Sunday night, my friend and I traveled over to Lexington to hear Mark Richt speak at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes of Central Kentucky. All I can say is this. If you ever get the chance to hear Coach Richt speak, do yourself a favor: GO!
Coach Richt was the Head Football Coach at the University of Georgia for 15 years from 2001 to 2015. Then, he served as the Head Football Coach at his alma mater, the University of Miami. He started his coaching career at Florida State as a graduate assistant for two years. He spent one year as the Offensive Coordinator at East Carolina before returning to Florida State as the Quarterback Coach and later became their Offensive Coordinator before being offered the Georgia job. During his tenure at Florida State, he coached two Heisman Trophy winners, Charlie Ward and Chris Weioke.
Mark Richt graduated from Boca Raton High School and chose to attend Miami University which was an hour south of his family home. He told the story that he had plans to be a star quarterback and play in the NFL out of high school. However, he laughed and said his plan was derailed when Jim Kelly signed the same year as he did with Miami. Next, he laughed and said that he later got to back up Bernie Kosar and Vinny Testaverde at Miami.
Coach Richt continued to laugh about his shortened NFL career due to the fact that he signed with the Denver Broncos as a free agent the same year that John Elway got traded to the Broncos from the Indianapolis Colts. He chuckled again when he told the story of trying out for the Miami Dolphins a year later but learned so did Hall of Fame Quarterback Dan Marino, lucky number 13.
After chasing his dreams, he finally decided to try coaching, and Coach Bobby Bowden gave him his start at Florida State. This led to his story about a young Florida State player, Pablo Lobez who got shot outside a campus dance after an argument with a nonstudent. Pablo was a junior starting tackle for the Florida State Seminoles.
Coach Richt told the story where Coach Bowden held a team meeting the next day and asked the team “where was Pablo?” today. This led Coach Richt to dedicate his life to Christ on September 15, 1986. Coach Bowden’s speech to his team changed Coach Richt’s life that fateful day and for the better per Coach Richt.
