If the CFP didn't exist, Kirby wouldn't have made it to a national title (yet) either. Georgia was the 3 seed in the CFP in 2017. If a playoff existed in 2002, Richt would have made it as the #4 and might have played for a title too. So you kind have to adjust for the differences in the eras there.
I know it makes Georgia fans like you nervous, but the fact remains that Kirby's first 3 years and Richt's first 3 years are eerily similar, even down to specific games that they won/lost. Richt's first 3 years went #22, #3, #7. Kirby's first 3 years went NR, #2, #7. Both won 8 games in their first year. Both won the SECCG in their second year, and Richt would have made a 4-team playoff if it existed. Both had regular season losses at LSU and lost in the SECCG in their third year, although Richt lost to the team that won the national title (Kirby did not). Richt also had a loss to Florida in his third year that Kirby did not. Still similar though.
Richt had that program really running in the early 2000s, clearly superior to Tennessee and Florida, and it looked like Georgia was about to embark on a huge run of dominance in that division (sound familiar?) that never materialized. Urban initially ate his lunch, then the game started to pass him by as you said. Now, I'll admit there isn't much in common between Kirby and Richt personality and demeanor-wise, and you are correct that Kirby is recruiting at an elevated level to Richt (although Richt recruited really well too). Perhaps that bodes well for Kirby relative to Richt.
