Mark Richt won a lot of games over a lot of seasons at Georgia. But he didn’t win enough big ones, and now he’s left the SEC for his alma mater, Miami.

Forever intertwined with Richt, for better or for worse, will be Kirby Smart, who took Richt’s place in Athens, going back to where he played his college ball, just like Richt has. Smart just happened to be the defensive mastermind behind four national titles at Alabama during his eight-year stay as defensive coordinator in Tuscaloosa.

So even though Smart hasn’t won any big games at Georgia, not yet at least, he was a right-hand man for Nick Saban for all those big-stage victories at Bama. For Georgia fans, for now at least, that is good enough.

For Miami fans eager to move on from Al Golden’s less-than-golden tenure, they got a guy who knows the university and its desperation to win, from having played there many moons ago and, well, they point to the same long list of victories Georgia fans mostly yawn at as proof that if Richt could win in the mighty SEC than he can do the same in the ACC.

This Georgia-Miami coaching dynamic has all happened so quickly after the 2015 season and inspires immediate comparisons with National Signing Day having come and gone.

The questions abound.

Who got the better of this whole deal?

Which school will thrive more, and when will that happen? As if we really know the answer to that.

And did Georgia make a mistake in firing a coach who went 145-51 in 15 seasons in Athens, going 9-5 in bowl games, and collecting six SEC East titles and two SEC championships along the way?

When you ask the latter question, Bulldog fans will bring up the words among Richt’s glossy resume that were never written: national championships. That’s mostly why Richt is in Miami now, and why the Bulldogs, who produced tons of NFL talent during Richt’s tenure but no crystal trophies, went after Smart.

The 40-year-old career assistant is out to change the lack of those crystals, at his beloved alma mater, and he hoped to start that whole, special process at his first Signing Day.

“Every hour I’ve got and every waning moment will be on the phone with a prospect, a support-staff member, some sort of role-playing member to make this place as good as we can,” Smart told the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph less than two weeks before Signing Day.

Smart held class together

Georgia’s class finished ranked fourth among SEC schools but seventh nationally, with 13 combined four- and five-star players.

There was a lot that could have gone wrong for the Bulldogs’ recruiting-wise, but Georgia won its biggest battle — keeping five-star quarterback Jacob Eason.

Eason made the call to stick with Georgia in mid-December, after the coaching changes, and an entire fan base breathed a giant sigh of relief.

“Keeping Jacob a part of this class was critical,” admitted Smart to DawgNation after Signing Day. “[It] showed momentum, showed confidence in our program and the University of Georgia.”

Of course, one recruit, even a potentially special one like Eason, doesn’t make an entire class.

And as it turned out, as Signing Day hit, Smart had plenty of reinforcements who weren’t named Eason. Eleven of the 14 non-early enrollees the Bulldogs landed Wednesday were from Georgia, meaning Smart was able to keep the house in order.

Two key in-state guys were four-star defensive tackle Julian Rochester and four-star offensive tackle Ben Cleveland, both early enrollees.

And among Georgia’s list of six enrollees were two Florida products — where Richt now resides — four-star wide receiver Cavin “Riley” Ridley of Deerfield Beach, right up the road from the University of Miami, and five-star tight end Isaac Nauta of Bradenton.

Georgia’s class reached 20 commits — 11 of whom committed under Richt, so Smart was able to keep a talent-rich haul from falling apart while adding to it. He got athlete Mecole Hardman Jr., a five-star flash from Elberton, Ga., who reportedly was leaning heavily toward Georgia before Richt was fired. As a bonus, three-star defensive end David Marshall flipped from rival Auburn to Georgia, and four-star defensive tackle Michail Carter of Jackson, Ga., opted for Athens over rivals Alabama and Georgia Tech.

Not only did Hardman enrich an already solid class, his addition made the centerpiece of this class perk up.

“When Mecole signed that was a big deal for me,” Eason told DawgNation on Wednesday. “And we had a couple other guys.”

Eason can take solace that there is a prize still out there in five-star wide receiver Demetris Robertson, from Savannah. Alabama, Notre Dame and Stanford remain in the mix.

“To say you’ll get them all, I don’t think that’s realistic,” Smart told DawgNation. “It’s a state that’s attacked by so many because it’s got Atlanta and it’s got a network to get out and go to the other places.”

Early signs of success for Richt, Miami

Richt also enjoyed a successful Signing Day.

Fifteen years Smart’s senior at age 55, Richt is back home in Coral Gables, where he played quarterback from 1979-82, leading a program that is used to greatness but has fallen on hard times over the past decade.

His first class ranked No. 3 in the ACC — behind 2013 national champion Florida State and 2015 national runner-up Clemson. The Hurricanes’ class had a national ranking of 21 — five spots better than Al Golden’s final class last year.

The Canes had four four-star recruits among their five early enrollees — all from Florida.

That promising trend for Richt and the Canes continued when looking at UM’s 10 hard commits before Signing Day, with nine players coming from Florida and seven hailing from talent-rich South Florida. Among those: three-star tight end Michael Irvin Jr., son of the former Canes star, and Sam Bruce, nephew of former NFL star Isaac Bruce.

One setback for Richt was four-star cornerback/wide receiver Tyler Byrd jumping from the Canes to Tennessee.

But Richt, who took the Miami job in early December, within mere days of Smart taking his spot in Athens, also could have the heir apparent to Brad Kaaya behind center in 6-5, four-star, pro-style quarterback Jack Allison.

According to Twitter, the second guy Richt watched film of after the highly publicized Allison was four-star running back Travis Homer of West Palm Beach, a prize Richt also kept from getting away.

Richt was able to step back a bit and appreciate the moment Wednesday. He compared his first class at Miami to his first class as a new head coach at Georgia, saying he was “more excited” at Miami, “more scare” at Georgia.

Richt wasn’t bashful to admit that on Signing Day. It’s the advantage he has with 15 years of head coaching experience, something Smart must build to in Athens.

Both back home, building new foundations

So as Signing Day came and went, that Richt-Smart dynamic appears to be a case study in two solid minds: one launching his head coaching career and one continuing a successful one, both having managed to seamlessly transition from their longtime coaching homes to their first homes, where they played and attended classes.

Now both are back where it began, one coach intent on winning that real big game to go with his litany of regular-season victories, and one coach hell-bent on making sure those national championship games he coached in as a defensive coordinator won’t be his last ones.

Throw in two passionate, demanding fan bases who have experienced the pinnacle of college football but who’ve waited a long time to get back there, and you have two programs to watch ever-so-closely starting in 2016 and beyond.

Did Georgia and Miami get the right guys? The answer so far appears to be yes. Soon these two coaches in new places will be able to be coaches again, as Signing Day fades. Maybe there’ll be an Allison vs. Eason showdown waiting in a not-too-distant bowl game.

Time will tell, of course, but talent will tell, too, and that part of it all began to play out on Signing Day.