Why Mark Richt Is the King of Georgia

There's 92,746 seats at Sanford Stadium. Ninety-two thousand, seven-hundred and forty-six souls adorned in the same red and black apparel, "G" emblazoned across sweatshirts and T's and hat bills. They chant in unison for the "Bulldogs," using the energy from tailgate parties and state pride to power the University of Georgia football team on Saturday afternoons in Athens. 

The energy. The pageantry. The big-time players. 

It's the place to be in The Peach State, a place where season tickets require luck and a big checkbook, a place where Mark Richt presides over it all. As the coach of the team, he is king. When Bleacher Report ran a poll asking fans to crown their local king, he was the man Georgia picked. 

If you're the king of Georgia football, you're the king of Georgia—plain and simple. Sure, people love the Braves in Atlanta; think about the days when Bobby Cox was presiding over a team that ran the National League. And sure, the Falcons are the NFL big boys, with names like Matt Ryan and Dan Reeves well known by all sports fans, from Decatur to Detroit to Dallas. 

But neither has the power Richt has. He has the power to lead Bulldog football to victories, which directly impacts the 92,746 people in the stands around him, and the other millions around the state whose emotions ebb and flow on all things Bulldogs.

Bulldogs land a prized recruit? Adulation. Bulldogs jump ahead against Auburn or Alabama? Party in the stands. Bulldogs win? Oh yeah. This is how things work in SEC country, where every car seems to have a sticker supporting the team and even the small newspapers still travel  to cover the teams.

And Richt is the central controller of it all. He recruits. He calls plays. He presides over victories. Conversely, he also takes blame for recruiting and play-calling and when they don't win, when they have bad years. That equates to hot seats, and it makes him the go-to topic for slamming on talk radio. 

Sometimes, it's not easy being king. Right now, he's in trouble for helping out his assistants and doing the right thing, even if it was in the face of draconian NCAA policy. This story will get debated all over the media. When you get talked about as much as Richt does, you'll know it's because you're on top.