The Richt contract extension: What’s the magic number?
Checking to see how many more seasons he has in his pocket. (AJC photo by Jason Getz)
Georgia wants to keep Mark Richt and Richt wants to stay. What’s left are details. But details are important, contractually speaking.
Richt’s existing contract runs through 2013, so it isn’t as if he’s a free-agent-to-be. Presumably AD Greg McGarity will offer a raise and an extension, which brings us to the heart of those details. How many more years?
This is a concern not without nuance. Too short an extension sends one message; too long sends another. Here would seem the alternatives:
One more year: This wouldn’t so much be an extension as a very gentle pat on the back. It essentially would say, “We like what you did this season, but we want to see more.” Outsiders would interpret this as McGarity feeling the rise to 10-3 from 6-7 was less a function of coaching than scheduling. A one-year extension won’t happen because it would undercut Richt almost as much as no extension.
Two more years: This would push Richt’s deal through the 2015 season, which is a good ways off and, for recruiting purposes, would allow him to assure current recruits he has a measure of job security through their college careers. Unless, that is, they redshirt. And if they’re not good enough to plays as freshmen, who wants them? (Kidding!)
Three more years: This is the most-rumored extension, and it would make some sense. Five-year contracts are the industry standard. (Even Paul Hewitt had a five-year contract, the difference being that his never stopped being a five-year contract.) This would be a virtual mandate for Richt, but a virtual mandate might be overdoing it. Does one bounceback season override two lesser ones? Will a different schedule — Georgia is scheduled to play at South Carolina and Alabama next season, though speculation holds that SEC newbie Missouri will take the Tide’s place — yield a less desirable result? Is McGarity, who hasn’t negotiated with Richt before, prepared to make the statement: “This is the only coach we want or are ever going to want”?
Four more years or beyond: Too long for any coach, even one who has won his division four times in 11 seasons. Skeptics among us — and they still exist — would note that Richt hasn’t won the SEC since 2005 and has never taken his team to the BCS title game. (Got close a couple of times, though.)
Were I McGarity, I’d open with a two-year offer but count on settling for three. Richt is still a handsome commodity in an industry where big-name schools have been reduced to hiring the likes of Jim Mora (UCLA) and Charlie Weis (Kansas). There’s no reason to tick off such a bird in hand.
By opening with a two-year bid, McGarity would make the point that Georgia likes and supports this coach but wants him to consolidate the gains made in 2011 and have even bigger seasons soon. By settling for three, McGarity comes off as erring on the side of his coach, which is the side an AD needs to choose unless he’s about to fire him.
Georgia fans could and should be enthused by the developments of the past four months. A team that was losing almost every in-doubt game found ways to win 10 times running. That said, the Bulldogs did lose to the three best teams they played, and only one of those losses wound up being close. For as far as Georgia came in 2011, there’s still a ways to go.
The good news is that Georgia again has reason to believe Richt is the man to take it there. He deserves a reward. But a reward isn’t the same as a lifetime contract. The aforementioned Hewitt got one of those, and seven years later Georgia Tech had to pay dearly to make him go away.
By Mark Bradley
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
561 comments Add your comment
Herschel Talker
December 15th, 2011
7:14 pm
MB:
SEC teams better than UGA: 1. LSU 2. Alabama 3. Arkansas 4. South Carolina (shut up Kool Aid drinkers about this one, they beat UGA head to head)
Teams to win MNC in SEC since Richt became HC: 1. LSU 2. Florida (2 times) 3. Auburn 4. Alabama
Either Alabama or LSU will win their second MNC of Richt era.
Number of times UGA has won MNC with Richt: 0
Top 25 teams that Richt beat this year: 0
Top 25 teams that beat Richt this year: 3
Does this all add up to a contract extension?
It adds up to a reevaluation of the program if you want to continue of the path of mediocrity that Richt has led this program down for the last 10 years.
FIRE MARK RICHT!
HT
Mobile Dawg
December 15th, 2011
7:18 pm
The best things in life that have happened to me usually came at an expected time, were unplanned, and unrehearsed. I can only hope that happens with UGA and the overall coaching situation. Richt hasn’t earned an extension, but he’s going to get it. Time will tell about the staff.
Brainiac(Dawg for life)(CMR fan for life)
December 15th, 2011
7:18 pm
@Baddabing; You may wanty to rethink your comment about CTG being paid too much already. The recent ship jumper in Florida, OC Weiss was being paid 1.3 Million and anybody that knows sqat about the SEC knows CTG’s defense was by far the biggest improvement in the Dawgs big improvement,
SCDawg
December 15th, 2011
7:27 pm
The thing that I think is hilarious are fans of teams wanting us to keep Richt becauses they think they will own us. vs. Auburn 7-4 including 5 out of 6, vs. Alabama 3-1, vs. Arkansas 3-1, Really only Florida has had true success against the dawgs. Also, for all those dawg fans that want Richt gone, look at Tenn and Fla right now. Richt will keep us a good team and classy.
