If we are #156 in sports blogs, where the heck is Fox Sports?
As everone knows by now, Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt got an $800,000 raise for finishing #2 in the final AP Poll. According to the AP, his salary has increased from $2 million to $2.8 million. Also according to the AP, he is the fifth highest paid coach in the SEC behind Nick Saban, Les Miles, Urban Meyer, and Tommy Tuberville. All of those coaches have won national championships. That being said, here's some quick UGA facts concerning Coach Richt:
Under Mark Richt:
Georgia has a 72-19 record
Won 10+ games in 5 of last 6 years
Won 2 SEC titles
Finished first or tied for first in the SEC East four times
3 BCS bowls (2003, 2006, and 2008 Sugar Bowls)
2-1 in the Sugar Bowl
While I agree that Richt deserved the pay raise, there are some questions in this Fox Sports article.
First of all, when did Tommy Tuberville win a National Championship? Maybe they should have in 2004 but they didn't.
The only other coach in the SEC with two SEC titles is Nick Saban and neither of those were with his current team.
Richt took UGA to three BCS bowls. The only other coach in the SEC with more than one is Saban (again with LSU, not Alabama).
Only Les Miles has a better conference winning percentage with 76% against Richt's 72%. Tuberville and Saban haven't broken 70% (58% and 68% respectively).
So, I don't think you have to try to justify Richt's salary.
Besides, I don't think this raise was about past performance. In the SEC, only Urban Meyer is younger than Richt and though I would consider UGA a premier program, locking Richt in for the long haul was probably the greater consideration.
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