Middle Georgia Bulldogs fans react to Mark Richt's departure

Fans of University of Georgia football had mixed reactions Sunday to the news that Mark Richt would no longer be the Bulldogs' head coach.

Officially deemed a "mutual agreement," Richt was let go after a 9-3 regular season but will coach the team in its bowl game.

"Actually, I think it was about time," said Macon resident and UGA fan David Brookins. "I didn't think they would do it."

Richt had an overall record of 144-51 with the Bulldogs with two Southeastern Conference championships, but the last SEC title came in 2005. He was 9-5 in bowl games, but just 2-3 in the past five bowls.

Under Richt, the Bulldogs won the SEC East Division in four of his first seven seasons but have won it just twice since and haven't been to one of the top bowls since 2007.

"They seem to be stuck in a rut in the last five, six, seven years," Brookins said.

John Swint, also a Macon resident, was of a similar opinion. During Richt's tenure, four other SEC programs won national titles, with three of them winning multiple titles, while Georgia has gone since the 1980 season without going all the way.

"He had a good run, but it's time for a change," Swint said. "You cannot be a mediocre coach in our division."

Fellow Bulldogs fan Jenny Sheldon of Macon said that the change in leadership may have been a "jump decision" based on that lack of national championships in Richt's tenure. Richt leaves the helm with a .738 winning percentage, the highest of any coach for the Bulldogs since the 1920s.

"I would like to win a national championship as much as the next person, but we have a great program," Sheldon said.

Her husband, Cory Sheldon, agreed with that notion. He expressed concerns that incoming freshmen, including top quarterback Jacob Eason, might not stick to their commitments if Richt isn't in charge, although that could be avoided if Richt sticks to the plan of remaining in the Bulldogs' athletics department.

"We think it's crazy," Cory Sheldon said. "He had a 9-3 season. ... You can't guarantee a championship with anyone."

Such seasons weren't so commonplace before Richt arrived, said Macon resident and former UGA baseball player Jay Cranford. Richt won nine or more games 11 times in 15 years, including nine seasons of 10 or more wins with a chance to that again this year. The previous two coaches, Ray Goff and Jim Donnan, combined for three nine-win seasons in 12 years.

"Georgia was pretty much irrelevant before he got there," Cranford said.

Cranford said he was "torn" about the decision but said he understood the move if the Georgia administration had a plan for Richt's successor. He pointed to Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, a UGA alum and former Bulldog football player, as the ideal candidate.

Smart has two one-year stints on the Bulldogs' staff already and has spent 11 seasons working with Alabama coach Nick Saban -- "the best in the business," in Cranford's words -- in various capacities. Cranford wasn't confident that the UGA administration would commit the resources to land a coach like Smart, who makes $1.5 million as a top assistant at Alabama, but said that Smart "makes the most sense" for a variety of reasons.

"If he comes in, you're probably not going to lose any recruits defensively, and you're probably not going to lose many recruits offensively," Cranford said.

To contact writer Jeremy Timmerman, call 744-4331 or find him on Twitter@MTJTimm.

This story was originally published November 29, 2015 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Middle Georgia Bulldogs fans react to Mark Richt's departure ."