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25 best college football coaches never to win a national title

By Nicholas Ian Allen

Oct 25, 2014; Manhattan, KS, USA; Kansas State Wildcats head coach Bill Snyder waits to lead his team onto the field before the start of a game against the Texas Longhorns at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 25, 2014; Manhattan, KS, USA; Kansas State Wildcats head coach Bill Snyder waits to lead his team onto the field before the start of a game against the Texas Longhorns at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 19, 2015; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt reacts to a play against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the second half at Sanford Stadium. Georgia defeated South Carolina 52-20. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 19, 2015; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt reacts to a play against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the second half at Sanford Stadium. Georgia defeated South Carolina 52-20. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
  • Head Coaching Record: 139-48* at Georgia 2001-Present
  • Closest He’s Come to Winning a National Championship: 2007; 11-2 Sugar Bowl Champions, No. 2 final ranking
  • Notable: 2002 and 2005 SEC Champions, 2002 and 2005 SEC Coach of the Year

Mark Richt is no stranger to national championships – he won two as a member of Bobby Bowden’s staff at Florida State in the 1990s – but since taking the head coaching position at Georgia prior to the 2001 season, college football’s ultimate prize has eluded him.

A former quarterback at Miami, Richt’s coaching career began as a graduate assistant at FSU in 1985, where he stayed four years before he took the OC job at East Carolina. Richt returned to Tallahassee as quarterback coach in 1990, was promoted to coordinator after the 1993 national championship season, and held that role until the end of the 2000 campaign – one year after the Seminoles won their second title.

Since taking over the program at Georgia, Richt has won 139 games, and is closing in on Wally Butts for second place on the school’s all-time wins list. He led the Bulldogs to the 2002 and 2005 SEC Championship – the first and second for the program since 1982. He also won the SEC East in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2012 and has posted nine double-digit winning seasons through his first 14 years in Athens.

The 2002 Georgia squad went 13-1, won the Sugar Bowl and finished the season ranked No. 3 in the AP Top 25, but the closest Georgia has come to a national championship under Richt was a No. 2 final ranking in 2007 after his team won the Sugar Bowl in dominating fashion over Hawaii. There was another close call in 2012, when the Dawgs finished 12-2 and were ranked No. 5 in the country. If not for a loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, Georgia would have played Notre Dame for the BCS National Championship that year.

However, Richt’s quest for a national title is not over. The Bulldogs are 3-0 and ranked No. 7 in the AP Top 25 through the first few weeks of the 2015 season.

Next: Dan McGugin

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