Richt has impressive company among coaches with no national title
Can Mark Richt be called a great football coach if he never wins a national title? (Jason Getz / AJC)
USA Today’s Mike Lopresti had an interesting column this week discussing who is the best current college football coach without a national championship.
Naturally, Mark Richt’s name came up, with Lopresti noting that the coach “has survived the Southeastern Conference hothouse at Georgia for 11 years and won nearly 74 percent of his games.”
But Lopresti consigned Richt to the “resonable nominees” list along with Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio, Wisconsin’s Bret Bielema, Nevada’s Chris Ault (really!!??) and Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly (who has the best winning percentage among the top 10 active coaches in career victories).
His main candidates, though, included Kansas State’s Bill Snyder, Boise State’s Chris Petersen, Oregon’s Chip Kelly, TCU’s Gary Patterson and his ultimate choice of the best coach without a crystal football: Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer, who has 251 career victories (the most of any active coach), has had 19 bowl teams and came closest to a national championship in 1999 with a certain dog-abusing quarterback.
Frank Beamer also doesn't have a national championship. (Associated Press)
Who the USA Today columnist picked as the best coach without a national title didn’t interest me as much as the fact that it’s a list of pretty impressive and successful coaching talent who are in the same boat as UGA’s Richt.
So, here’s my question: Just how important to a program is it to win a national championship? If Richt never gets one, will he forever rank behind the Nick Sabans and Urban Meyers, no matter how many successful seasons he coaches at Georgia? That’s been the major knock on Richt and it boggles my mind a little to realize that even if his Dawgs were to manage to win the SEC championship game this season and make it to the BCS game and didn’t win it … he’d still have that same millstone around his neck.
What do you think? Is it all about the national title? If so, does that really make Frank Beamer less of a coach than Urban Meyer?
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382 comments Add your comment
banders1
August 23rd, 2012
6:29 am
All I care about is SEC titles – that’s won on the field. The entrants to the National Championship game are voted in – kinda like a beauty contest.
HUH?????
August 23rd, 2012
8:25 am
” The entrants to the National Championship game are voted in ”
Yeah, the two best teams in the country play each other. Imagine that.
HUH?????
August 23rd, 2012
8:25 am
banders1
So you’re saying the best of the best are playing in a beauty contest? That must mean UGA is one ugly chick.
In your Backyard
August 23rd, 2012
8:26 am
Sad when a guy like yabber dabber Dabo can out recruit you and land a big fish in your own back yard….just saying
DawginLex
August 23rd, 2012
8:28 am
HUH????
Are you still on here spewing?
Aren’t you due at Jiffy Lube Bubba?
Did they put a computer down there under the cars where you drain the oil out?
bawbie
August 23rd, 2012
8:29 am
Fire Dave Perno!
HUH?????
August 23rd, 2012
8:33 am
“Are you still on here spewing?”
You answered your own question, ma’am.
“Aren’t you due at Jiffy Lube Bubba?”
What’s Jiffy Lube Bubba?
“Did they put a computer down there under the cars where you drain the oil out?”
That’s no way to talk about your sister.
Howdy Doody
August 23rd, 2012
8:35 am
Heads will roll if we not “In the Hunt” in Underwater Basket Weaving this year!
AltamahaDawg
August 23rd, 2012
8:37 am
Mobile Dawg, despite you trying to find a way to turn everything into a referendum on how sorry you think Coach Richt is doing, I never said anything about the Boise results.
My comment on that game was a direct refute of the idea posed by the gentleman that he McGarity doesnt believe in national exposure brand games.
little timmy tucker
August 23rd, 2012
8:44 am
Richt needs to stay away from the dome for awhile anyway. those embarrassing losses are mounting up. West Virginia,Boise and last year SECCG with LSU.
HUH?????
August 23rd, 2012
8:49 am
“those embarrassing losses are mounting up. ”
Not to mention that UGA hasn’t won a bowl game in quite some time now.
DawginLex
August 23rd, 2012
8:56 am
HUH?????
August 23rd, 2012
8:33 am
“Are you still on here spewing?”
You answered your own question, ma’am.
“Aren’t you due at Jiffy Lube Bubba?”
