Now Is the Time for Mark Richt to Prove If He's an Elite Coach

Take one look at Georgia head coach Mark Richt's career record with the Bulldogs, and you should be blown away.

Now in his 15th season in Athens, Richt has a .745 career winning percentage (140-48), nine 10-win seasons, won two SEC titles and represented the SEC East in the SEC Championship Game five times since 2001.

There's no doubt that Richt is a solid head coach and has Georgia in contention virtually every year. But no division titles over the last two seasons in a down SEC East, a decade-long SEC title drought and a seemingly inexplicable loss or two every single season begs the question—is Mark Richt elite?

No, although he's one of the first in line to get in the house occupied by Alabama's Nick Saban and Ohio State's Urban Meyer.

Saturday's matchup against Alabama is a chance for Richt to prove that he's ready to walk through that door.

Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

It'd be easy to say that this isn't the Alabama of old thanks to its porous pass defense and uneasy quarterback situation. Don't fall into that trap, because that's exactly what Alabama was last year when it won the SEC West, SEC title and made the inaugural College Football Playoff. 

It's also very close to what it was in 2013, when former quarterback AJ McCarron was saddled with the dreaded "game manager" label.

Alabama is still the 900-pound gorilla in the SEC that tests the mettle of other contenders every year.

Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

Despite that, Georgia should have the edge in this matchup. 

The defense has been solid, running back Nick Chubb is a force and quarterback Greyson Lambert has proved that he's a phenomenal game manager after throwing just two incomplete passes over the last two weeks.

As David Paschall of the Chattanooga Times Free Press notes, the uncertainty with Alabama and the efficiency in which Georgia has operated over the first month of the season has turned the tide—"pun" intended:

If Richt is able to pull off a huge win, avenge the 2012 SEC Championship Game loss to the Crimson Tide, put the Tide behind the eight ball with their second conference loss of the first half of the season and assert Georgia as one of the best teams in the country...

Will that erase all doubts about Richt?

Of course not.

As Booger McFarland of the SEC Network noted on Twitter, there's no time like the present:

A win over Alabama in Game 5 won't prevent him from that annual head-scratcher later in the year. If Chubb, Sony Michel and Keith Marshall are successful against that talented Alabama front seven, though, it would be a clear indication that Georgia's plan of playing ground-and-pound football combined with Lambert's ability to manage the game can keep the Bulldogs in the national conversation.

Now's the time for Richt to prove that he belongs in the conversation as an elite head coach. 

Alabama is desperate, the East is still down, the schedule doesn't look as daunting thanks to the struggles of Tennessee and Auburn and every team in America looks flawed.

This is Richt's chance to flip the script, establish Georgia as an SEC power again and change a narrative that's been haunting him for nearly a decade. 

No pressure.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Statistics are courtesy of CFBStats.com. Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.