Georgia (2001–2015) Richt was hired as head coach of the
Georgia Bulldogs before the 2001 season, replacing
Jim Donnan. Richt's teams won two
Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships (2002 and 2005), six SEC Eastern Division titles (2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011 and 2012), and nine
bowl games. The 2002 season marked Georgia's first conference championship since 1982, and Georgia's first-ever outright SEC East Division championship and
SEC Championship Game appearance since the league began divisional play and the championship game in 1992. Richt's teams represented the SEC in three
Bowl Championship Series bowl games (all in the
Sugar Bowl), with a record of 2–1, and finished in the top ten of the final AP Poll seven times (2002–2005, 2007, 2012, 2014). Additionally, his 2008 team finished in the top ten of the coaches' poll but not the AP Poll. Richt finished his career at Georgia with 145 wins and 51 losses, making him the second-winningest coach in Georgia history (after
Vince Dooley's 201). He left with the highest
winning percentage of any coach with more than 29 games at the school.
Miami (2015–2018) After leaving Georgia, Richt was named the head coach of the
Hurricanes of the
University of Miami, his
alma mater. Richt made the announcement on December 4, 2015. Instead of saying he was leaving his home in Georgia, he said he was coming home: "My wife and I can tell you this: This is our home. We love it." "I have no intention of doing anything but finishing my coaching career at Miami." Richt graduated from high school in
Palm Beach County, an hour north of campus. Fans embraced Richt's arrival in strong numbers. Before the opener of his first season, the Hurricanes surpassed 40,000 season ticket sales, the highest number since they started playing at
Hard Rock Stadium in 2008. The Hurricane Club (UM Athletics's
booster club) also sprung to a record level of members and donations.
Howard Schnellenberger called Richt's signing "a marriage made in heaven." "I was shocked that Georgia let him go. But their loss is Miami's gain."
Off the field Fundraising success Shortly after joining Miami, Richt began spearheading a campaign to raise money for a new indoor practice facility. In May 2016, he told University of Miami boosters in Chicago he was donating $1 million of his own money towards the campaign, "I'm not just giving lip service to (making Miami great), that I truly believe it and I'm willing to invest my life in a lot of ways and our resources, too." Four months later, athletic director Blake James announced the new $34 million practice facility would be slated to open in 2018. The practice facility includes an 80,000 square-foot indoor practice field as well as a 20,000 square-foot football operations center. The operations center will house coaches' offices on a mezzanine level, team meeting rooms, position meeting rooms and a recruiting suite, and have a direct connection to the Hurricanes weight room and locker room.
Community relations Each Thursday during football season, Richt visited with local youth football teams. He has stated that he wanted to visit the teams at all the parks in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach County. Richt also developed a partnership with the
American Youth Football League to instruct youth coaches and players via regional clinics. The partnership further provided AYFL's coaches with a customized concussion protocol (in collaboration with UHealth Sports Medicine) that assists coaches with overall safety. Tolbert Bain, a starter on the
national champion 1987 team worked regularly with South Florida Youth leagues and helped Richt to develop the outreach. Richt told ESPN, "I'd do this either way, but in my view, it's also building for UM's future. I plan to finish my coaching career at Miami." In Spring 2017, the team led all Division I FBS Football teams with the most community service hours.
"U" Network for University of Miami Football Alumni In July 2016, Richt and his wife Katharyn announced they would launch 'The U Network'. "The U Network is going to be designed to help guys find work when their playing days are over whether it's right after college or after their pro days. My wife is going to be the person kind of facilitating everything—all of the paperwork and all of the things it will take to connect people with events and connecting players with employers. It's also going to be about reunion and connection, but the main goal is finding work for these guys and I'm talking about the guys who truly want work. We're not just going to give somebody something. They've got to do their part, but sometimes all they need is a little bit of help of guidance, connection, and networking."
High school recruiting Despite joining the program with less than eight weeks before signing day, ESPN praised Richt for managing to recruit the 18th best class in the country. During this period, Richt was limited to three weeks of NCAA-allotted face time with recruits. Within two years, Richt had assembled the #2 recruiting class in the nation and had more committed players (18) than any FBS program before the early signing day period. Richt strongly opposes oversigning, a practice popular in the
Southeastern Conference (SEC) that often results in older or hurt players losing their football scholarships. He believes that when a team offers a scholarship, it is a four-year commitment from the university. University of Miami athletes receive lifetime scholarships, allowing players who elect to leave before their graduation to return and complete their diploma. In 2018, Richt told ESPN that due to the nature of trust in recruiting, he feels that it is unethical to pursue other jobs since the head coach is offering a long-term commitment to his players: "I never once have tried to leverage another job for more money. I don't think that's right. The day we took the job, my mentality has always been, 'If you're the head coach, too many lives depend on you.' If I just say on a whim, 'You know, I think I'd rather go here,' well, all these recruits you said something to, all these coaches you said something to, what about them? Every time you hire a coach, you're taking the coach, his wife and his kids on an adventure. They're trusting you and believing in you enough to become a staff member. I don't want to just walk into a room and say, 'Hey, guys, thanks for helping me get to where I really want to be.' It's the same thing with these kids. They've had enough disappointment, enough men leave their lives. You're trying to build trust, and then you bolt on them because of money or because of whatever? I've just never been able to get past that part of it." Miami charged the absolute allowable minimum for its on-campus camps. Richt regularly brought in UM NFL alumni as coaches: •
Ray Lewis •
Ed Reed •
Vince Wilfork •
Michael Irvin •
Warren Sapp •
Antrel Rolle •
Jeremy Shockey •
Calais Campbell •
Phillip Buchanon •
Gino Torretta •
Brett Romberg •
Najeh Davenport •
Duke Johnson •
Bennie Blades •
Brian Blades •
Kenny Phillips •
Devin Hester •
Bryant McKinnie •
Willis McGahee •
Jonathan Vilma •
Jon Beason •
DJ Williams 2015–18 seasons In Richt's first season at Miami, the team finished 9–4, including a victory over West Virginia in the
2016 Russell Athletic Bowl. The team finished #20 nationally in the AP College Football Poll. In 2017, Richt received the
Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award as the Hurricanes peaked nationally with a No. 2 ranking after 16 consecutive wins, clinching the ACC Coastal title. Miami started off 1–0, before having to sit idle for three weeks because of
Hurricane Irma. The game on September 9 against Arkansas State was cancelled and the Sep 16 rivalry match-up with Florida State was postponed until October 7. While campus was temporarily closed following the hurricane, the Hurricanes practiced at the
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. At the eventual Florida State rivalry game, the Hurricanes pulled off a last-minute score to win the contest and rose to #11 in the AP College Football Poll. The team went on to defeat No. 14 Virginia Tech and No. 3 Notre Dame which allowed them to secure the ACC Coastal title on November 11 despite two remaining conference games. Miami climbed to No. 2 in the CFP rankings before losing to Pitt and No. 1 Clemson in the ACC title game and ended the season losing to No.6 Wisconsin in the Orange Bowl. Miami entered the 2018 season ranked eighth in the Preseason AP and Coaches Polls. However, the Hurricanes struggled throughout the year, including a four-game losing streak in October and early November, to end the regular season 7–5. The season ended with a 35–3 loss to Wisconsin in the
Pinstripe Bowl. ==Retirement and television work==