What’s Jiffy Lube Bubba?
“Did they put a computer down there under the cars where you drain the oil out?”
That’s no way to talk about your sister.
****************************
I lost my sister 3 months ago to cancer. Thanks for being a classless TROLL.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 23rd, 2012
8:59 am
Well, business as usual in Athens, a few wins here or there……let’s just party on!!!
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 23rd, 2012
9:02 am
The score will tell….
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 23rd, 2012
9:08 am
UGA was ripped off by politics in 2007, and would have won a national title with that team, but the political BCS committee did not allow UGA in, and chose OSU and Florida to play for the title.
Everyone can comment, attack, rebuke, or make any comments you want, but D1-A football is not a sport, because it does not have a playoff system. Everyone needs to read the book “Death to the BCS,” and you will lose so much respect for D1-A football, and understand the crux of D1-A football is marketing and making money, huge money.
The BCS and conference CZARS do not give a rats behind about the students, boosters or fans. All of these pre-season comments will amount to nothing, because there will be no real champion.
Dawg8589
August 23rd, 2012
9:15 am
All coaches legacies are determined by conference championships. National Championships under the current system are a crap shoot. I want CMR to start winning conference championships. Let the rest work itself out.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 23rd, 2012
9:28 am
Dawg8589 is dead on.
Otto
August 23rd, 2012
9:35 am
UGA wasn’t ripped off in ‘07, they lost it with on the field tie breakers for the SECCG which were clearly defined.
Bobo stuck with the run against UT thinking it would turn around. Going back to the play action where Stafford turned his back to the line scrimmage one to many times against S. Carolina didn’t help. The fans and the program should look inside not blame it on false distractions.
Win either game and UGA has a clear path to the SECCG and BCSCG. Richt and Staff had the team to do it, they have only their self to blame.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 23rd, 2012
9:35 am
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3138383&sportCat=ncf
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 23rd, 2012
9:36 am
Otto, I do agree with your comment, but I think UGA was hitting their stride, and that is what playoffs are all about…..who gets hot, and UGA was hot.
sailfin
August 23rd, 2012
9:58 am
this is the year of the dogs–their D is loaded and they have the best RBs in the sEC. Dawgs win the east and beat lsu for the title! Dogs v. USC for the BCS!!!!
Srubs
August 23rd, 2012
10:14 am
A bunch of scrubs scored on UGA from the 11 yard line in the scrimmage yesterday. UGA is still in deep doo doo.
Scrubs
August 23rd, 2012
10:16 am
Enter your comments here
Football Guy
August 23rd, 2012
10:17 am
hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
………………………………………
………………………………………
………
A Recruit that Richt might consider
August 23rd, 2012
10:27 am
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Lab-tech-parties-with-escaped-monkeys/-/1637132/16224040/-/format/rss_2.0/-/12ybs92z/-/index.html
DawgInLexIsAHypocrite
August 23rd, 2012
10:40 am
@DawginLex
Were you not the person mocking a football players dads death yesterday?
Answer the question.
Huh???
August 23rd, 2012
10:43 am
“I lost my sister 3 months ago to cancer. Thanks for being a classless TROLL.”
Lex, you really are a piece of work. Not only are you ignorant, but you also have the nerve to think that that remark was really aimed at your real sister.
Grow up.
Huh???
August 23rd, 2012
10:45 am
“UGA was ripped off by politics in 2007″
So a 2 loss UGA team, that didn’t even win their division nor win the SEC title was left out because of politics? Hardly. UGA lost two games to non ranked teams that year. LSU won their division, the title and their two losses came to ranked opponents.
Huh???
August 23rd, 2012
10:47 am
“but D1-A football is not a sport, because it does not have a playoff system.”
Then I guess the NFL is not a sport because all of its players come from a non sport in college football.
Think McFly, think.
bubba4dawgs
August 23rd, 2012
10:54 am
There is a lot of luck that goes with a championship such as key injuries, etc. Unfortunately, UGA’s dilemma has been just too many miscreants on the team that Richt has had to contend with. UGA has always been a smash mouth team and got away from that until Grantham came along, now it’s back to where it should be and what has made them successful. UGA will again attain prominence when they can recruit on the same level as Sabin and Miles. Nothing is sacred in the business of recruiting with all the flipping the players do. You never know how your roster is going to look like until the dust settles. It truly is a game of crap shoot.
dogist
August 23rd, 2012
11:04 am
if richt cheated like saban and miles and got all their talent, he would be winning the SEC almost every year.
