Mark Richt Reportedly Fired as Georgia Head Coach

Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt is reportedly out as head coach after a 9-3 regular season.

Mark Schlabaugh of ESPN reported the program's decision to part ways with Richt.

The news comes despite the fact that the two sides had been talking about an extension, which the program reportedly planned to honor, per a Nov. 6 report from Chip Towers and Matt Kempner of the Atlanta Journal Constitution: 

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Nevertheless, UGA has vowed to honor the terms of the proposed agreement retroactively. That’s particularly beneficial to Richt in the event that he gets fired this year. It means he will be paid $2.5 million more than he would under his existing contract, for a total payout of $4.1 million. According to the current contract on file with the athletic association, he would be owed $1.6 million, or $800,000 per year remaining in the term.

“To me a handshake is an agreement and the board approved it. Everybody approved it,” Georgia Athletic Director Greg McGarity said Friday. “Just because somebody hasn’t signed it doesn’t mean we’re not going to honor it, if it ever reached that point.”

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However, the day before, Dan Wolken of USA Today reported Richt has clashed with defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, and if the head coach stays, he will essentially be pressured by the administration in Athens to overhaul his staff.

At the time, Richt did his best to dismiss the rift between himself and Pruitt, which Wolken's sources described as a "toxic" relationship:

The report stated that Pruitt has been given the right to hire several members of the coaching staff on his own and has been more integral to recruiting.

David Hale of ESPN implied how such a dynamic may only be exacerbating Georgia's issues:

Further complicating the situation is Georgia may well bring in a strong freshman class next year and reportedly isn't viewed as "cutthroat" enough compared to other SEC teams to fire Richt. That means the longtime overseer of the Bulldogs program would have to walk away on his own accord rather than receive the pink slip

But Wolken also indicated Georgia president Jere Morehead rejected athletics director Greg McGarity's motion to make a coaching change. In other words, Richt was reportedly close to being fired at the end of last year as it was—even though the Bulldogs went 10-3 and lost running back Todd Gurley to a torn ACL.

McGarity reportedly thinks highly of Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen, and numerous other big-name candidates are mentioned as prospective options for Georgia should it part ways with Richt after this year.

Richt has been at the helm in Athens since 2001 and led the Bulldogs to a No. 3 ranking in the Associated Press poll in his second season. Georgia has finished inside the Top 10 in the AP poll in seven of Richt's 14 prior seasons.

The track record of success is stellar, but the SEC is arguably the most competitive, difficult conference in college football. Absent a national championship to truly cement his job security and Richt's inability to quite reach that level, it's no surprise he's been on the hot seat of late amid a dysfunctional Bulldogs culture.