By Jeff Arnold

In today’s age of college football very rarely do integrity and winning go hand in hand. That was not the case for Mark Richt. Loved by his players and respected by his peers, Richt excelled ethically in a time when recruiting violations and pay-for-play scandals ran rampant. He was a general to his staff and a father figure to his players. Defensive back Leonard Floyd, who announced his departure for the NFL via Twitter yesterday, may have said it best tweeting, “Coach Richt probably was the only one that could of[sic] convinced me to stay just a sad day for me as a Dawg.” This loss of Floyd, who is one of the best at his position in the country, is the tip of the ice berg in terms of what the Dawgs may lose because of this decision. With recruits still at large and a coaching staff that may leave or get fired in the coming days the real question becomes, did Georgia make the right decision?

The knee-jerk answer to that question is a resounding no. If winning 74 percent of the games he coached wasn’t enough, look at the output to the NFL as another piece of evidence to how good a coach he was. Since 2002 no program has produced more NFL draft picks  than Georgia. In addition to these pieces, if the Bulldogs win their bowl game, which Richt will coach, that will be their tenth 10 win season in his 15 at the school. According to these these numbers he was one of the best coaches in college football, however, they do not tell the whole story.

For all the good Richt does in the locker room, he doesn’t get everything out of his teams when it counts. That may sound harsh but the numbers speak for themselves. After winning 25 of 38 against ranked opponents in his first seven seasons, he has gone 14-23 in his last eight. The consequence of struggling against good teams, especially in a conference as difficult as the SEC, is a lack of championships. Richt brought in 0 National Titles or Title game appearances. Since winning an SEC Championship in 2005, the team has made only two championship game appearances, far too few for a fan base as rabid as Georgia’s. If that wasn’t bad enough, the fact that Richt’s teams had a tendency to get blown out or lose to inferior competition doesn’t help.

All of these issues combined for the perfect storm of frustration in the past two seasons. Coming into both of them with veteran offensive lines, solid defenses, sensational backs, and, most importantly, a shockingly weak SEC East, the Dawgs seemed to be poised to grab hold of the division and have chances at National Championships. In both seasons, they came up well short. For everything that can be blamed on injuries, there is no doubt that these teams under-performed. This season, that was especially true.

Yes, Nick Chubb went down with a knee-injury in their sixth game, but that was still after the 38-10 thrashing they took from Alabama at Sanford Stadium. Regardless of Chubb getting injured, that team was going nowhere. Was that completely Richt’s fault? Probably not, but their 9-3 record does not speak to the true quality of that team. They beat only two FBS teams that finished with winning records, one of which being Georgia Southern, and only one other win was against a bowl-eligible team, a 6-6 Auburn squad that, honestly, stunk. So, maybe it was time to switch it up.

In the short term, there could be issues, however, the possible long term benefits cannot be overlooked or underestimated. Maybe the new guy can bring in a quarterback that starts for more than one season. Maybe Jeremy Pruitt can be given an even bigger piece of the team. Maybe the new coach can sway undecided recruits to come and play at one of the best programs in the country that, coming from an optimist’s point of view, is getting new energy. Even though these are all maybe’s, that is still better than where Georgia was with Richt. He will be sorely missed as a mentor to young men, but what won’t be missed are the what-if’s and close-but-not-close-enough’s. Georgia wasn’t getting any better, but maybe now they can.