Old Dog
December 15th, 2011
7:28 pm
Mark Richt will get his extension and we get mediocre football. Sometimes I wish that Butler hadn’t tackled that Vandy player with 7 seconds on the clock.
Old Dog
December 15th, 2011
7:30 pm
“Richt will keep us a good team and classy”
and mediocre.
Brainiac(Dawg for life)(CMR fan for life)
December 15th, 2011
7:36 pm
@2010 BCS Champs: Early in the season I could understand you making a little noise but now that the seson is over and UGA wiped up the field with your current lousy team and all the real coaches at War Chicken U jumping ship you have a lot of nerve to even be trolling. Take a tip from most of the Gator fans on here and admit things ain’t as good as they once were.
sports
December 15th, 2011
7:39 pm
those idiots at Georgia Tech paid dearly $7.3 million. Mark Richt has class and is a winner…big difference!
Brainiac(Dawg for life)(CMR fan for life)
December 15th, 2011
7:42 pm
@Evil Empire 9:52 am: Great shot bro. Now that’s funny.
evil empire
December 15th, 2011
7:43 pm
since the advent of the bcs, only Bowden had been with their school longer than CMR has ben with uga…the majority of BCS championship winning coaches had been with the school less than 5 years…no figures available on their “CLASSY” ranking…may have to go to Wikipedia for each of the winning coaches “CLASSINESS PROFILES”…
SSIgator
December 15th, 2011
7:45 pm
Dawg48 -
“Is this the only blog you can get on now?”
I assume you are refering to Chump Towers and his “I will write an article and leave it open for comments (but only comments that are favorable to UGA) and I will pick and choose who can respond” blog that he authors. What a twit. I told him if he is that advers to criticism of his beloved UGA then he should simply write an article and close it to comments. He became so angry that he removed all of my posts from his next article and even some of the other people that posted could not understand why he did that since I did not use profanity or other such tripe like others do. He must be a real sensitive guy. Maybe he is related to Richt? I guess it is called freedom of the press, but only if it is on his terms. Is that what they teach in Journalism 101 today? Boy, this country is in worse shape than I thought.
evil empire
December 15th, 2011
7:47 pm
thanks brainiac…not sure how true the uga loss contributed to his firing….the 42-0 loss to Stony Brook probably carried more weight…
SSIgator
December 15th, 2011
7:49 pm
evil empire -
You have to dig deeper for “classy ranking” stats. I believe it is somewhere in the same section as “moral victories” in the UGA anals.
Old Dog
December 15th, 2011
7:54 pm
SSIgator – I hope you meant “annals”
evil empire
December 15th, 2011
7:54 pm
think “annals” is spelled with 2 “n”’s…or, you intended to spell it that way…either way, funny as he!!…made my nite…
SCDawg
December 15th, 2011
7:56 pm
@ Old Dog Do you not remember the years between Dooley and Richt. That was just bad. How many East Championships? How many SEC Championships? How many 10 win seasons? How many Top 10 teams? Here are your answers: 0,0,2,2 in 12 seasons 4,2,6,4 in 11 seasons under Richt
evil empire
December 15th, 2011
7:56 pm
that was funny my friend…i’ve got 11 pages of uga “anals” in this blog to read through…hahaha!
Brainiac(Dawg for life)(CMR fan for life)
December 15th, 2011
7:56 pm
@2010 BCS Chumps: How do you know about what UGA has to offer in any subject. This is just a wild guess but truth be known you have likely never been inside a college classroom or highschool classroom either.
SSIgator
December 15th, 2011
8:01 pm
Old Dog -
Sure did. And I also meant “adverse” when I responded to Dawg48. But then again maybe “anals” could apply.
SSIgator
December 15th, 2011
8:05 pm
And now a word from our sponsor:
Carpets of Dalton “Our carpets hide stains no matter how many Dawgs pea on them”
Brainiac(Dawg for life)(CMR fan for life)
December 15th, 2011
8:06 pm
BILLY: I think you may want to check with 2010 BCS Chumps and sign up for some of that remedil English/spelling.
evil empire
December 15th, 2011
8:06 pm
got any autographed Vampire Weekly magazines left…would make great Christmas gifts to all my dawg buddies?…that and the spray tan…great work gator…
Brainiac(Dawg for life)(CMR fan for life)
December 15th, 2011
8:11 pm
@Evil Empire: Whose firing are you referring to????????????????????
evil empire
December 15th, 2011
8:18 pm
the head football coach at coastal carolina got axed last week i think it was…really, all jokes aside, uga had no business scheduling that game…i know it pays alot of $$$ to the opponent, but, sec schools should refrain from playing that small a program…but, most do it, but i don’t have to like it…and they did lose 42-0 to Stoney Brook…sec schools owe their ticketholders more than that…those games out to be at a greatly reduced face value…or free…
Old Dog
December 15th, 2011
8:33 pm
“the head football coach at coastal carolina got axed last week”
got axed what? what was the question?
