Richt is a good coach, but this isn't the type of hire that puts the fear of "oh no, they will be dominant again."
I'm curious how many folks actually fit the "oh no they will be dominant" mode. My contention is there are really only 2, and possibly a third. The two are Saban and Meyer, known killer attitudes and the track records to match. The third might be Chip Kelly, but Kelly still has zero titles to his name and has yet to really field a team with a defense.
All the typical suspects, have fairly serious flaws to the "instant domination" narrative. Briles has never really had a defense. Patterson is also a pretty level headed nice guy, but great coach. I think Patterson's game is more portable than Kelly's, so maybe Gary should be my third possibility. Stoops, well, he's lost more big games than he's won and he'd be another Richt like retread at another school if a guy doesn't like Richt. Dantonio is also a good coach, but also no titles next to his name and no one is really sure he can recreate MSU long term without Narduzzi, or at another school altogether like South Carolina. There a whole host of guys who have coached in the South, who are remarkable in that they are stellar recruiters, but their teams don't usually play that well, or very consistently if they manage to put together a good season (guys like Orgeron, Davis, Jones). And that's not mentioning Miles, who can't beat Saban at LSU, be hard to see him doing it from elsewhere. Peterson is probably a dark horse, he was pretty darn dominant at Boise St, but he'll probably have to prove he can be dominant in the Power 5 before anyone really bestows a "fear of God" label on him.
