Why Mark Richt Will Be on the Hot Seat for His OT Calls in Georgia's Loss to MSU

Georgia head coach Mark Richt went into the 2011 season pretending like he didn’t hear all of the talk about his job, as he always deflected the negative attention away no matter how many questions he received from antagonistic media members about the subject.

Richt heard plenty of grumbling from the Georgia faithful throughout the 2010 season, as the Bulldogs struggled through a disappointing 6-7 campaign, and the coach knew it wasn’t going to matter what he had accomplished during the 10 years before—2011 was shaping up to be a crucial make-or-break season for him and his program regardless of what the history books said.

That’s why the grumbling reached a fevered pitch when Georgia started off this season 0-2 after beginning the year with consecutive losses to Boise State and South Carolina.

However, 10 straight wins and an SEC East Division title managed to quiet all of the criticism and heat that had begun to surround Richt’s coaching seat in Athens, and Georgia’s success in 2011 bought the embattled coach one more year at the school he’s won two conference championships and five division titles at.

Now, however, after some questionable calls in a triple-overtime 33-30 loss to Michigan State in the Outback Bowl, it seems Richt will once again face some familiar scrutiny this offseason.

Kicking the ball on third down is always a debated decision, especially if it’s a decision made during an overtime period, and that was certainly true during the Outback Bowl, as Richt’s choice to use a second-down play to center the ball for kicker Blair Walsh to kick a 42-yard field goal on third down was one that was met with immediate and immense second-guessing.

Was the strategy that outlandish?

No. Any coach who puts the leading scorer in SEC history in perfect position to attempt a very makeable 42-yard, game-wining field goal attempt doesn’t exactly deserve to be thrown in the stocks.

But remember, this is Mark Richt we’re talking about. This is a coach that a fair share of college football fans are looking to pick apart and criticize any chance they get.

Sure, Walsh wasn’t exactly the model of consistency this year, but Richt trusted in his kicker, and he ultimately got burned.

It happens. In fact, it happens plenty of times. Yes, there are such things called belief and trust, and some college football head coaches actually believe and trust in their players.

The question that everyone was asking after they saw the missed field goal was should Mark Richt have kept attacking?

Well, if you ask the Twittersphere, then of course, every Monday morning quarterback would have said yes.

But the last time I checked, anonymous Twitter critics have won exactly zero college football games.

Mark Richt’s won 106 out of 144 during his 11 years at Georgia. And that’s a pretty decent track record.

I’ll defer to Richt on his decision, even if it was one that was universally panned.

I’m rarely one to play the “what if” game, but if Walsh’s kick went straight through the uprights, everyone would probably praise Richt for his Les Miles-like gutsiness instead.

This is college football—if it works, you’re a genius, if it doesn’t, it's time to break out the pitchforks.

But one decision doesn’t make a coach, just as one mediocre season doesn’t make a coach.

Richt was able to put his one mediocre season behind him and follow it up with an SEC East Division title this year.

Now he’ll be hearing all about his questionable crunch time coaching decision in the Outback Bowl for the next few weeks, and even though it may not be fair, his seat will once again be doused in gasoline going into the 2012 season.

Richt knows the drill well, though.

In this day and age of social media and message boards, everyone’s got an opinion, and most of the time, those opinions are far too overly critical.

Richt will go into the 2012 season coaching for his job, and once again he'll be facing serious pressure from the Georgia fans and alumni. But luckily for Richt, all he has to do is take one look at his 2012 depth chart to realize he’ll have one of the most talented teams in the country to work with next season.

Aaron Murray, Jarvis Jones, Isaiah Crowell, Malcolm Mitchell, Alec Ogeltree, Bacarri Rambo—yeah, I’d say those are some nice pieces to start building a contender around.

Mark Richt will enter the 2012 season amid the same “hot seat” talk he had to deal with this season, but don’t be surprised if he manages to figure out a way to survive the unfair backlash he’ll face once again this summer.