Huh's Mommy
August 23rd, 2012
11:08 am
Huh, please! You spent 3 hours writing 65+ messages yesterday and now you are back on the same Georgia Bulldog fan blog posting messages all morning…son, what could you possibly need to say that you didn’t in 65+ messages yesterday? If you don’t stop this, I’m going to take the Disney Channel from you. Unless you are being paid by the message, just stop right now! Momma (War Eagle!)
Buckeye
August 23rd, 2012
11:17 am
Re-read your headline.
Need not say more.
Joey
August 23rd, 2012
11:35 am
No Richt fan here, but find it hilarious that a Ohio St fan would come on here talking smack.
Richt in all likelihood won’t win a BCS Title, but neither will he cheat his way into contention like the Buckeyes did for season after season with the lying, cheating Tressel.
Congrats on that tainted title with the obviously ineligible player (Maurice Clarett), and the other two appearances when you got the snot kicked out of you.
Concern
August 23rd, 2012
12:14 pm
Hard to know how evaluate current coaches. Just look at former most elite coaches at Penn St, Ohio St … Didn’ see their name mentioned. There are some clues that a few current coaches may be headed down that same path of winning at all cost and reporting to no one.
Columbus Dawg
August 23rd, 2012
12:23 pm
Every time an article of this nature hits a blog page or a newspaper it puts more and more pressure on Richt to win a MNC. The problem is at this point, with all the returning talent that Richt has, if he under achieves this time around, he will REALLY be the laughing stock of the nation. The problem that I have with this is that UGA will also be tied to the laughing stock coach, who just signed an extension on his contract. I have to agree with the many UGA supporters that are upset with the fact that Richt’s contract was extended based on the shoddy achievements of 2011. McGarity evidently saw improvements that no one else saw. At least no one who knows the game. All of this aside, I am rooting HARD for Coach Richt to turn UGA’s misfortunes on the football field around, so all in the Bulldog Nation can be spared the embarrassment. One thing is for sure, if the players come out committing stupid penalties, and just all around play in a reckless manner such as turnovers, and special teams floundering, that have in the last several years kept UGA mediocre in football, McGarity is going to catch pure you know what from SEVERAL big UGA folks. The p.o.s. Adams will be gone and will not be a factor. Richt said a few days ago that his team did not look like a championship contender. We have no way of knowing whether Vince Dooley has gotten a hold of him on how not to show your hand or if he was being truthful. From what I am hearing, McGarity had better hope he’s bluffing.
Richt's Feeble Record
August 23rd, 2012
12:24 pm
Richto has a Dismal record vs ranked teams. His teams are 6-24 vs ranked teams since 2007.
Huh's Mommy
August 23rd, 2012
12:27 pm
I think Bill is just bored and stirring the pot. Relax, and enjoy the season boys! Come root for Auburn if you would rather. HUH and I will be there…if he finishes his homework!
zbulldawg
August 23rd, 2012
12:39 pm
You don’t know D-I-T-T-L-E swat about UGA Bill Blawg !! No fan at ALL. Take that 80’s hat & shirt off Wall mart hadn’t sold it in years. It’s clear that you nothing good to say about Mark Richt or The bulldawg nation. Your are a fake. The first thing you are taught when playing ball is yesterday does not count against you today ! The next game is your first game of your life no matter what the out come was ! Let’s see how you & your so called dawg followers & fans react to the years to come ! It’s on ya’ll now, to late to cover your A ’s Just think after this year YOU will Be unemployed !!! LOL Better save some money I hear it doesn’t pay to good to cover T ball games !! I’ll go ahead & say it HA HA HA LET THE BIG DAWG EAT
harold
August 23rd, 2012
12:49 pm
RICHT BLEW IT WITH AT LEAST 4 MISSED OPPORTUNITES. WITH DONNAN’S PLAYERS ON 2002 AND 2005. WHEN STAFFORD AND MORENO WERE THERE TOO.
