Where should Mark Richt rank nationally among Head Coaches?

Franklin and Smart are debatable. Smart’s .750 winning percentage (21-7) in two seasons at Georgia plus the playoff appearances are ahead of anything Mark Richt accomplished in Athens. Georgia signed the Nation’s top-ranked recruiting class for 2018 and their 2019 class is fifth. It’s close but its fair to give the edge to Smart.

In seven seasons as a College Head Coach, Franklin has a 60-32 record for a .652 winning percentage. Mark Richt is 164-58 for a .739 winning percentage. That as significant difference. At Penn State, he’s 36-17 for a .679 percentage.

Franklin walked into tougher situations at Vanderbilt and Penn State than Richt had at Georgia and Miami, but it’s still a big edge to Richt. In 15 years Richt has guided his team to a major bowl game (Orange, Rose, Sugar Fiesta during the BCS era, it adds the Cotton and Peach during the College Football Playoff era).

Franklin has doled his team to a major bowl twice. The Nittany Lions played in the Rose Bowl following the 2016 season and Fiesta Bowl last season. Those come out as the same percentage. Once every 3.5 years.

Franklin led Penn State to the 2016 Big Ten title, while Mark Richt won two SEC Championships at Georgia. Again, the same percentage. One title every seven years. In this era that’s a tough thing for most fan bases to accept.

Richt also has an ACC Coastal Division title at Miami. Franklin is going to have to continue to do what he has at Penn State to be at Richt’s level.