Mark Richt Fired, Will Coach Bowl Game

Mark Richt has been fired as the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs Sunday morning. He will coach the Dawgs’ holiday season bowl game before leaving UGA.

According to ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, the Georgia Bulldogs have fired their head football coach of the last 15 years in Mark Richt.

Richt had been on the hot seat for some time now, as far back as the end of the 2014 NCAA season. UGA Athletic Director Greg McGarity supposedly wanted to part ways with Mark Richt after last season but new University President Jere Morehead was not in favor of letting Richt go at that time.

-= Related: Does Mark Richt Have to Beat Tech to Keep Job? =-

In his 15 years with the Georgia Bulldogs, Richt consistently had a team capable of winning 10 games a season, but ultimately could not win the big game to put Georgia in the national championship discussion.

Schlabach also reports that a source close to Mark Richt said that he has agreed to coach the team in their holiday bowl game this season, probably versus either an ACC or a Big Ten opponent.

Georgia is now the most lucrative available head coaching gig in the entire NCAA, edging out Southern California just slightly. UGA will likely pursue Alabama Crimson Tide Defensive Coordinator Kirby Smart and Mississippi State Bulldogs Head Coach Dan Mullen among others for the vacant head coaching post.

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As a man of character and of faith, it is sad to see a person of Mark Richt’s caliber not leave the Georgia Bulldogs football program on his own terms. He wanted to build a program in the manner of the three head coaches he idolized: Georgia’s Vince Dooley, Nebraska’s Tom Osborne, and Florida State’s Bobby Bowden.

Richt, if he wants to, will likely emerge as the leading candidate for the head coaching gig at his alma mater at the University of Miami. It also wouldn’t shock me if he looks at Southern California or just retires from coaching football all together to focus on mission work.

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It’s a somber day in Dawg Country as our Head Dawg will no longer lead our team on Fall Saturdays. I’m really going to miss Mark Richt and the high-character program he ran here at the University of Georgia. I just wish he would have been able to win here in Athens. Best of luck to you and your entire family, Coach Richt. You’ll always be my Dawg.