Mark Richt should still be at Georgia in my opinion, but that’s the past. And this Miami’s present and future. Richt is a Miami alumni and is a perfect fit. With him being a “Miami-Man” he can bring back the swagger of the U, win back the boosters, and most importantly bring the former Miami players back to a program that they can be proud in. Many of the former players didn’t like Al Golden, most famously Warren Sapp. Go back and look at the tweets it was hilarious.
Here’s a little background on Richt. He comes from the Bobby Bowden coaching tree. As the QB coach and Offensive Coordinator for FSU from 1990-2000 he coached Charlie Ward and Chris Weinke. Both of those QBs went to New York and came back with a 25-pound bronze trophy named Heisman.
In his first head coaching job at the University of Georgia, he brought the wins and championships. In his tenure at UGA from 2001-2015, he won 70% of his games and ruled the SEC East by having a share or outright winning the division six teams and winning the SEC Championship twice in 2002 and again in 2005. Those six SEC East Division championships were the most over that timespan. Also in 2002 and 2005 he won the SEC Coach of the Year.
He comes into a hot bed of recruits in the South Florida area and might be able to win some recruits away from the Gators, and the Seminoles. And he also comes in with his own Georgia recruiting pipeline as well. If he can get a good QB-RB combo (Aaron Murray-Todd Gurley, Matthew Stafford-Knowshon Moreno) watch out Clemson and FSU, a mighty hurricane might be coming to shake up the ACC.
Even though this season the Hurricanes experienced one the worse beat downs in school history by the hands of the Clemson Tigers, they finished the regular season with an 8-4 overall record, a 5-3 conference record, and a 5-1 divisional record. So in a holistic view the season was not a bad one.
The 2016 Hurricanes definitely will have a bunch of promise. The 2015 Hurricanes roster was around 66% freshmen and sophomores and only 15% of seniors. In 2016 they are projected to return 9 starters on offense (if juniors do not leave early and no one transfers out). The whole offensive line returns, the leading passer, Brad Kaaya, leading rusher, Joseph Yearby, and leading receiver, Stacey Coley all return.
On the defensive side of the ball they are projected to return 8 starters (if Juniors don’t leave early and no one transfers out). One of those defensive starters would be Artie Burns, who lead the team with six interceptions.
Before the 2015 ends the Canes hope to get on more win against Washington State in the Sun Bowl on December 26.
The 2016 Miami Hurricanes will be a feared team in the ACC Coastal and the conference as a whole. Mark Richt has inherited a talented bunch pose for early success.
If you are a Miami fan, there won’t be many times next year you won’t be able to proudly throw up the “U.”
