Mark Richt Deserves One More Year as Head Coach of Georgia

I know, I know. The Bulldogs have played badly for the past two years. But before we all jump to conclusions, let's look more deeply at the past two years.

The 2009 season was a year of transition. We all knew Joe Cox was not the quarterback to lead the Dawgs to a national title. An eight-win season after losing Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Moreno and Mohamed Massaquoi to the NFL is not terrible.

Obviously, it was not the most desired season, especially for a top football program like Georgia, but it still did not merit a firing of Mark Richt. He addressed the issue at defense by firing practically the entire defensive staff. This alone did not and will not immediately fix a defense, but you have to agree that the defense improved significantly last season.

The offense began to click at the end of the season due to Washaun Ealey's emergence and a realignment of the offensive line. Things were looking up for Georgia going into 2010.

But when the season actually came around, things did not turn out as the team and Richt planned. The defense gave up some huge plays, the running game could not get started, and the special teams were mediocre.

Are these problems to be blamed on Richt and his coaching methods? Maybe. But let's look even further back to the period between 2000 and 2008. What did Richt do in those years?

Well, he had an incredible 82-22 record, a 14-10 record against rivals (Florida, Auburn, Georgia Tech), a 26-17 record against ranked opponents, a 6-6 record against top-10 teams, a 6-2 record in bowl games, 2-1 in BCS bowl games, four division championships (one was a tie) and a 2-1 record in the SEC championship game.

He had the same coaching style and the same demeanor in those eight seasons. He has not become a new person and a new coach. He is the same old coach. And that is a good thing.

For goodness sake, he is among the top 10 winningest coaches for the past 10 years! That has to be good for something. 

Obviously, Richt is the Georgia Bulldogs head coach this season. Georgia's new AD has said it on many occasions and has faith in him. I think this McGarity guy knows what he is talking about.

He was the assistant athletic director for Florida when they won their two national titles under Urban Meyer, a proven winner. While I am on the topic of Florida, I will point out that almost no one was crying for Meyer to be fired.

Although UF just had a horrible season in which they finished 8-5, Urban Meyer was nowhere near the chopping block.

Richt may not have the same resume as Meyer, but it was essentially the same situation. Florida and Georgia are two football programs with rich histories and have been known for winning, especially in the past decade.

So naturally when there is a bad season, fans will overreact and demand a change. Usually this change is focused on the head coach. But with Florida, the fans knew the season's failure was not Meyer's fault. I now will say this: Georgia fans need to be like Florida fans. Chill out! 

What if Georgia did fire Richt?

The recruiting would suffer, there would be another transition period, and the new coach might be terrible (like a Rich Rodriguez). Until we see a huge negative difference in Mark Richt, I say we should let him do his thing. He has a great young quarterback, a defense that has a full season of playing in the 3-4 formation, and a top-10 recruiting class.

If he cannot use these tools to his advantage and have at least a nine win season, then I will rethink my opinion of him. But for now, I believe UGA should stick with the coach who has won an average of 10 wins a season and has garnered Georgia two SEC championships.