Mark Richt pokes fun at Clemson for having a slide in its facility
Miami’s location is a major factor for Mark Richt in recruiting, and he’s not afraid to admit it.
While some schools point to their facilities (among other things), Richt can sell his school’s proximity to the beach when speaking with recruits. He proudly admitted that fact on Thursday when receiving the key to Miami from city officials and poked a little fun at the defending national champions in the process.
[Fantasy Football is open! Sign up now]
“It’s like no other place in America,” Richt said via the Palm Beach Post. “Even in recruiting, we can sell things that no one else can sell. They can build all they want. They can have all they want. I mean, there’s schools building slides and playgrounds in their building, just so they can have fun. I said, we’ve got the beach. We don’t have to build some slide to have fun.”
Richt is of course referring to the extravagant new football facility at Clemson, which literally has a slide from the second to first floor.
A cool look at the progress being made on Clemson's new facility from @TheState: https://t.co/xxYm7p8695 pic.twitter.com/1m6LdKFiIb
— Dr. Saturday (@YahooDrSaturday) January 24, 2017
The $55 million complex also has a bowling alley, putt-putt course, nap room, barber shop, movie theater, basketball court and more.
[More college football from Yahoo Sports: Dr. Saturday’s still-too-early Top 25]
Miami finally broke ground on its own indoor facility last month, but it won’t open for another year. The fact that it is getting built at all is a big deal for the Hurricanes considering almost every major program has an indoor facility for football.
Richt is entering his second year back at Miami as head coach, his alma mater, after a long tenure at Georgia. The Hurricanes went 9-4 in Richt’s first season and are making major strides on the recruiting trail, boasting the top-rated recruiting class for 2018 on Rivals.com (he’s off to a nice start in 2019, too). Clemson, coming off a national title, currently has the ACC’s third-best 2018 class at No. 12 in the country (behind Miami and No. 6 Florida State).
[More college football from Yahoo Sports: ACC spring practice summaries]
The recruiting success has folks in Miami feeling good about the state of the program, but Richt still has plenty of work to do before he takes the Canes up to the top of the conference.
For more Miami news, visit CaneSport.com.
– – – – – – –
Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
