McGarity still calm amid storm, expresses confidence in Richt
Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity is not oblivious to the storm around him but he remains confident in coach Mark Richt.
ATHENS – Stationed in his first fire storm since becoming athletic director, Greg McGarity last Saturday chose to go in a different direction than some of the angry, torch-carrying villagers in Athens who believe the best course of action following SEC losses is to open more “Fire [Coach]” Facebook pages.
McGarity waited for Georgia coach Mark Richt to address his team after the home loss to Arkansas, waited until Richt released most of the players from a holding room under the stands at Sanford Stadium and then walked in.
“I don’t generally go into the locker room because I don’t feel I really belong in there,” he said. “What I did do was go in there after the game, but before the media came in, just to see Mark and the 12 or 14 players who were still there waiting for interviews. I just said, ‘Mark, let’s get ready to go next week. Call me if you need anything.’ I just felt he needed to know I was there to support him.”
Let’s start with the elephant in the room: McGarity said he has confidence in Richt and the direction of the football program. He responded, “Absolutely,” when asked.
But he also was wary of even going down that road.
“I know how the spin goes on these things,” he said. “I’ve seen how things are written and what’s said. People think, ‘Oh, he gave him a vote of confidence. You know what that means.’ But it’s not like that. I just want people to know that we’re working hard and we’re driven to get better every day.”
The Bulldogs are 0-2 in the SEC for the first time in 17 years. The coach in charge then (Ray Goff) is associated with a low point in Bulldogs’ history. That isn’t the case with Richt. He won two SEC championships in his first five years at a school that hadn’t won one in 20.
But national championships at Alabama, Florida and LSU have changed the landscape. The Dogs leveled off. South Carolina, Arkansas and Auburn are on the rebound.
The good news: Mark Richt's Bulldogs could be favored in their next five games.
Barbarians are at the gate.
There are Facebook pages to fire Richt and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. There’s a “Fire Mark Richt” website. Juvenile or not, it’s the reality of life in the SEC. McGarity knows that, but he’s not walking around campus, swinging an ax.
“You can’t make a snap judgment on things, especially sitting in my chair right now,” he said. “I haven’t even been here a month.
“We’ve played one-fourth of the season. In athletics, people can turn things around in a hurry when they believe in themselves and they believe in their leadership. I think if our team had not fought back in the fourth quarter [against Arkansas], we would have some concerns, but that’s not what we saw.”
The Dogs conceivably could win their next five games, beginning Saturday night at Mississippi State, before heading to Jacksonville. But losses to South Carolina and Arkansas — following the summer’s arrests, last year’s 4-4 SEC record and the 2008 slide down from a preseason No. 1 ranking – appears to have split the fan base on Richt.
McGarity spoke at a quarterback club meeting Monday morning in Athens. Reading the audience wasn’t difficult.
“It would’ve been very easy to show up there if we were 3-0 and ranked,” he said. “I knew some people in that group were upset. I’m sure everybody is disappointed. But at the same time, I have to do everything in my power to support the team and show leadership. People look to leaders at times like this, just like players look to coaches.”
Asked if there were any harsh remarks at the breakfast, McGarity laughed and said: “No, but I don’t know what happened after I left.”
It’s probably for the best.
♦
SACK SCHULTZ: I’ll have an update on my slow climb to No. 1 later this week. Meanwhile, there’s still time to join the fun. Click here for more info on the weekly college football picks contest and then sign up at ajc.com/go/sack-schultz.
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247 comments Add your comment
McGarity
September 21st, 2010
10:38 am
I’ll stick it out with Richt and the other guys, but that flea-bag’s got to go. Heck, my basset hound can do better.
MississippiDawg
September 21st, 2010
10:39 am
Going to Starkville Saturday – Looking for a blowout…Dawgs over Dogs BIG…this will silence the cowbells and hopefully the pervasive negativety on AJC blogs. Everyone has a right to bitch and complain, but some of it is just plain ugly and juvenile. The constant criticism of our program from our own fans is a stain and a cancer for the entire UGA fan base (most of which is overwhelmingly supportive of our program). Let the season play out – we are GEORGIA, we don’t panic.
SMURF BOWL COMMITTEE MEMBER
September 21st, 2010
10:41 am
Can anyone give me the proper mailing address for the Georgia Tech athletics department? We have their Smurf Bowl invitation already laminated and sealed, we just need to get it delivered. Thanks.
Harley
September 21st, 2010
10:41 am
When you figure how much the UGA athletic office has spent on bail, fines, and lawyers’ fees to get players out of jail, plus the undeserved buyout for Damon Evans, do you understand why we got those chintzy paper tags for our vehicles?
RedandBlack
September 21st, 2010
10:41 am
When an offensive coordinator lays the blame on a player’s failure to get rid of the ball, then that coach is not looking in the mirror-FAILURE TO EXECUTE.
When a head coach continues to allow inadequate, inconsistent, and inept play calling to continue for three years running, then that coach is not making the correct decisions-FAILURE TO EXECUTE.
