Building community bridges
Richt reaching out to youth football teams
As Mark Richt was leaving the park, a youngster had one final question.
Richt, the Miami Hurricanes’ first-year football coach, had just finished speaking with a group of youth football players at Coral Reef Park in Palmetto Bay. The session included him explaining what it takes to become a collegiate athlete and leading the awestruck kids in a prayer.
Before exiting and returning to the non-stop coaching grind, Richt was reminded why being visible in the community is so important. A player stopped him on the way out and asked what church he attended. When Richt answered, the boy said, “I go there, too. I’ll see you next time.”
These are the moments that make Richt’s weekly visits with Pop Warner teams so fulfilling. Not only does he want to return UM football to national prominence, he also wants to bridge the widened gap between fans and the program. No better place to start than ground level.
“When coach got to Miami, hewas just expressing how he wanted to connect the university back to the community,” said former UM player Tolbert Bain, who serves as acommunity liaison. “He wants to rejuvenate the fan base, and what better fan base than these kids out here playing football?”
Through the first three weeks of the season, Richt has kept his promise. He
visits a football practice in South Florida every Thursday, sometimes even when work remains in the office. Last week he made trips to meet the Giants at Richmond Park in Miami and the Broncos of Palmetto Bay despite still having to make the play-calling list for Appalachian State.
Richt doesn’t seem to mind these events even if it at times is an inconvenience. The trips are planned for 6 and 6:30p.m., the peak time for highway traffic. He travels throughout Broward and Miami-Dade counties, meaning some drives can take an hour. The reward is maybe 20 minutes of face time with perhaps a future UM recruit.
“There’s a little selfishness about this, too,” Richt said. “I’m hoping that these young men decide that they love ‘The U’ and when they become great ball players and it’s time to recruit them, maybe they’ll remember when the coach showed up.”
Most affiliated with the
Hurricanes’ program say Richt is the first coach to place so much emphasis on community relations at the youth football level. In July, Richt held a clinic in Plantation for all local optimist coaches. Al Golden and Randy Shannon, the past two UM coaches, participated in some events, but not to this extent.
Thirty minutes after the clinic ended, Richt was still posing for pics and offering advice to the coaches. He then invited them to attend a Hurricanes practice next spring.
“He had finished shaking everybody’s hands, and then he just started taking pics with everybody,” said Justin Langella, an assistant for the Weston Warriors. “It was 9:45 at night. When you come across somebody like that, they’re usually in a hurry but he was in no rush. It mademe think about when you hear people like [former Georgia running back] Todd Gurley say he’s just a genuine guy.”
Richt was recently accompanied by UM receiver Malcolm Lewis to Pembroke Pines Optimist Club. Several years ago, Lewis starred on the same field as a pre-teen. After both lectured and fielded questions, they led the teams in a huddle break before the players returned to practice.
About the only negative experience of the visits for Richt was when he ran into Derrick Crumpton, one of the Palmetto coaches. Crumpton, 55, played on the Florida A&M team that upset the Hurricanes in 1979. That year, Richt was UM’s backup quarterback. Richt immediately put his head down in shame when Crumpton said he played in that game.
Moments later, they both erupted in laughter.
“That’s why I always bother him every time I see him,” Crumpton said. “That was our last time beating Miami. They haven’t gave us a break since… But it means a lot to us that he’s out here because it’s never been done.”