ATHENS, Ga. — Former University of Georgia head coach Mark Richt wants Dawg Nation to know that he is doing OK. Richt took to X on Thursday to shut down a rumor that he was in the hospital.
"Apparently, there’s something out there on the Internet saying that I’m in the hospital. Not true. But if you would have seen me running down the street today, it was so pitiful you probably would have thought I needed to be admitted to the hospital. Lol," he wrote.
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Over the years, Richt has been open about his health battles, including a heart attack in 2019 and his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2021.
GameDay on 2 recently caught up with Richt at his third annual Chick-Fil-A Dawg Bowl. The bowling event raises money to Crohn’s disease, which Richt’s granddaughter Jadyn has had since she was born, and the disease that he is fighting.
“Once I made it public knowledge I had Parkinson’s everybody wanted me to be their poster child for fundraising,” the former coach told Channel 2’s Luke Hetrick.
“Parkinson’s is not a death sentence by any means, so the biggest thing is to learn to enjoy the things you do and when you know you’re going in the end you have peace,” Richt said.
You can still donate for this year’s fundraiser. Click here for more information.
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Richt led the Bulldogs program from 2001 to 2015. His tenure included a pair of SEC championships, 15 consecutive bowl games and eight top 10 finishes in the national polls.
After Richt parted ways with UGA, he returned to his alma mater Miami and coached until 2018.
The College Football Hall of Fame inducted Richt in 2023.
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