Richt had only informed Brandon Coutu about 30 minutes prior to making his decision public. He told the redshirt sophomore during a phone call that came two days after Coutu missed two key kicks in a 14-10 loss to Florida.
“It was unbelievable, especially coming after a game like that,” Coutu said. “It just shows what kind of man he is.”
The timing was no coincidence, Richt said. He had decided to award Coutu a scholarship weeks ago but didn’t want to tell him while he was on a good roll, for fear he would break Coutu’s concentration.
“He said he wanted to wait until I missed a couple,” said Coutu, who beat out scholarship kicker Andy Bailey for the job near the end of last season.
Coutu is No. 1 in the SEC in scoring with 9.5 points per game and is No. 1 in field goals with 2.12 per game. His 77.3 percent accuracy rate is the best among league kickers with more than 10 attempts.
“Just being able to support my family a little bit and have a little extra money is going to be nice,” he said.