RICHT IS NOT A CHAMPIONSHIP COACH!
SABAN, MEYER, AND MILES WOULD HAVE WON NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH THOSE TEAMS!
GATiger
August 23rd, 2012
1:44 pm
Here’s a stat for you: In the 15 year history of the BCS Championship Game, only one coach (Bowden) took more than 10 years to win a championship. Richt has been at UGA for 11 years.
Bill King
August 23rd, 2012
2:08 pm
zbulldawg:
Dittle swat??
Bill King
August 23rd, 2012
2:09 pm
I’m amused at the folks who somehow took this Blawg as an attack on Mark Richt. It was entirely the opposite. I was impressed by the caliber of coaches who, like Richt, have not won a national championship. He’s in good company. I don’t see how that is a negative toward him.
clint
August 23rd, 2012
2:25 pm
dawgfan,
your post was probably one of the best ones I’ve read in a long time. I get so sick and tired of people talking about UGA was robbed in 2002 and 2007. No UGA lost to teams that they should not have lost to. That is why they didn’t play for a NC. If you want to argue about a team getting shafted then argue about Auburn who went undeafeated in 2004 but was still left out the NC picture.
UGA fans may point to Richt’s consistency but the bottom line is that Georgia develops the 3rd most Div 1 players in the country. With that type of talent UGA should be in the picture for a national title EVERY year. In Richt’s 11 years UGA has not been in the picture but once at most and that year is debateable. Until UGA fans demand more you will only play for a SEC title at best. Set your goals higher, demand better, and then and only then will you start to play for NC. Stop blaming everyone else.
Terry
August 23rd, 2012
2:35 pm
Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, two of the best QB’s in the NFL without a super bowl ring. Barry Sanders one of the best RB’s without a SB ring. Would have John Elway been concidered a great QB, without his two SB ring’s, in his last two season? There’s a lot of luck in winning it all.
clint
August 23rd, 2012
2:38 pm
Ace
August 22nd, 2012
12:36 pm
lsu could have won the SEC in 2007, and won all their games instead of losing 2, they didn’t, they shouldn’t have been able to leapfrog SEC Champ UGA.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Ace, this is comical. LSU did win the SEC in 2007. It wasn’t UGA! It was UGA that lost 2 games in 2007 as well. The same could be said but you cry that UGA was denied a chance. No, UGA lost on the field to teams that were inferior to them and therefore lost any chance of playing for a national title. Again your statement is comical!
HUH?????
August 23rd, 2012
3:49 pm
“I was impressed by the caliber of coaches who, like Richt, have not won a national championship. ”
And all of those coaches are average to good coaches. Not great. CMR is not, I repeat NOT, a great coach. He’s good and that’s fine but he will never amount to a Les Miles, Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier or Gene Chizik in the SEC. All of those coaches won championships with their teams.
HUH?????
August 23rd, 2012
3:49 pm
“leapfrog SEC Champ UGA.”
Huh, I had no idea that UGA won the SEC championship that year.
NYC Dawg tt
August 23rd, 2012
5:13 pm
What an absurd statement…Is it all about the national championship? Of course it is!
While its great to remember “Butler” in Ncaa hoops do you think for a minute that that defines success? Maybe a singular season…
What UGA expects is exceptional. A culmination of good seasons amounts to a good coach. Great coaches I think require a little luck and timing. I’ll be the first to admit I think we should have had one in ‘07, but got screwed on the system.
The knock on Richt is always the same. He hasn’t one the big one and doesn’t have a killer instinct. But in my mind he has put together 2 NC caliber teams. He has the right longterm mindset and is seeming to shore up the defensive side of the ball. I still can see him bringing home the hardware in the next 5 years, but I’ll be routing for the dawgs for the next 70!
HUH?????
August 23rd, 2012
5:17 pm
“I’ll be the first to admit I think we should have had one in ‘07, but got screwed on the system.’
UGA lost 2 games. TWO GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!
“But in my mind he has put together 2 NC caliber teams.”
To be a great team, a team must go undefeated. See Auburn and Alabama.