to Fire or demote him from QB coach
 
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Put some respect on his ******* name
 
my sons were born in 2008, 2009, 2011. That 2017 season and the turnover chain is the reason they're fans of the team... my 8 year old son MADE his own turnover chain and a case for it....

took 2 of my sons to the cotton bowl last year and stayed in the team hotel..

took 1 son to the national title game...

so now they're fans for life..

 
BigDikDaddyFromCincinnati said:
Unpopular take and I’m sure I’ll get dragged: I think the level of reverence Mark Richt is paid is not commensurate with what he achieved here.

To be clear, this is not disrespect. I didn’t say he deserves no reverence. I simply think a LOT of our fans and alumni act as if he brought us championships when in reality he brought us one overachieving season and a few other mediocre seasons. Yes he added (temporary) credibility. Yes he was incredibly generous. Yes he stepped down when he needed to. He is a humble and kind man by all accounts. Those are all admirable acts and traits and deserve to be recognized. At the same time, those things have nothing to do with on field achievement.
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I don’t think anyone acts as if he brought us championships.

People pay respects to Pastor Richt because he legitimized us when we were a complete laughingstock of college football.

In contrast to the inept idiots like Clappy, Radio & Folden we had running the program, he showed us what it looked like to have an actual HC at the top, after we had been lost in the wilderness of mediocrity for over a decade.

He wasn't here long enough to rack up a bunch of achievements, he was here for 3 seasons & then stepped down due to health issues.

The reverence he receives is because he's a great human being & true Cane.

We have people on here who still defend Al Folden, I don't think Richt receiving the love & respect he gets from Canes fans is all that bad.
 
Memnon said:
I don’t think anyone acts as if he brought us championships.

People pay respects to Pastor Richt because he legitimized us when we were a complete laughingstock of college football.

In contrast to the inept idiots like Clappy, Radio & Folden we had running the program, he showed us what it looked like to have an actual HC at the top, after we had been lost in the wilderness of mediocrity for over a decade.

He wasn't here long enough to rack up a bunch of achievements, he was here for 3 seasons & then stepped down due to health issues.

The reverence he receives is because he's a great human being & true Cane.

We have people on here who still defend Al Folden, I don't think Richt receiving the love & respect he gets from Canes fans is all that bad.
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I don't disagree with your take. I've thrown a lot of flowers at him in both my original comments and in the follow ups. The reverence you mentioned is precisely what I think he deserves - great human and a true Cane. My only beef (and it's not even a beef) is that I think many people/fans have put him on some sort of uber high pedestal that is not at the same level that he coached at (while at Miami or even Georgia for that matter but I don't want anyone getting triggered and I think he was a better coach at Georgia but it's an unfair comparison based on longevity). I think Richt deserves all the praise he can get for being an elite human. I'll never say anything bad about him in that regard (nor should I or anyone else). I do not think many fans can or do delineate between Richt the person and Richt the coach. I never said Richt getting love and respect was bad. It's all nuance and it's my opinion which many don't share. And that's ok.

Who is defending Al Folden? That's straight up cray-cray.
 
SinCityCane said:
Hiring Richt marked the moment this school started making a real (in modern day terms) financial commitment to football.
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Are we sure? He had to put up his own money for the IPF yeah? Our S&C program was laughable and we had no analysts or people assisting

I don’t think we made a financial commitment to football until Mario but I could be wrong
 
First and foremost he gave us some name recognition when we had just gone through the wringer of nobody head coaches.
 
JHallCanes said:
Are we sure? He had to put up his own money for the IPF yeah? Our S&C program was laughable and we had no analysts or people assisting

I don’t think we made a financial commitment to football until Mario but I could be wrong
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This is the sort of thing that illustrates why I made the post with my original thoughts in this thread. The comment you replied to made a statement as if it was factually true (but isn't) and it has added to the lore. Meanwhile, what you said is the actual truth. Also, if memory serves me correctly, Herbstreit's famed speech on ESPN questioning The University of Miami's adminstration's commitment to football came THREE YEARS AFTER Richt was gone.
None of what I just wrote is anything negative with respect ro Richt. It simply shows how people misremember things at times.
 
BigDikDaddyFromCincinnati said:
This is the sort of thing that illustrates why I made the post with my original thoughts in this thread. The comment you replied to made a statement as if it was factually true (but isn't) and it has added to the lore. Meanwhile, what you said is the actual truth. Also, if memory serves me correctly, Herbstreit's famed speech on ESPN questioning The University of Miami's adminstration's commitment to football came THREE YEARS AFTER Richt was gone.
None of what I just wrote is anything negative with respect ro Richt. It simply shows how people misremember things at times.
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I’ve hated on coaches in the past but always directed my anger at the people in charge

I’m not sure if there’s a difference between Mario and Richt other than the investment in the program. Would we still land 5 stars if we sent Mario on the recruiting trail with 10% off Bonangles coupons like Richt? I dunno

Instead of expecting Malik Rosier to beat ND we are now buying NFL QBs

But to Mario’s credit he’s the one that made it happen

His health also brings out a more sympathetic tone. Hard to not just feel nothing but love for the guy when you see him if you have a soul (not saying you don’t or are wrong)
 
I understand what Cinci is saying. The praise he's getting from some is on the level of a coach getting national championships. Richt didn't do that. He brought us out of misery, but couldn't build from it at the end. I think a lot of that had to do with what we were doing schematically. That said, what a blessing to have him coach Miami at the time he did. We were floundering, on the edge of irrelevancy. Despite his advanced age, he did modernize the U's football program and brought legitimacy. So I'm with the crowd who says, "Good coach. Great person."
 
JHallCanes said:
I’ve hated on coaches in the past but always directed my anger at the people in charge

I’m not sure if there’s a difference between Mario and Richt other than the investment in the program. Would we still land 5 stars if we sent Mario on the recruiting trail with 10% off Bonangles coupons like Richt? I dunno

Instead of expecting Malik Rosier to beat ND we are now buying NFL QBs

But to Mario’s credit he’s the one that made it happen

His health also brings out a more sympathetic tone. Hard to not just feel nothing but love for the guy when you see him if you have a soul (not saying you don’t or are wrong)
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Bullseye.

There are a whole lot of what ifs attached to Richt. Your second paragraph says it all in that regard.
Your last portion about his health, the sympathetic tone and it being hard to not feel love for the guy is 100% accurate. I wanted to mention his health and the sympathy, but couldn't get the words right in my mind to type out so that it was understood rather than attacked.

Most importantly, I hope you're not talking mierda about Bojangles. Those biscuits.... :eek:
 
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