Richt calls 7-5 record ‘frustrating, no doubt’
Coach vows his staff is going to do a better job in future
CORAL GABLES — More than anyone, Mark Richt knows this wasn’t the season the Miami Hurricanes wanted — or expected.
After returning a host of talented playmakers from last year’s 10-3 team that won the ACC’s Coastal Division and was ranked as high as No. 2 in the College Football Playoff Rankings, most figured Miami would be a lock to repeat as division champion and head to Charlotte this week for a second straight berth in the ACC Championship. That didn’t happen.
Instead, a four-game losing streak that spanned the end of October and beginning of November knocked the Hurricanes out of the rankings and ended their championship hopes, with Pittsburgh, which won the division, set to face Clemson this weekend for the conference title.
While the Hurricanes capped the regular season with a 24-3 win over Pitt on Saturday, coach Mark Richt acknowledged Monday that that month-long losing streak took a toll on his team — and he vowed things would be better moving forward.
“It was rough, no doubt. It was frustrating, no doubt. Frustrating for everybody,”
Richt said during his weekly radio appearance with Joe Rose on WQAM-560. “I understand we want to finish out this bowl season strong, recruit our tails off and make sure we do a better job in the future. That’s all there is to it.”
For Richt, there are two immediate priorities: recruiting ahead of next month’s Early Signing Period and preparing the Hurricanes for their still-to-bedetermined bowl game. At some point, he will also meet with athletic director Blake James to go over the season and discuss how they can improve next year.
Some fans have been imploring James to push Richt to make changes to his staff and potentially bring in a play-calling offensive coordinator, but James told the Sun Sentinel last week his approach when he meets with Richt will be to ask questions and provide the support the coach needs.
“I’m going to ask questions and really, in a lot of ways, just have him think of it. I think in most cases, he’s probably already thought of it,” James said. “But, I think, sometimes to have someone else ask the questions — someone that he knows at the end of the day I’m going to be standing there with him, through thick and thin — again, those are the questions that we’ll ask and we’ll continue to do the things we need to do to win and get better as a program. That’s what we want for all of our programs.”
Richt wishes Thomas well: Last Wednesday, just days after he scored on a 51-yard punt return in Miami’s 38-14 win over Virginia Tech, the Hurricanes announced receiver Jeff Thomas had been dismissed from the program after some reported friction with the coaching staff.
Richt on Monday declined to discuss the specifics of Thomas’ departure with Rose, but said he wished the former Hurricane well.
“Everybody’s got to do things a certain way and work within the system. That’s all. It just didn’t work out. That’s the best way I can say it,” Richt said. “I’ll say this — I’m a Jeff fan and I want Jeff to have success in the future. It just wasn’t going to happen here. … It’s over and I’m not going to get into the details or anything. That’s not what I do.”
Thomas had been Miami’s top receiver entering the regular-season finale against Pittsburgh with a team-high 1,063 all-purpose yards.
He was passed in that category this weekend by both running back Travis Homer and running back DeeJay Dallas, who took Thomas’ spot on Miami’s punt return unit and scored on a 65-yard punt return.
Dallas has a team-high 1,162 all-purpose yards, while Homer has 1,141.
Perry to start bowl game: Quarterback N’Kosi Perry struggled against Pittsburgh on Saturday, completing just 6-of-24 passes for 52 yards, but if there was any thought he might not start Miami’s bowl game, Richt put those to rest with Rose.
“If you saw every bit of the game, it was very frustrating in that we had a lot of balls that were put on the money and dropped. A lot of third-down catches that were going to be first downs. There was a little bit of that,” Richt said. “And then there were moments we had guys open and we didn’t hit them. It was a little bit of both.
“I thought the line protected well. … Kosi’s like any other quarterback. Rule No. 1 is hit your target and be able to handle all the assignments and all the pressure of the job. He’s learning and growing and we’ll see what happens in the bowl game. He’ll be the starter going into that and we’ll see how he plays. But, bottom line is everybody’s got to do their job and do it well. If he does that, he’ll be the guy [next season].”
Perry has played in 10 games for the Hurricanes and started six. He finished the regular season completing 51.6 percent of his passes for 1,089 yards with 13 touchdowns and five interceptions.