[Elvis]

http://www.sbnation.com/college-footbal ... pping-down

Mark Richt fired, and Georgia's top target is Alabama DC Kirby Smart

By Andy Hutchins

After 14 seasons in Athens, it's reportedly over for Mark Richt.

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In something of a surprise move, longtime Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt has been fired, ESPN's Mark Schlabach is reporting (and confirmed by others). Richt had just finished his 14th season in charge in Athens with a career record of 145-51 after beating Georgia Tech 13-7 Saturday.

Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart is the Bulldogs' top target, SB Nation's Steven Godfrey reports. Smart played defensive back at Georgia from 1995-98, and was on the coaching staff in 1999 (administrative assistant) and 2005 (running backs coach).

Richt had been successful as the head coach, winning two SEC titles and six SEC East division titles, but Georgia's debacle losses became an annual thing. But he never won or played for a national championship with Georgia, and was the subject of fan unrest every few years as a result.

A strong start

Richt came to Georgia in 2001 with a pedigree as a potential program changer, having served as Bobby Bowden's quarterbacks coach at Florida State for the entirety of the Seminoles' dominant run in the 1990s, and as FSU's offensive coordinator from 1994 to 2000. And he got the Bulldogs up and running swiftly, leading them to a 13-1 record, Georgia's first SEC title since 1982 and a Sugar Bowl victory.

Georgia won 10 games in five of the next six seasons, too, adding another SEC title in 2005 and another Sugar Bowl victory in 2007. By the end of that 2007 season, Richt had the most 10-win campaigns by a coach in school history.

Georgia's gradual decline

But Richt's teams burnished Georgia's reputation for underperforming its hype, one that seemed especially valid in 2008, as the Bulldogs went from preseason No. 1 (with Heisman Trophy candidates Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno in their backfield) to eventual Capital One Bowl winners.

[Elvis]

Is the Schottenheimer era at Georgia over already?

I guess he fell in love with the South but the South didn't fall in love with him...

[Hacksaw]

Is the Schottenheimer era at Georgia over already?

I guess he fell in love with the South but the South didn't fall in love with him...

Or to use some StLoo leverage logic, is he the next man up? lol
BS is more likely the reason Richt got fired.