Chances are good that this weekend has been pretty emotional for former Georgia coach Mark Richt.

The new Miami coach spent most of his weekend watching players he developed and mentored during his time in Athens realizing their dreams of being selected in the NFL Draft.

And in spite of his allegiance to the Hurricanes at this point in time, he was unafraid to show them love on Twitter on Saturday:

On Sunday morning, it was reported that Richt and his family are in Athens to clean out their house and collect their belongings:

Between recruiting and spring practice, it is likely that Richt has simply been too busy to handle this type of thing until now.

He later tweeted that the reason for the trip was centered around his wife’s graduation from nursing school:

It’s easy to get caught up in the on-the-field impact of coaching changes, but this weekend is a perfect example of how things extend much beyond that for these coaches.

The combination of Richt’s players getting drafted and his return to gather his things is another emotional step in the process of turning the page to a new era.

Richt was 145-51 in 15 seasons as the head coach at Georgia. Bulldogs fans are rightfully thrilled about the arrival of new coach Kirby Smart, but it is moments like these that tug at the heartstrings of fans that supported Richt and his teams for so many years.