Mark Richt Named Walter Camp Coach Of The Year
CORAL GABLES (CBSMiami) - The honors are piling up for Miami Hurricanes head football coach Mark Richt.
A week after being named ACC Coach of the year in a landslide vote, Richt is now being honored on a national scale.
On Tuesday, Richt was named the Walter Camp National Coach Of The Year for 2017. In his second year at the University of Miami, Richt guided the Hurricanes to their first ACC Coastal Division Title, and first appearance in the ACC Championship. Miami, at 10-2, won double digit games for the first time since 2003.
The Walter Camp Award recipient is selected by the head coaches and sports information directors of the nation's 130 FBS teams.
From UM Sports Communications:
"It is wonderful that the Walter Camp Football Foundation and its voters recognize what we at Miami have known up close for two years - Mark Richt is a phenomenal man and football coach," Director of Athletics Blake James said. "We know that we have a special coach leading our talented staff and incredible young men in our football program, and we are thrilled that Mark has received this prestigious honor."
Richt is the second Miami coach (Jimmy Johnson, 1986) and the third from the Atlantic Coast Conference in the last five years (Dabo Swinney, Clemson, 2015 and David Cutcliffe, Duke, 2013) to earn the Walter Camp Coach of the Year honor.
Under Richt's direction this season, the Hurricanes have tallied a 10-2 record, won their first-ever ACC Coastal Division title that earned them a berth to the league's championship game. Miami's 10 wins this season are the most for the program since 2003 and the Hurricanes' seven league wins were their most since joining the ACC in 2004.
In addition, ten Miami players were recently honored as All-ACC selections and Richt was named the league's Coach of the Year.
The Hurricanes currently hold a No. 10 national ranking in the College Football Playoff poll. Miami will play Wisconsin in the Capitol One Orange Bowl on Dec. 30. It will be Miami's first appearance in a New Year's Six game, which began as part of the College Football Playoff in 2014.
In two seasons as Miami coach, Richt holds a 19-6 record and is 164-57 in 17 years as a college football head coach. His .744 winning percentage ranks as the seventh-best among current FBS coaches with at least five years of experience.
Coach Richt, along with the members of the 2017 Walter Camp All-America team and other major award winners (Alumni Award-Eddie George; Man of the Year-Calvin Johnson; Distinguished American-Lee Corso), will be honored at the organization's national awards banquet, presented by David McDermott Lexus of New Haven, on Saturday, January 13, 2018 at the Yale University's Lanman Center.
Richt's Hurricanes will look to reach 11 wins on the season when they face the Wisconsin Badgers on December 30th in the Capital One Orange Bowl.