Miami players celebrated on FSU’s midfield logo, and Mark Richt wasn’t having it

Mark Richt got real mad at his players briefly after Miami’s cathartic win over Florida State on Saturday. They were celebrating on Florida State’s midfield logo.

The rebuke was swift, and there’s an audible “ass” in there. Richt was at least for a moment pretty upset about this.

There are likely a few things at play. First, Richt got his biggest break in coaching from his time at Florida State. He was Bobby Bowden’s offensive coordinator, and from there became Georgia’s head coach. There’s an ingrained respect for the institution. There’s also the fact that he knows that that will become bulletin board material for next season for the Noles, and tempers might have flared if there happened to be any FSU players still around.

Richt is also a pretty pious fellow. It’s not a veneer, and that’s not me poking fun. He’s just a pretty staunchly Christian man.

One of his former players, Garrison Smith, said this about him a few years ago:

“I’ve seen coach Richt so mad one time that he almost said a cussing word. He said fiddlesticks,” Smith said. “A lot of people put on that façade of being a Christian guy and it’s just a tool that they use. I can honestly say, and I’m a stand-up guy, that coach Richt, he’s a genuine guy.”

When told about Smith’s comments, Richt alluded to a saltier side behind closed doors, but the point stands. When he wants to, even Richt has a little edge to him.