Miami Hurricanes Football: Mark Richt Was the Perfect Hire for the Hurricanes

Friday was a day of celebration in Coral Gables as the Miami Hurricanes announced Mark Richt as the 24th head football coach at the University of Miami.

The Donna E. Shalala Student Center was filled with local and national media, as well as former greats such as Jonathan Vilma and Vinny Testaverde. Current quarterback Brad Kaaya was also in attendance on Friday and he was joined by other current players.

Richt met with the current roster in a 8 AM meeting on Friday and the support and reaction from the players was incredible on social media. Current and former players voiced their excitement through Twitter and the Miami football program has a buzz around it that had been missing for about a decade now.

The press conference started with Don Bailey Jr., who played with Mark Richt at the University of Miami, and he then introduced President Julio Frenk.

Frenk’s portion of the press conference wasn’t long, but it was clear that the new president is completely invested in the Miami Hurricanes football program. If the check he’ll be writing Richt for the next half decade isn’t enough, this press conference surely convinced you.

Frenk had one of the best lines during Friday’s conference when he said, “Football is not just part of what we do here. It’s part of who we are.”

That was a key line in the press conference because it shows the commitment to resurrecting this program. Frenk also talked about winning, “I, too, like everyone else, like to win.”

After Frenk, Athletic Director Blake James took the podium and he talked a little.

“I believe Mark [Richt] will put us in a position to win ACC and National Championships,” said James while introducing new head coach Mark Richt. James also gave Interim Head Coach Larry Scott a much-deserved shoutout during the Friday press conference and called Scott a “great leader.”

Don Bailey Jr. then went back onto the stage and give a speech from the heart talking about how dreams come true at the University of Miami. He called having his quarterback back in Miami “a dream come true.”

Once Bailey Jr. was finished, Richt opened up to questions to the media.

The one thing Richt did talk about throughout Friday’s press conference is that he plans to retire as the head coach of the Hurricanes.

“My goal is to finish my coaching career here at The U, and I’m very excited about that possibility,” said Richt in his introductory press conference on Friday.

The other thing that stood out on Friday was his desire to recruit South Florida. Al Golden tried to recruit south Florida, but he was content with bringing guys from out of town, and although Richt said that he will be looking to bring in talent from all over the country, he talked about the important of keeping kids home.

“We want to recruit Miami, this state, this local area,” Richt said on Friday. “The problem in this area is that there’s too much talent .. We have to find the ones that fit our program the best. I just want everyone to know that we are committed to recruiting Miami.” he added.

Recruiting Miami is going to be the most important part of Richt’s tenure here and he did a great job at mentioning South Florida high school coaches during his press conference. Richt has gotten some top recruits from this area so he knows how important it is to build a relationship with the head coaches.

“You probably can’t find every single guy within 50 miles, but I bet you can find 90% of it.”

Richt also talked about the importance of getting the top players from around the country.

“We want the great players from this area without question, but if there’s another [Jim] Kelly or [Vinny] Testaverde out there that wants in, we’re going to take them.”

Another key thing for Richt will be assembling a staff and he is aware of his important building a staff is here, or anywhere else.

“You need a united staff, but you need different type of people. Hiring a staff is huge,” said Richt. “I’m going to take my time and be deliberate. I rather be right than fast,” he added.

Richt mentioned that he has received about 250 calls and texts per day regarding the open positions on the staff. He also mentioned that he has not “made any promises” to his former staff, or the staff currently in place at Miami.

Friday’s press conference was an absolute success for both Richt and the Hurricanes. The buzz around the program is back and the press conference was so refreshing compared to what has been going on in the last couple of years.

Friday confirmed what we already knew, Mark Richt was the perfect hire for the Miami Hurricanes.