Old Dog
December 15th, 2011
8:37 pm
“uga had no business scheduling that game”
Gotta keep up Mark Richt’s won-loss record.
evil empire
December 15th, 2011
8:38 pm
alright old dog…falcons up 7-0 over jax…
12/15/2011 Evening Edition | collegefootballnewswire.com
December 15th, 2011
8:57 pm
[...] The Desert, The State Of Arizona State Football You, Too, Could End Up Coaching Hawaii Football The Richt Contract Extension: What’s The Magic Number? Tech’s Preston A Candidate For Hawaii Job ch_client = "taleast"; ch_width = 450; ch_height [...]
Red Dawg
December 15th, 2011
9:28 pm
It is very possible that the former AD has as much to do with the situation as anyone. A head coach can get very little done if a lot of energy is spent trying to get support. The relationship is much better in the support role of the AD and it is easy to see the difference in the relationship.
Rationale
December 15th, 2011
10:09 pm
WDE – UGA envy? Get a hold of yourself, and then let go. I want UGA to win, National Championships, plural. It won’t happen with Bobo. I do think CMR can accomplish a National Championship. And, a lot of long passes completed? Which team were you watching? My definition of Murray and Bobo’s inadequacies all year long has been that Murray cannot hit anyone over 30 yards downfield. It is not how far they run, it is how far downfield they are, when, they catch the pass, not how far they run. Name the games and the plays that documents your point of a lot of completed long passes. Bobo kept calling that play in the SEC CG. How many of those asinine calls were completed?
SSIgator
December 15th, 2011
10:24 pm
Second half of the Falcons game starting. Kind of looks like the UGA-LSU game a few days ago at this point though. Sorry. At least UGA did score ten points. Hey, maybe the Jags haven’t heard about the wonders of KoolAid yet? Don’t let them know about it though. Next thing you know, all of their fans would be wearing SprayTan and wearing sunglasses at night games.
FLA DAWG
December 15th, 2011
10:55 pm
Sign Grantham unload Richt & Bobo.
HOWDY DOODY
December 15th, 2011
11:01 pm
RoaringDog December 14th, 2011 5:15 pm
“Did Richt look at an offer from Texas A & M? no doubt, several newspapers said so. Richt had to cover his bases because McGarity, believe it or not, STILL, hasn’t found the time to get around to Mark Richt’s contract.”
“Guess Richt isn’t that important to McGarity, or else he would make the time.”
_______________________________________________________
Mark Bradley, you make a big deal about how long the extension is or isn’t, and settle in on 2-3 years and you say with a raise, while you rightfully point out, as with Tim Tebow, the teams he beat this 1 season when his recent past have been poor performances have a 42 percent win percentage.
We have a coach who is a good recruiter. We are in the midst of a poor recruiting season, and as I see it, it is a direct result of the numerous scholarships given to multi-year walk-ons who none of them play except on special teams and only 1 of them has 5 tackles total.
We had a poor recruiting season the season before. Then, we did well in recruiting February 2011 – we think, hope, and pray. This up-coming February 2012 Signing Class has 2 of my most favorite Bulldogs coming in, including 1 guy whose Dad had 4,000 college rushing yards before being drafted by the Denver Broncos before Tim Tebow. Our tailback for the next 3 years and a top OL are obviously hitting the nail on the head. We don’t know yet what defections we may suffer this off-season from this rosy-roster presented by Chip Towers today on his blog for 2012. But, it is clear to me that Mark Richt has recruited well overall for 12 seasons, and that as poor as this class appears for 2012, that he specifically did what absolutely is needed the most with his top commitments.
The point is not how many years, but
WHEN
We are WAITING
Greg McGarity.
We need the EXTENSION NOW. Right now. Steve Spurrier got 2 more years EARLY THIS WEEK. We should have already have ANNOUNCED OUR EXTENSION of Mark Richt, as well.
This is poor management of the cash-cow, Greg McGarity.
GET THE ANNOUNCEMENT MADE. It doesn’t matter what the length of years. Georgia tek made a huge mistake giving Paul Hewlett a contract extension and raise when he LOST to Georgia in basketball in our worst years. He was a flop. Mark Richt (1) recruits # 7 average class all 12 years now and (2) did not lose this season to teams he should have beat other than South Carolina.
