Mark Richt's focus is not on his future heading into Georgia Tech game

ATHENS -- Mark Richt wasn't in the mood to talk about his future.

Richt was asked two questions which seemed inevitable this week. The first: Is he coaching for his professional life?

"Who, me? Who made you ask that question?" Richt said. "I know you didn't think of that one. My focus is on beating Georgia Tech right now."

The second: Does Richt expect to be Georgia's head coach next year?

"My focus right now is Georgia Tech. Who made you ask that one?" Richt said.

Richt rarely gets testy when meeting when the media. That included when local and national columnists wrote that Georgia should fire Richt after the Bulldogs' 27-3 loss to Florida in Jacksonville.

On this occasion, however, there seemed to be more fire in Richt than reporters are used to seeing. Before a third reporter could ask a question about Georgia's offensive line, Richt threatened to cut his presser short if this line of questioning persisted.

"Are you going to ask the same one? We can end this thing as fast as you want," Richt said. "I'm here to talk about the game."

From there, questions reverted back to football, and in particular this Saturday's annual rivalry game between Georgia and Georgia Tech. But for that brief moment, the firestorm that brewed following the Florida loss resurfaced, even if it was just a tad.

Georgia quarterback Greyson Lambert understands the nature of the college football business. At Virginia last spring, Lambert lost his starting job to Matt Johns, which is why he ended up with the Bulldogs.

As it pertains to Richt, Lambert said he can't concern himself with the notion that Richt might be coaching for his job.

"Everybody is going to be talking," Lambert said. "All we're worried about is how we're going to prepare and win this next football game. We all love Coach Richt to death and we're never worried about any of that stuff."

Offensive lineman Kolton Houston, in his sixth season at Georgia, said that what Richt deals with on the outside can oftentimes be unfair based on the reality of the game.

"Fans, they tend, for some reason, to suffer and grieve more than us," Houston said. "We have to move on. If we sit there and pout, the next thing you know you lose six ball games in a row. In my eyes, no, I don't think it's fair for us to feel the anguish of fans. The coaches spend about 70 to 80 hours a week up here. It's not like we're not trying or we don't care."

Houston, being the longest-tenured Bulldog on the roster, has a connection with Richt unlike his teammates. For his first three years, Houston was ineligible to play football because a banned substance was stuck in his body, after a doctor injected an anabolic steroid into his fat cells instead of his muscle tissue.

Instead of parting ways with Houston, Richt kept him around and helped fight the NCAA ban levied upon him. That's one example why Houston feels so strongly about Richt's future with the Georgia program.

"Coach Richt means everything to me," Houston said. "I'm not sure many coaches in the SEC would have given me the chance he gave me for so many years. He's helped me and countless many others develop into young men. I respect him and love him dearly."

Richt gave Lambert a second chance at major college football, which is why he also feels strongly about the Georgia head coach.

"It's meant a lot to be coached by him," Lambert said. "Coming in here and seeing somebody that has done this for so long and is so successful. To learn from him and talk to him in certain situations, he's been an amazing coach for me and somebody I'll always keep a close relationship with the rest of my life."

Georgia's won its past three games against Kentucky, Auburn and Georgia Southern, which has quelled the outside noise, at least somewhat, about Richt's future in Athens. Richt has been on the recruiting trail in recent weeks, traveling to the West Coast in Washington to see quarterback Jacob Eason, and stopping by the houses of Georgia natives Ben Cleveland and Julian Rochester.

With Saturday's meeting against Georgia Tech being Georgia's final regular-season game this season, it's natural for questions regarding Richt's future to pop up given how the year has gone. But Richt, even before he was asked about his future, said he was focused solely on the Yellow Jackets this week.

"Just about every time we play, both teams get up for this game, both fan bases get up for this game," Richt said. "Everybody knows how important it is, and we don't run away from that fact."

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Mark Richt's focus is not on his future heading into Georgia Tech game ."