The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Mark Richt

Followed Al Golden. Mark Richt moved Miami from Power Program II to Power Program I in 3 seasons.

The builder
171–64
2001–2018 · 2 stints
← all coaches

In his own words

Sometimes you don’t have to have blinding speed to go deep, and sometimes it’s just a matter of getting off the jam and getting the guy cut off

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Reached Power Program in his 1st career season — faster than 57% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #1 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).

Georgia, 15 seasons
+12.2
Power Program II → Power Program I.
Miami, 3 seasons
+1.5
Power Program I → Power Program I.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

40%50%Georgia2001–2015▲ 3.5ptMiami2016–2018▼ 6.9pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)
How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints
Miami8.0pt#170 of 258 · a typical amount

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

37–24 against his rivals. Just 1–5 against Urban Meyer.

Rivalry record
37–24
60.7% · 6 rivals
One-score games
49–37
57.0% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–3
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Auburn10–567%
Georgia Tech12–286%
Florida4–931%
The toughest matchupNemesis
vs. Urban Meyer1–5
6 meetings, 2005–2010
’05 L’06 L’07 W’08 L’09 L’10 L
Performance by opponent class
Dynasty
0–3 0.0%
Blue Blood
13–17 43.3%
Power Program
45–23 66.2%
National Program
47–17 73.4%
Regional Program
47–3 94.0%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact
-0.17
#225 of 319 · a typical amount
Defense marginal impact
+0.31
#34 of 325 · more than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2016–2018
Miamicaretaker
Power Program II → Power Program I
Mark Richt moved Miami from Power Program II to Power Program I in 3 seasons.

9th-best Miami tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Underperforms his recruiting talent on offense and outperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
-20.1 pts
#177 of 208 · less than most
Defense vs. talent
+22.3 pts
#21 of 208 · more than most
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Al Golden (2011–2015) · succeeded by Manny Diaz (2019–2021).

Season201620172018Trend
Record & result
Record9–410–37–6
PostseasonW bowlCFP lossL bowl
Recruiting rank#22#12#8
Style — pass rate
Pass rate49.550.642.6
Coordinators
OCThomas BrownThomas BrownThomas Brown / Ron Dugans
DCManny DiazManny DiazManny Diaz
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense714212
Defense866994
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%51.849.744.7
Red-zone pass%40.744.635.5
4th-down go%opp. territory16.714.635.3
Does the system survive a coordinator change?
OC: Thomas Brown → Thomas Brown / co-Ron Dugans · 2018
42nd pct12th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
1st-down pass rate: 49.7% → 44.7% (-5.1 pts)
Confound, shown not hidden: only 72% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Tight end from high school
100%
#164 of 188 stints
Grows Edge from high school
100%
#191 of 208 stints
Postseason detail2016: Beat West Virginia 31–14 Russell Athletic Bowl2017: Lost to Wisconsin 24–34 CFP2018: Lost to Wisconsin 3–35 New Era Pinstripe Bowl

22 NFL Draft picks: Artie Burns (2016), Deon Bush (2016), David Njoku (2017), Rayshawn Jenkins (2017), Corn Elder (2017), Danny Isidora (2017), Al-Quadin Muhammad (2017), Brad Kaaya (2017) + 14 more

26–13
2001–2015
Georgiabuilderborderline
Power Program II → Power Program I
Mark Richt raised Georgia from Power Program II to Power Program I.

3rd-best Georgia tenure of 9 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Underperforms his recruiting talent on offense and outperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
-12.8 pts
#160 of 208 · less than most
Defense vs. talent
+29.0 pts
#11 of 208 · more than most
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Jim Donnan (1996–2000) · succeeded by Kirby Smart (2016–2026).

Season200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015Trend
Record & result
Record8–413–111–310–210–39–411–210–38–56–710–412–28–510–39–3
PostseasonW bowlW bowl
Recruiting rank#8#6
Style — pass rate
Pass rate36.740.2
Coordinators
OCMike BoboBrian Schottenheimer
DCJeremy PruittJeremy Pruitt
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense9456
Defense6496
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%33.333.4
Red-zone pass%33.632.4
4th-down go%opp. territory24.215.6
Does the system survive a coordinator change?
OC: Mike Bobo → Brian Schottenheimer · 2015
94th pct56th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
1st-down pass rate: 33.3% → 33.4% (+0.1 pts)
Confound, shown not hidden: only 46% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Tight end from high school
100%
#164 of 188 stints
Grows Edge from high school
100%
#191 of 208 stints
Postseason detail2014: Beat Louisville 37–14 Belk Bowl2015: Beat Penn State 24–17 Taxslayer Bowl

90 NFL Draft picks: Richard Seymour (2001), Marcus Stroud (2001), Kendrell Bell (2001), Quincy Carter (2001), Jonas Jennings (2001), Jamie Henderson (2001), Charles Grant (2002), Will Witherspoon (2002) + 82 more

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