GIVE MARK RICHT HIS EXTENSION NOW GREG McGARITY
Floridadawg
December 15th, 2011
11:35 pm
Rumors that Richt is the leader for the PSU job.
SEC Headlines – 12/15/11 | My Blog
December 15th, 2011
11:35 pm
[...] The length of Mark Richt’s agreement extension will send a summary to Dawg fans… and [...]
Snoop Dawg
December 16th, 2011
3:20 am
The last thing in the world the Bulldog Nation needs to do with Richt is to give this idiot a mandate. He should be lucky to just be able to play out the last two years of his current contract.
He really hasn’t done anything this year other than underperform as usual.
Richt is not a coach but rather a recruiter and con artist. By his own admission, he’s a CEO, not a head coach. That about says it all. All from his own mouth….
McGarrity is another dufus good ole boy… Why did UF let him go?
Snoop Dawg
December 16th, 2011
3:21 am
Ket;s all PRAY that Richt goes to some other school…
Snoop Dawg
December 16th, 2011
3:21 am
make that Let’s…
2 MNC For Richt
December 16th, 2011
4:36 am
Let’s not forget 2002 and 2007. If there were a.) Better pollsters or b.) Playoffs, Richt would have 2 under his belt.
He is a great coach, and we are lucky to have him.
Go Dawgs!
tony
December 16th, 2011
6:08 am
2 MNC For Richt
December 16th, 2011
4:36 am
Let’s not forget 2002 and 2007. If there were a.) Better pollsters or b.) Playoffs, Richt would have 2 under his belt.
He is a great coach, and we are lucky to have him.
Go Dawgs!
____________________________________________________
Not so fast my fellow fan. In 2002 Miami and Ohio St did not lose a game and MR lost Ron Zook and the Gators so how could they play for the nc? In 2007 MR lost to two unrank opponents(SC & Tenn) – same reason why OSU is not playing for the nc this season.
I just hope UGA don’t make the same mistake Arthur Blank made when extended Jim Mora Jr contract. Many falcon fans could see that Mora was a mediocre coach except Mr.Blank. Heck, I’m sure alot of fans can see already that Derek Dooley will never when a nc @Tenn and Will Muschamp will never win a nc #Fl.
Let’s just hope they let MR coach until his contract ends before they start thinking about negotiating a new contract. Besides, he saids he’s a christian man right? Well then leave it in the hands of the Lord.
Old Dog
December 16th, 2011
6:29 am
If you want a top teir team, the magic number is 0.
ron
December 16th, 2011
7:27 am
What contract extension? Did he win the SEC,no!!! Why reward mediocrity.
» SEC: Tennessee AD says loss to UK was “unacceptable” John Clay's Sidelines
December 16th, 2011
7:32 am
[...] What’s magic number for Richt contract? asks Mark Bradley of AJC. [...]
dawginduluth
December 16th, 2011
7:57 am
If you reward mediocrity, you will get more mediocrity. A Richt extension is an investment in mediocrity, not greatness. At least four more years without a chance at playing for the NC. Meyer’s, Miles’, Saban’s legacies are intact.
astrouga
December 16th, 2011
8:08 am
He’ll get 4, but he deserves 10 and a big buy-out for putting up with fair weather fan base!
Joey
December 16th, 2011
8:25 am
The deal is that Richt let UGA fall so far in the past three seasons, ANY improvement was gonna save his job.
2MNC For Richt, actually, if Richt had not let the Bulldogs lose to underdogs, (UF in ‘02) and (SC in ‘07), UGA WOULD have gotten in the Big Game in either season. Don’t blame it on voters. Blame it on Richt’s penchant for losing big games.
It happened this year too. The truth is, we got beat by 3 teams this season, and only one (LSU) could be said to have greater (a little) talent.
mars
December 16th, 2011
10:30 am
What a load of crap. A vote for Richt is a vote for mediocrity. One constant supporting issue I am sick of hearing is,”but we only lost to, Yadda University…look how good they are” year in and year out. You judge success by who you win against, not by whom you lose to. That’s judging failure. If McGarrity signs Richt at all, I am looking forward to signing the ‘Fire McGarrity’ petition when it comes around.
Columbus_Dawg
December 16th, 2011
10:42 am
Richt to Penn State? Thats the rumor Im hearing. I hope it isnt true…..
SEC: Tennessee AD says loss to UK was “unacceptable” | My Blog
December 16th, 2011
11:55 am
[...] What’s sorcery series for Richt contract? asks Mark Bradley of AJC. [...]
lol
December 16th, 2011
12:59 pm
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He should be banned!