The hand of the Lord leads us all in to different places in life. The hand of the Lord leads us into various careers and into various places all over this vast world in which we live. It leads us to meet different people and experience unique cultures all the while not always understanding why the Lord has placed us there in that moment. It is the blessing of being led by God.

The hand of the Lord led Mark Richt to the University of Georgia and there is a multitude of reasons why. For the Georgia football fans, it was the opportunity for a coach to help a program rise again to national prominence. For Coach Richt, it was an opportunity to influence the lives of his athletes in a positive manner for the Lord and he is taking full advantage of the opportunity that has been given to him. I recently caught up with Coach Richt for a chance to talk about his faith and how God was working in his life.

His Life

Mark Richt was born in 1960 in Nebraska and attended high school in Florida, where he became a star quarterback in high school. He would attend the University of Miami and after his collegiate career, Mark entered into the world of coaching. He learned under the tutelage of Coach Bobby Bowden at Florida State University, where he had the honor of coaching two Heisman Trophy winners and winning two national championships. Football was his calling in life and would lead him to his Savior.

Q – Coach Richt, can you tell me when you gave your life to Christ?

“Well, that’s not a short answer. In 1986, I came to know the Lord when I was a graduate assistant at Florida State. After the death of a player, Coach Bowden met with the team, laid out the gospel, and it brought back memories of another time. My roommate in college planted some good seeds back in college and it came into fruition at that time.”

Coach Richt left Florida State in 2001 to take over as the head coach at the University of Georgia. He came in and began to turn around the program from the first day, bringing success back to the University and establishing Georgia as a power in the SEC again.

His Career

Coach Richt led Georgia to an 8-4 record in his first season with the Bulldogs, but it was the next season when Georgia would rise again to the top of the football world. In his second season, Georgia went 13-1 and won the SEC Championship, defeating Arkansas 30-3 in the SEC Championship game. They finished the year ranked 3rd in the nation and people began to take note of the reemergence of this storied program.

Q – What is the highlight of your coaching career at this point?

“I don’t know. I’ve really been blessed all the way through. I was at Florida State during the time we went 14 straight years in the top 4, played five national championship games, won two national championships, and got a chance to coach a couple of Heisman Trophy winners. Then, I went to Georgia and had the opportunity to win three Eastern Division Championships and two SEC titles, so when it comes to great things happening to you on the field, there’s just too many to name. The thing that’s most meaningful is just getting to know the players and having a relationship with them for years past the college time.”

Q – How can you see God using you in your coaching career?

“I think God wants everybody to obey. I think He just wants everybody to honor Him with what we do and I just happen to coach football. I think we all have jobs to do and we all have a place in life. If we all just make our goal to be obedient to go and please Him with the way that we live, I think God uses all of us as an example, if we’re willing to do that.”

Q – What is the toughest part of coaching at a school like Georgia?
“It’s just a huge job. There are so many things that run across your desk. You say “coach” but I spend over half the time doing something besides coaching. There are just so many things that you have to do and have to deal with, but it’s all part of it. It’s where God has me and I’m really enjoying it.”

Q – How good will Georgia be in 2007?

“Well, we’ll be pretty good but the problem is, so is everybody else!”

Q – Do you prefer the BCS or would you rather have a playoff?

“I don’t know,” he says with a laugh. “I’m the kind of guy who says, “Just tell me what the rules are and we’ll go play.””

Coach Richt also made an appearance in the hit movie, Facing the Giants. With his cameo in the film, I wanted to see if there might be more acting in the future for one of the game’s best coaches.

Q – I saw you in the movie, Facing the Giants, and I wondered what your thoughts were about acting.

“I wasn’t really acting. I was pretty much being myself. I wasn’t Coach Richt in the movie, but Alex basically said, “You just say what you think you would say to a former player in that situation and that’s what the script will be.” I didn’t really have to memorize many lines. There were a couple of things that he wanted me to make a point of but for the most part, he just let me be me.”

Q – Did you enjoy it?

“Yeah, it was fun. Just seeing it come to fruition, seeing the wild success that it had has been a little overwhelming but it’s just a sign that God was in it. That movie had no business doing what it did other than God’s hand being on it.”

His Advice

Coach Richt has seen so many things in the duration of his life and I wanted to get his advice on what he saw in the world of Christianity, as well as get a little more of an insight into how God speaks to him.

Q – What do you see as the biggest problem facing Christian men today?

“I think it’s just being afraid to say the name of Jesus Christ in public. There will be people who will congratulate me for saying something about God or saying something about Jesus at a luncheon or something that I speak at and I’m like, “What’s wrong with this world that people think you have to be brave to say something about our Lord?” To me, it’s pretty crazy.”

Q – What is your favorite Bible passage and why?

“It would be Colossians 3:23-24. “Whatever you do, do your work heartily to the Lord, rather than men.” First of all, I don’t know if God necessarily cares what it is that we do. He doesn’t say, “If you’re a doctor, or a coach, or a teacher”, He says, “whatever you do, do it heartily” and that means to do it the very best that you can. Then, do it unto the Lord rather than men, which means that if you’re doing if unto the Lord, that’s the highest level of accountability anybody can ever have. I think we’re called to respect the authority over us and try to please a boss so to speak, but if they only person we try to impress is the boss, then what do we do when he’s not looking? It’s just like your children. You want your children to obey you but there’s times when you don’t see what they are doing and there’s also going to be a time when they move out of your house and out on their own. My goal for my children and for my players is that they would want to do their work heartily until God.”

Q- When was a time that you felt God the closest to you?

“There’s so many times, good and bad. When you’re struggling, you humble yourself and you need Him to just pull you through it. I can’t tell you how many times that’s happened to me. When things go exactly the way you wanted, even beyond expectations, you feel an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and thankfulness and you feel close to God in that way also.”

We can see that letting God guide our lives, living under the direction of His hand, always produces a fruitful life that leaves a legacy for others. God has opened the doors for Mark Richt and Mark continues to work his heart out for the Lord. If we all work for the glory of God, others will come to know Him and we will live a more fulfilling life.

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