Mark Richt: A Comparison

After the uproar over the coaching, performances, and disappointment of last season, I went looking for some perspective on Coach Richt.  I wanted to find a coaching parallel.  A parallel that had enjoyed great success, but for some reason or another couldn't breakout of consistent and diligent excellence to capture an mythical national title.  I went looking for a coach in a similar position.  A coach in a major conference with a major national rival who has shined a bit brighter and who also has an in-state little brother.  A coach who has proved himself an able recruiter in a fertile garden of football talent.  It didn't take long to turn my eyes upon Texas and coach Mack Brown. I hadn't remembered my search until Peter Bean's comment about Richt and Brown in this week's EDSBS Live, which jogged my recollection of all the parallels between the two coaches.

Brown took the golden reigns at Texas in 1998 after the Horns had grossly underachieved for years. His hiring set in motion the golden age of Texas athletics.  Brown has averaged over ten wins a season, is 8-3 in bowl games, and has ended up in the top ten of the final AP poll six of the last eight seasons.  Brown most importantly won the 2005 national title in that epic Rose Bowl against USC.  Surprisingly, Texas has won only one Big 12 title during Brown's tenure, in that same 2005 season.

While Mack Brown is now recognized as one of the best college football coaches in the country, he also has some serious flaws.  Brown was, and still is, an impeccable recruiter.  Normally that isn't a knock on a guy, but Brown failed to deliver results on the field that matched his success on signing day.  For a while there, Brown was dubbed Mr. February for his successes in recruits' living rooms rather than on the field of play.  After Bob Stoops took over in Norman, Brown and UT seemed cursed in their annual neutral site battle in Dallas.  After beating the Sooners in 1999, Stoops' first year, Brown lost five straight to the Sooners, sometimes by spectacular scores.  He's still only 4-6 against Stoops despite his recent successes in Dallas.  In Brown's twelve season tenure, the Horns have still only won that single Big 12 championship and have lost two other Big 12 title games.  He's also lost to the lesser in-state program, Texas A&M, three times, but still holds a 9-3 record against the Aggies.

Richt has eerily similar stats: averages over ten wins a season, 6-2 in bowls, ended in the top ten five times in the last eight seasons, three divisional titles and two conference crowns.  He's 7-1 against Tech.  Richt has an eerily similar weakness, too: 2-6 against the Gators.  Richt has also had two teams that, on paper, were absolutely loaded with talent and disappointed, 2004 and 2008.  So, you have two coaches in similar situations with similar results.  The notable exception is Brown's national championship.  That only took Vince Young and one of the greatest games in NCAA history.  Both coaches have also had a team with national championship caliber resumes that didn't get a chance to play for the crystal, Richt in 2007 and Brown in 2008.

There is one notable exception to the Brown and Richt comparison: their philosophy on defensive coordinator turnover.  Offensively, Brown has had one coordinator, Greg Davis, during his entire tenure at Texas.  Davis has had his detractors, but Brown has stubbornly remained loyal.  Richt has had only one OC other than himself (I'm not counting Neil Callaway because, ... well, you know why).  On defense, both Brown and Richt had a solid DC for the first few years.  Brown had Carl Reese for six years.  Richt had VanGorder for four seasons.  Since then, however, Brown has had a revolving door at DC, four coordinators over a six year period. Richt has held steady with one, Willie Martinez.  Other than turnover at DC, both coaches mix in long-term stability with new blood.  Brown has four assistants that have been with him from the start at Texas.  Richt has five.

I guess this comparison is useful, no matter what your viewpoint on Richt.  One could argue that like Brown, Richt simply needs the stars to align correctly to win the MNC.  He's doing everything right, but he just needs his luck to change and he will break through, just like Brown did.  On the other hand, one could argue that Brown broke through because he became willing to inject new blood into the highest ranks of his coaching staff.  Thus, Willie should find somewhere else to go.  Take the data as you will, but those two are almost exactly parallel.  Maybe Richt will get his shot soon, too.  

Quinton

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