re: How many decades without a championship can Mark Richt survive?

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12. Mark Richt, Georgia Bulldogs

Record at school: 136-48 (15th season)

The Bulldogs are again the most talented team in the SEC East, and it’s not all that close, though Tennessee is closing. Georgia should, at the very least, win the division and be in the conference title game this fall. And really, the ceiling should be much higher than that.

“It’s one of the best jobs in the country, hands down. Top five? Top 10 for sure,” an assistant in the league said. We then wondered how many coaches would win a national title at UGA within five years, given the opportunity to be the flagship school recruiting the Atlanta area and a prospect-laden state.

Intermittent consternation between Richt and the administration is something that has been a hindrance, those close to the program contend. That may be a reasonable argument, but it cannot explain away giving up 400-plus rushing yards last season to a Florida team that has no passing game of which to speak. Georgia trailed its rival 31-7 in the fourth quarter; it appeared that Richt, and not eventually ousted Gators coach Will Muschamp, was the one on the way out and UGA was the sinking ship. It was the most confounding performance in Richt’s lengthy stay, and one that fosters an uneasiness among Georgia’s fans -- and donors, more importantly -- about the program’s ceiling with Richt in charge.

Richt isn’t nearly as close to the hot seat as he was in 2011, when the team started 0-2 after a 6-7 season in 2010. But he’s not all that far away, either.

It’s a prove-it year for the SEC’s longest-tenured coach. We’re a decade away from Richt’s last conference title, one of two at the school. At a certain point, UGA’s power brokers will want to see what someone else could do with the keys to a Ferrari of a program.

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