Mark Richt has been a part of some major victories in his three-plus decades in coaching. National championships, for starters. Two of them. He was Florida State's quarterbacks coach in 1993, guiding Charlie Ward to that season's Heisman Trophy and helping Bobby Bowden bring home the Seminoles' first national championship. He'd been promoted to offensive coordinator by 1999, when Florida State became the first team in college football history to go wire-to-wire as the AP No. 1-ranked team.
Though his Georgia tenure did not bring home the ultimate prize, he still collected two SEC championships in Athens and put together another team -- in 2007 -- that was as good as anyone in the country.
Still, Richt said, Saturday's 24-20 win at Florida State topped all of them.
Much of that statement, and Richt's entire tenure at Miami, is personal. It's his alma mater. And it's a chance for Richt to prove himself after Georgia parted ways with him at the conclusion of the 2015 season.
Pursuant to that, Richt has a chance to build up Miami. Similar to how Richt's own playing days on South Beach saw the ramping up of Miami becoming The U, this is a chance for him to return the Hurricanes to glory.
On Saturday, his team took a major step both in how they did it -- by overcoming two fourth-quarter deficits, on the road, to notch the winning score with six seconds to play -- and who they did it again. Richt's former employer and Miami's chief rival: Florida State, snapping Miami's 7-game losing streak to the 'Noles.
"I've been coaching 33 years and I've never had more fun than just now." - @MarkRichtpic.twitter.com/1rDASp4VI6
— Canes Football (@CanesFootball) October 9, 2017