The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Richt new face of Canes
Longtime UGA coach’s return to Miami ‘an honor.’
CORAL GABLES, FLA. — Mark Richt turned 56 last month. It has been 15 years since he started coaching at Georgia, 31 years since he first stepped on the field as a Florida State assistant.
Few things surprise him. And yet he experienced something quite unfamiliar last week.
“I didn’t sleep hardly at all last night,” Richt said. “I didn’t think it’d be that way. I got my eyes closed, but I couldn’t sleep. A lot of anticipation, a lot of things running through my mind.”
After five hours, he woke up dealing with “a little bit of butterflies.”
Maybe he should have expected it. After all, he is now the face of the Hurricanes.
Richt, the Boca Raton native and former UM quarterback, conducted his first spring practice at his alma mater last week. He hopes it was the first step in restoring the shine to a program he left as a graduate in 1982 and rejoined Dec. 4 as its 24th head coach.
“It’s a blessing. It’s an honor. I don’t take it lightly at all. It’s a little bit surreal,” he said, speaking to reporters on an unseasonably hot, humid morning. “To be here and to represent the University of Miami and represent the family means a lot to me.”
If Richt felt nervous energy, his players were just plain pumped. They spoke afterward of feeling an excitement that was missing last year.
“Everybody’s having fun,” said linebacker Jermaine Grace, who will be a senior. “Back in high school days, that’s what it feels like right now. I get to play, I get to have fun. This is as energized as I’ve been since I’ve been here.”
Another senior-to-be, wide receiver Stacy Coley, described a “looser” environment than under coach Al Golden. Players are “playing with more swag, talking more, competing more, just going at it every play,” he said.
Looking a bit like his mentor Bobby Bowden in sunglasses, a white windbreaker and a Panama hat — a yearly gift from his pastor — Richt spent much of the session coaching quarterbacks. That’s a duty he’s happy to resume.
“I like that a lot,” he said. “Coached quarterbacks my whole career. At Georgia, when I turned it over seven, eight years into it, it was different. I stayed far enough away because I know it’s not good to have two cooks in the kitchen.”
Richt wants to instill discipline in the Hurricanes, who finished last nationally in penalties while going 8-5 last season. However, he’s doing it with a hands-off approach.
“When coach Richt came in, he said, ‘I’ll treat you like men or I’ll treat you like children. You want to be treated like men, act like men,’” said offensive lineman Kc McDermott, who will be a junior. “That’s what makes being here so much fun. I’ve always loved being here, old staff or new staff. I love this university, but as far as everyone else goes, there’s just a sense of, ‘All right, they’re treating us like men. There’s no pressure. We can be ourselves.’”
Richt’s resume — 14551 with two SEC championships at Georgia — and disposition are what led defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad to return for his redshirt junior season.
“We talked about a lot,” Muhammad said of his first meeting with the new coach. “He’s so relaxed, so straightforward. He sees more in me than I see in myself. What’s better than that? It was a no-brainer (to return). I love it here.”