ATHENS, Ga. - He has been the successful Mark Richt and the admired Mark Richt, and in a 2007 upset win over Florida he was briefly the daring Mark Richt, sending most of his players out on the field to celebrate the game's first touchdown.
Now meet the embattled Mark Richt.
For the first time in Richt's 15 seasons with the Bulldogs, regional and national media organizations have called for an end to his coaching run. CBS writer Dennis Dodd said Georgia and Richt needed to part ways, while Fox analyst Bruce Feldman claims Georgia "power brokers" are asking questions and talking about potentially moving on unlike ever before in the Richt era.
(Photo by Jim Hipple)The Richt record
YEAR W-L2001: 8-42002: 13-1**2003: 11-3*2004: 10-22005: 10-3**2006: 9-42007: 11-22008: 10-32009: 8-52010: 6-72011: 10-4*2012: 12-2*2013: 8-52014: 10-32015: 5-3*SEC East champs**SEC champions
"I can't control what people write, and I can't control what people read," Richt said Tuesday in his weekly news conference, "but I can control certain things, and that's what I focus on. That's what our staff is focusing on, and I think that's what our players are focusing on."
Georgia is 5-3 overall and 3-3 in Southeastern Conference play, having been eliminated from this year's Eastern Division race with Saturday's 27-3 loss to Florida. That extended Georgia's SEC title drought to a full decade after Richt guided the Bulldogs to two league titles in his first five seasons.
Richt said Tuesday that there have been no conversations with athletic director Greg McGarity about his status. McGarity has been asked about Richt since Saturday's defeat but says only that his focus is on Kentucky.
A win this week over the visiting Wildcats would clinch a 15th consecutive bowl bid for Richt and a 19th straight for the program overall.
"It's disappointing, but I obviously understand it," former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray said Tuesday as a guest on Atlanta's 680 AM. "It's 'What have you done for me lately?' It's a tough job to stay 15 years at one spot in the SEC, and I honestly don't know who you're going to get that's better.
"People text me that Richt needs to go, and I'm like, 'Who are you going to get?' It's not that easy. I don't know what's going to happen, but I think these next four games are going to be huge."
Sweeping Kentucky, Auburn, Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech would result in a second straight 9-3 regular season that has included the loss of the star player. Tailback Todd Gurley was suspended and injured last year, when the Bulldogs won a 10th game in the Belk Bowl, and tailback Nick Chubb was lost for the rest of this season on Oct. 10, when Georgia fell at Tennessee.
Richt's overall record of 141-51 translates into a 73.4-percent win clip, and he is among four coaches in Bowl Subdivision history to win 135 games within his first 14 years.
"I love how our fans have high expectations, because that's how it should be," inside linebacker Jake Ganus said. "You can't win 10 games. You need to win 11 or 12. I love that, but they need to know we work our butts off and do everything we can. Sometimes you fall short, but we're going to keep working hard for them and finish the season strong."
Said outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins: "Not a lot of teams in college football even get to where we've gotten. It's crazy how quickly people want somebody gone."
There was turbulence regarding Richt's future after a 6-7 season in 2010 and opening losses to Boise State and South Carolina in 2011. That left Georgia 15-15 in a 30-game stretch, but the Bulldogs reeled off 10 straight wins and made the first of two straight appearances in the SEC title game.
"The team back then rallied together," fifth-year senior Malcolm Mitchell said. "We came together, had a meeting and said that we were not going to continue down the same path. That's the same thing we're going to have to do."
Georgia announced 10 months ago that Richt was receiving an $800,000 pay hike to $4 million annually in a deal that would take him through the 2019 season.
Additional details of the deal, including buyout terms, have none been released.
"We are very pleased with the direction of our program under Mark's leadership," McGarity said in January through a released statement. "Mark and his staff are making significant strides in all areas of our program, and we look forward to great things in the years to come."
The Bulldogs were decided favorites to win this year's East title but now are struggling without Chubb and without consistent quarterback play. Georgia has a commitment from Jacob Eason, the nation's top quarterback prospect, who plans to enroll in January but created a stir this week by following Florida offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier on Twitter.
These have not been the best of weeks for Richt, but he believes there are more chapters to write.
"What we've done to this point really doesn't define us as much as what we do from here on, and that's how you've got to handle adversity in a season," Richt said. "That's how you've got to handle adversity in life. What we're going to do now is focus on our jobs and fight like mad, and we're going to do it together.
"That's what we're going to do."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.