Mark Richt's Return to the U Will Bring Hurricanes Back to National Spotlight

Welcome back, Miami; you've been missed. And you can thank Mark Richt for this return to the college football spotlight for something other than booster scandals and empty seats.

Just days after being pushed out by Georgia, Richt has reportedly agreed to return to his Sunshine State roots and take over a program that had become almost an afterthought over the last decade. Peter Ariz of CanesInSight.com was first to report the news Wednesday, with other outlets quickly following suit.

The reaction to this move has been mixed, to say the least:

Most of the negative responses are related to Richt's time at Georgia, which saw him win 145 times in 15 seasons but often come up short in big games. The Bulldogs were picked to win the SEC East two of the past three years but instead lost eight times in league play during that span.

Miami fans probably would have loved to have their team average better than nine wins per season since 2001. Instead, the Hurricanes have been mired in a decade-long funk that included a self-imposed bowl ban in 2011-12 and seemingly more tweets about the crowds (or lack thereof) in Sun Life Stadium than the results on the field.

Joe Skipper/Associated Press

Miami's record in big games, whether it be under Al Golden, Randy Shannon or during the late stages of the Larry Coker era? Well, that would depend on what you consider "big" since Miami only finished in the top half of the ACC's Coastal Division in six of the past 10 years.

The last notable game Miami had was in November 2013, when the 7-0 Hurricanes went to rival Florida State...and lost 41-14. That was the first of three straight losses, and they ended the year 9-4 with a blowout loss to Louisville in the Russell Athletic Bowl. And after that we forgot about them, until Miami fired Golden midseason, prompting alumni and fans to come out of the woodwork and hope The U would make a big splash and bring in a huge name.

Richt fits that bill, regardless of how people viewed him at Georgia. He ran one of the top programs in FBS for 15 years, and though he didn't compete for championships every season, he had just one losing record (and only because the Bulldogs lost their meaningless bowl game in 2010). Yet a year later he had them in the SEC title game for the fifth time in a 10-year span (six times overall).

Names such as Butch Davis, Mario Cristobal and others were bandied about because of their past connections to the school, either as players or coaches. Richt meets this criterion too, having played quarterback for the 'Canes from 1979 to 1982 under Howard Schnellenberger.

And something Richt has going for him that other names on Miami's potential wish list didn't is a recruiting record that's second to none. Georgia's yet-to-be-signed 2016 recruiting class ranks third in the nation, per 247Sports, and one of its top commitments (4-star running back Devwah Whaley from Texas) pledged in November, even though Georgia was out of the SEC East Division race.

Compare that to Miami, which had a hot start last winter and spring, but as the 2015 season fizzled out, it lost several key commitments and now sits 19th in the 2016 rankings.

Year	Georgia	Miami
2015	5th	26th
2014	8th	12th
2013	12th	14th
2012	8th	10th
2011	6th	33rd
2010	11th	14th

Critics will point to Richt's inability to win despite routinely bringing in top classes, though much of that is due to his taking a step back the last few seasons and deferring more to his assistants when it came to play-calling. The CEO/coach thing didn't work out, something he indicated during his surreal post-firing press conference earlier this week.

"I'll say this—if and when I do coach again, I'm looking forward to coaching again in terms of being more hands-on," he said, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I miss coaching quarterbacks, I miss calling plays, I miss that part of it. Not that I wasn't in it, but I wasn't calling it. And I think I'd be more apt to do that again."

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

Miami just so happens to have one of the best young passers in the country, sophomore Brad Kaaya, who has been starting since the 2014 opener as a true freshman and has topped 3,000 yards each season.

Richt was one of the highest-paid coaches in the country at Georgia, and he could have easily lived off the interest from those salaries for a while. His quick move back to the game speaks to a renewed desire, and the alumnus has to be well aware of how hungry 'Canes fans are to be relevant again.

This isn't a boredom move—the sports version of an A-list actor's agreeing to do a paycheck movie. Richt isn't proud of how things ended in Athens, and he's not likely to coast in South Florida.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.