Mark Allan Richt (born February 18, 1960) is an American former college football coach, player, and current television analyst.

Richt became a star athlete at Boca Raton High and was called "All Turnpike" because of the various awards he received around the state of Florida.

Under coach Howard Schnellenberger, Richt was backup to future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly.

In later years at Miami, he played behind Bernie Kosar and Heisman Trophy winner Vinny Testaverde.

Richt received interest from multiple NFL teams and briefly spent time with the Denver Broncos behind John Elway.

[4] Richt began his coaching career after being offered a job by Bobby Bowden as a graduate assistant for the Florida State Seminoles.

[7] After one year at East Carolina, Bowden brought Richt back to Florida State to serve as the Seminoles' quarterbacks coach.

Richt coached two Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks: Charlie Ward and Chris Weinke.

Richt coached a total of six FSU quarterbacks to the NFL, including Ward, Weinke, Brad Johnson (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Danny Kanell (New York Giants), Danny McManus (Kansas City Chiefs) and Peter Tom Willis (Chicago Bears).

[8] Richt was hired as head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs before the 2001 season, replacing Jim Donnan.

[11] After leaving Georgia, Richt was named the head coach of the Hurricanes of the University of Miami, his alma mater.

"[14] Richt graduated from high school in Palm Beach County, an hour north of campus.

Richt served as the head coach of the Miami Hurricanes for the 2016 to 2018 seasons and called all offensive plays.

[18] Shortly after joining Miami, Richt began spearheading a campaign to raise money for a new indoor practice facility.

"[20] Four months later, athletic director Blake James announced the new $34 million practice facility would be slated to open in 2018.

[24] Tolbert Bain, a starter on the national champion 1987 team worked regularly with South Florida Youth leagues and helped Richt to develop the outreach.

"[28] Despite joining the program with less than eight weeks before signing day, ESPN praised Richt for managing to recruit the 18th best class in the country.

[29] Within two years, Richt had assembled the #2 recruiting class in the nation[30] and had more committed players (18) than any FBS program before the early signing day period.

[31] Richt strongly opposes oversigning, a practice popular in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) that often results in older or hurt players losing their football scholarships.

University of Miami athletes receive lifetime scholarships, allowing players who elect to leave before their graduation to return and complete their diploma.

[36] In 2017, Richt received the Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award as the Hurricanes peaked nationally with a No.

At the eventual Florida State rivalry game, the Hurricanes pulled off a last-minute score to win the contest and rose to #11 in the AP College Football Poll.

3 Notre Dame which allowed them to secure the ACC Coastal title on November 11 despite two remaining conference games.

[38] However, the Hurricanes struggled throughout the year, including a four-game losing streak in October and early November, to end the regular season 7–5.

[40] Through a statement released directly and through the University of Miami, Richt announced his retirement from coaching on December 30, 2018.

During Mark's tenure at Georgia, she began serving as "water girl" so she could spend time on the sidelines during games.

The Richts declined on several occasions to publicly share their adoption story before deciding to proceed with the hope that it would encourage other families to explore its rewards.

[4][47][48][49] In 2011, the Richts sold their lake house in Georgia that was valued at nearly $2 million, announcing they intended to contribute more to charity.

When Richt became head coach at Miami, he and his wife purchased a house two miles from campus next to the Barnacle Historic State Park in Coconut Grove.

[51] On October 21, 2019, Richt tweeted that he had suffered a heart attack but had survived the episode and intended to resume normal activities quickly.