Miami football coach Mark Richt best Power Five in Florida

In McElwain’s first two seasons the Gators defense carried them. Florida finished in the top ten in the nation in scoring defense. Their offense under McElwain was abysmal. Florida finished 100th or worse nationally in all three of his seasons. Last season the defense took a nose dive. Florida was 69th in FBS in scoring defense.

Mullen was brought in to upgrade the offense. He was the Offensive Coordinator at Florida when Urban Meyer led the Gators to two National Championships.

Richt will get the chance every year to prove himself against Taggart and the Seminoles. The measuring stick against FSU is multi-dimensional. Head-to-head, ACC Divisional and Conference Championships will also be used to debate which program is better.

Add in College Football Playoff appearances and National Championships and the battle for supremacy in Florida could return to the levels of the eighties, nineties and early 2000s.

Next: A very early preview of the 2018 Miami Hurricanes

Richt and Mullen faced each other twice when they were at Georgia and Mississippi State. Georgia lost to MSU 24-12 in Starkville in 2010. They won 24-10 in Athens a year later. They will coach against each other again when the teams play each other in the season opener in Orlando in 2019.