This old rival is now a legend in Steve Spurrier’s eyes

Mark Richt’s name was called the other night, and he haltingly approached the stage. It wasn’t due to the awkwardness of the moment, though it was a little weird.

A prominent member of the Georgia and FSU and Miami royal football families was being honored by the Florida Gators?

Well, the actual university wasn’t lauding Richt. It was a more preeminent force.

“This guy is definitely one of the class coaches in America,” Steve Spurrier said, “and he’s got the record to prove it.”

He handed Richt the Coaching Legend Award, and the orange-and-blue crowd at Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille applauded on cue. It was one of the awards selected by the Football Writers Association of America and named after Spurrier.

Richt has never taken himself too seriously, so it will take a little getting used to being called a legend.

“Not many people say that,” he said. “But when Steve Spurrier says it, it means something.”

As Spurrier noted, Richt’s record makes a pretty case. He lifted Georgia out of its post-Vince Dooley funk, winning two SEC championships.

He went 145-51 in Athens, the best winning percentage of any coach until Kirby Smart came along. Before that, he was the offensive coordinator at FSU during the Seminoles’ dynastic run.

To complete the UF rival troika, Richt finished his career at his alma mater, Miami. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame last year, but the career numbers hardly capture the essence of Richt’s legend.

He always conducted himself with honor and class. Okay, I know that triggers flashbacks to the 2007 Florida-Georgia game, when the Bulldogs rushed the field after scoring an opening touchdown.

It was an affront to good football manners. It was also the kind of psychological ploy the Head Ball Coach (then at South Carolina) must have secretly admired. And as Spurrier reminded Richt on Monday night, the Gators had his number more often than not.

“When you’re 5-10, that’s tough to swallow,” Richt said.

Beneath his placid demeanor, Richt was as competitive as anyone. But he always kept the wins and losses in perspective.

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That can be traced to a literal Come-to-Jesus Moment in 1986. Pablo Lopez, an affable offensive tackle at FSU, was shot and killed outside a campus dance.

Players gathered the next day, and Bobby Bowden talked to them about God and eternity and where they might spend it. The message shook Richt, who went to Bowden’s office the next day.

“This young coach needs Jesus,” he said.

Bowden helped show him the way, and the ripple effect has been incalculable. Anyone who played for Richt will praise his football acumen, but they’ll talk first about the positive influence he had on their lives.

He talked the talk and walked the walk, being active in church and taking his family mission trips. His family itself is something of a mission trip byproduct.

It was 1999. Richt and his wife, Katharyn, saw the picture of a little girl with a facial deformity who lived in an orphanage in Ukraine and decided to adopt her.

When they got to the orphanage, they met a boy whose parents had abandoned him. They adopted him, too.

That tells you all you need to know about Richt, though there’s a lot more. Like how he’s handled the latest and greatest challenge life has presented.

He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease three years ago. Doctors break similar news to about 90,000 Americans a year. Like most, Richt knew little about neurological disease other than it afflicted Michael J. Fox.

“There are some scary things you can find if you’re looking,” Richt said.

His symptoms include a lack of balance, fatigue, muscle rigidity. Every step, every move must be thought out and carefully executed.

“My face will go off into a stare if I’m not careful,” Richt said.

That hasn’t kept him from being an analyst with the ACC Network. He’ll give himself two hours to get dressed beforehand, though it doesn’t always take that long.

“Some days I can get the buttons buttoned,” he said, “some days I can’t.”

When he can’t, his on-air teammates like EJ Manuel and Eric Mac Lain help him out. Once he gets seated and the cameras come on, Richt can take it from there.

“My brain’s still pretty good,” he said. “I mean, you can be the judge.”

It’s plenty good enough.

Richt plans to stay active, raise money for Parkinson’s research, enjoy his grandkids and abide in his faith. It’s not easy doing simple things like shaving, but Richt has never asked "Why Me?"

“It’s more like 'Why Not Me?'” he said. “I’m just a regular human being that is flawed and has issues.”

Richt may have issues, but he’s hardly a regular human being.

He is now officially a legend. Though that was clear long before he walked on stage Monday night.

David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on X @DavidEWhitley

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Spurrier honors Mark Richt as a legend