"Dadgumit, will the last person leaving Tally please turn off the lights"
Today, Brad Johnson, Mark Richt's brother-in-law, and Richt's sister announced that they are moving to Athens. This is roughly the 30th person that Richt has moved to Athens from Tally. Leaving the question remaining of...who is stuck down there still?
All non-sense aside, this should be (but it won't be because some people are stupid) the last nail in the "Richt to FSU" worry wart festival of doom.
Richt has been working since he arrived in 2001 to convince the media, rival fans and the Bulldawg Nation that he's not leaving for FSU or Miami when/if Coker or Bowden step down.
Many of the hints were apparently too subtle for the masses.
- In 2001, when he asked Coach Van Halengar to relocate his family to Athens from Tallahassee, it was the first sign. Why would Coach Van move only to move right back? The money was basically the same.
- In 2001, when he moved his brother-in-law to Athens and hired him as the new full-time team chaplain. It was another statement of "Athens is my home."
- When he worked out a deal after the 2002 season to create the largest two-way buyout in college football history at $9.9 million at its peak. Some folks still said he'd leave. Although, virtually no program would touch a buyout that large.
- When he moved his father and his new mother-in-law to Athens. Still many remained convinced that he would leave.
- In 2005 UGA reported a $23.9 million profit in athletics. By comparison in 2005 FSU posted a profit of $164,185, and Miami LOST $1.5 million the year that they won the National Title in 2001. Yet some folks think they could STILL outspend us and take on Richt's $10 million buyout.
- Today, the Tallahassee newspaper reports that Richt's sister and brother-in-law, NFL QB Brad Johnson, are selling their $3.8 million home in Tallahassee to move to Athens.
- The article also announces that Mark Richt's mother AND Brad Johnson's mother are moving to Athens in the near future. And Richt has a new contract extension which pays him $2 million per year through 2013. (If the buyout clause is structured like the last one, it now stands at closer to $12-14 million).
All coaches talk about staying put. But nobody moves 30-40 friends and family members including almost two dozen school age kids to Athens just to uproot them again when Bowden retires or Coker gets canned. That's not the way decent people deal with other decent people. Especially not family.
(Hmmmm....although, it would be funny if he moved them all to Athens just so he could saddle them all with new mortgages and then run off to Miami for some peace and quiet. Sort of a Mark Richt's own version of PUNK'd)
Paul Westerdawg
Georgia Sports Blog
