FSU Football: Mark Richt Following Jimbo Fisher’s Blueprint?

FSU football coach Jimbo Fisher is all about the “process” learned from mentor Nick Saban. It appears that Mark Richt wants to follow the same “process” at Miami.

When Jimbo Fisher took over for Bobby Bowden in January 2010 he knew a lot of changes needed to take place to change the culture of the program.

That’s exactly what Fisher did when he hired new strength and conditioning coach Vic Viloria. He hired new nutritionist that designed specific meal plans for each player.

FSU football players had access to sports psychologists. Lastly, Fisher began to implement the “process”.

Mark Richt is in a similar position in his new position as Miami football head coach. Miami has been stuck in a stake of mediocrity since joining the ACC in 2003.

The supposedly (A)ll (C)anes (C)onference back then is a conference in which Miami has never won their division, much less win a ACC championship.

Richt knows big changes must occur for Miami to compete at an elite level and spoke to 247 Sports about it.

Trust the “process,” Mark Richt says.

“The reality is that Miami’s been in the ACC for 10 years and has never won the ACC,” Richt said according to 247 Sports.

“Miami’s been in the ACC 10 years and has never won the Coastal Division. Let’s crawl a little while and then start walking, jogging, and sprinting in the end. We’re trying to put in a process of doing things that will help us get there.”

Richt is trying to get it done on the recruiting trail as Miami is currently has the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the ACC and No. 4 ranked class nationally.

It should be noted that the No.1 ranking is due mostly to sheer numbers with 15 commitments.

10 of those commitments (66 percent) are rated as three-stars with an average rating of 87.93 per player.

FSU football has an average of 92.72 per player rating.

The problems for Miami have been in several areas, most notably the defensive side of the ball where historically Miami has been excellent.

Richt brought in defensive coordinator Manny Diaz to try to right the ship on that side of the ball. Offensively, Miami is led by future NFL quarterback Brad Kaaya and a couple of other impact players at running back and wide receiver.

Richt is donating one million dollars of his own money to help build an indoor practice facility. A move that has paid huge dividends for FSU football under Jimbo Fisher due to the unpredictable weather in Florida.

An indoor practice facility allows teams to continue to get work in regardless of weather conditions whereas without it, teams lose valuable time during parts of the year where they only have a certain amount of practices.

Imagine recruits visiting schools like FSU and Clemson where the indoor facilities are spectacular and then going to Miami where their isn’t one?

must read: Ranking The Top FSU Teams In Jimbo Fisher Era

Richt understands that the culture at Miami has to change, more support, structure and money is needed to help Miami become elite again.

Let’s see if he can make it happen.