UNEXPECTED ANNOUNCEMENT: the Miami Hurricanes Coach Has Just Announced His Forced Retirement Because of…
When Mark Richt stepped down as head coach at the University of Miami following the 2018 season, it was a surprise.
Yes, Miami had just come off a 7-6 season in which UM fell way short of of the preseason Top Ten expectations they entered the 2018 season with, but Richt had only finished his third season with the Hurricanes and there were still plenty of positives he had achieved in a short amount of time.
Richt led the Hurricanes to their first ten win season in more than a decade in 2017 and he led the charge with UM upgrading their on-campus facilities by fundraising (and donating $1 million of his own money) to construct the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility.
So why did Richt decide to step down from coaching at Miami? He explained that he simply felt burnt out.
“Well, I think the biggest thing for me was, I didn’t do a great job of taking care of myself from the day I took the job,” Richt said on The Joe Rose Show on 560 WQAM. “I went 15 years at Georgia, and probably needed a break then but just the Miami opportunity was there and is too good to turn down.”
Less than a week after being fired at Georgia, Richt accepted the head coaching job at Miami, his alma mater. Between his time at Miami and Georgia, Richt had been a head coach for 18 consecutive years.
“I knew is gonna take a lot of heavy lifting and I went in with my eyes open and, and I went hard, you know, and I enjoyed every bit of the grind, but I probably worked out ten times in three years,” Richt said. “I didn’t take care of myself. So probably just didn’t do a good enough job taking care of myself. When it was all over, I mean, the hardest thing, by far is saying it’s time for me to stop, because when you’re the head coach it involves a lot of people; your assistant coaches, their families, the recruits, and your current players. So many people are kind of count on you to be there, and when you decide it’s time to stop, that’s a gut wrenching decision.”
Richt admitted that he wrestled with the decision of retiring or continuing at Miami between the end of the regular season and the Pinstripe Bowl match-up against Wisconsin. The Badgers went on to throttle UM in that bowl game, 35-3, and a couple days later Richt announced his retirement.
“I definitely was thinking about it by the end of the season in between the last game and the bowl game,” Richt said. “When the bowl game was over, I was certain it was time to do it.
“If you’re not all in 100%—and it wasn’t like I wasn’t like I wasn’t all in because I don’t love the University of Miami and I didn’t love the people I work with—it is I can I give the University of Miami what it needs to be great? Do I have enough juice in the tank right now to do it? I didn’t feel like I did. So that’s why I decided to do what I did.”
Richt currently has a coaching record of 171-64 (.727). He is set to be an analyst for the new ACC Network this fall. When asked if he believes he will return to coaching, Richt says he doesn’t believe that is in the plans right now because he is enjoying the time he is spending with his wife, Kathryn.
“I don’t I don’t think so I’m not planning on it by any stretch,” Richt said. “I’m not in the back of my mind saying, Hey, I’m waiting for some opportunity. That’s not where I’m at right now…I don’t doubt that I’ll get some calls and there’s been people already tried to, you know, feel out my feelings and all that kind of thing. I’m really excited about the ACC network. I’m excited about, starting a new career yet because you can’t, you can retire from coaching, but you can’t retire from life.”
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