Should More College Football Coaches be Like Mark Richt?

Mark Richt is different from most college football coaches, and it is because of his faith in Jesus Christ.  
 
Richt says a scandal like the one that happened at Baylor University would never happen under his leadership because he says he's  willing to do the right thing, even if it goes against his self-interest as a coach trying to keep his job. 

"I care about doing the right thing, what's in the best interest of the team and the best interest of the player," said Richt.  "Even when I got let go at Georgia, some of the text messages I got were from guys I had dismissed from the team. They were saying, 'Coach, thank you, you helped me. You shocked my system where I got my act together and went on in a positive way.'"

Richt has a history of putting players personal growth first, a decision that has at times caused him problems yet has yielded much fruit.

 
"My goal isn't to throw guys off the team," said Richt. "We had a meeting yesterday and I told the guys, 'I want everybody to be here. But I want everybody to do it the way we're going to ask you to do it. Everything we're asking you to do is helping you be a better student, a better person, a better football player. Period.'"

Richt's style of leadership can be most attributed to his faith, something he says he picked up as a grad assistant under Retired Florida State coach Bobby Bowden.
 
It was there that Richt became committed to building character and integrity. 
 
Mark Richt first met Bowden in 1977 on a recruiting trip to Florida State.  Although Richt ended up playing quarterback for Miami, his first coaching job was for Bowden and the Seminoles.
 
Richt learned a lot from Bowden, but it's what Bowden did for him spiritually that would forever change his life.
 
One day in 1986, Richt was in the back of a room listening to Bowden address the team after FSU linemen Pablo Lopez was murdered near campus.
 
Bowden said, "You guys are 18- to 22-year-old men and you probably think you're going to live forever, just like Pablo did. If that had been you, do you know where you would spend eternity?"

Those words stuck with Richt.

"Listening to that as a young graduate assistant, I knew it was time for me to get right with the Lord," said Richt.
 
So the very next day Richt prayed and received Christ right there in his office and from that point on his faith became a central part of his life.
 
Richt then spent 11 seasons as Bowden's offensive coordinator before taking his first job as a head coach for the University of Georgia Bulldogs.

In all that time, he's lived his faith on and off the field.

In 2007, Richt took his wife and four children on a mission's trip to the poorest country in Central America. The family was up before dawn every day to serve the people of Honduras

In 2011, the Richt's sold their Georgia lake house, valued at nearly $2 million, to contribute more to charity.

Sources: Palm Beach Post, Yahoo Sports, Orlando Sentinel