If you were making these kind of continued mistakes at your job, then you would either be fired or running for re-election. Go Dogs!!!
What C Richt said
September 21st, 2010
10:42 am
Commenting on his dismal 0-2 start in the SEC, ricth said ” we are doing the ame things that we did when I got here to win two title” and you see? That is the problem. Mark Richt is too staid in his approach. The SEC has changed dramatically with world calss caoches and when he arrived, there really wa sonly Spurrier that met that criteria.
UGA must make a change ………..this will not get better. LOOk at Richt’s over all SEC record going back a couple of years …… .500? HE IS NOW A LAME DUCK IN REGARDS TO RECRUITING ………they will eat him up with rumors.
UGA is in deep trouble. It will get far worse, before it gets better. A lousy year coupled with another loss to sad lil GT, and he will be fired. Richt needs to announce after the Auburn game that he is going full time into his church work. Fine.
Go Dogs.
WonderDawg
September 21st, 2010
10:43 am
Folks, Mark Richt will not get fired. McGarity will help put Bobo back at QB coach and get an NFL assistant who knows Xs and Os, who knows how to game plan, knows how to make adjustments in game, and who can incorporate some spread offense into our schemes.
Murray would thrive in the spread, with his running threat.
seabass
September 21st, 2010
10:43 am
Yes, Richt is a good man! We have one of the most talented offensive lines in the nation. Why aren’t they the best. We have three tight ends who were best in the nation coming out of high school, We aren’t even passing to. We have two parade all american running backs.who can’t get 50 yards a game. We have one of the best defensive ends in America playing nose tackle. Where does all this talent go? Why can’t we develope the talent they come to us with?????
James T. Kirk
September 21st, 2010
10:44 am
Look at how angry and bitter the mutt nation has become!!! I love it!!!
Dirk
September 21st, 2010
10:46 am
It’s kind of sad to see all the Dawg fans getting so excited this year (just like the year before, the year before that, etc.). How long is it going to take for UGA fans to realize that UGA is simply no longer relevant in the SEC? In the national picture, UGA isn’t even a blip on the radar, and hasn’t been since the preseason #1 ranking two years ago.
Sit back and be grateful for the six or seven wins you’ll get most years. Coaching genius Mark Richt may take you to 8-4 or even 9-3 occasionally, but Florida will still win the SEC, meaning no BCS bowls and no top 10 final ranking. Most years, UGA will be very lucky to finish in the top 25, and only after a big bowl win over a nobody opponent.
It’s a different world now, and Dawg fans need to adjust their expectations downward to reflect reality.
Unfortunately nothing is going to change until UGA changes its mediocre coaching. That’s where the difference is, and that’s why everyone outside Dawgtard Nation just laughs at Dawg fans getting so excited year after year about what a great recruiting class UGA gets. It doesn’t matter how many blue chip high school players go to UGA, they simply don’t get the coaching they would get at Florida or Alabama, to name two schools whose programs are far ahead of UGA. And that’s not going to change as long as Mark Richt is in Athens.
Get your heads out of the sand and face reality. And mediocrity and irrelevance.
Suck on your red panties for comfort.
Nacho Daddy
September 21st, 2010
10:47 am
I agree with jtdawg. Richt does not play enough young guys. He Red Shirts way too many good players. If we have a frshman RB we need to play him NOW!
Russ, the Temp.....
September 21st, 2010
10:48 am
You should worry about ManBoobs and your crappy program getting exposed by Kansas…that and how you are gonna attract enough Techmites to go down to the ghetto and fillup up that high school stadium you have…..there is more than enough on your plate to keep you busy…..November will come soon enough and you can focus on UGA the next scheduled beating….will make 9 out of 10….nice
Jeff ROCK!
September 21st, 2010
10:48 am
http://thegeorgiasportsreport.blogspot.com/
Coraline
September 21st, 2010
10:52 am
Look at how angry and bitter the mutt nation has become!!! I love it!!!
You’re right. It’s really fun watching the dawgturds turn on their coaches and players.
Can you say I-M-P-L-O-S-I-O-N?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
And… Oh my goodness, look at the red panties falling from the sky!!!
Furman Bishop
September 21st, 2010
10:54 am
McGarity said nothing more and nothing less than what anyone would say who has been in his position no longer than he has. At this time there was nothing else he could say. It’s what he says AFTER the season
that counts.
Anti Russ
September 21st, 2010
10:55 am
Since dawgtards seem to love living in the past, how about remembering the Jan Kemp trial, which exposed UGA and Vince Dooley for the jokes that they were. My favorite quote from the trial was this one:
O. Hale Almand Jr., a lawyer for the defense, offered a justification for the favorable treatment accorded the athletes, citing a hypothetical player. “We may not make a university student out of him,” he told the jury, “but if we can teach him to read and write, maybe he can work at the post office rather than as a garbageman when he gets through with his athletic career.”
The best thing about the trial was that it completely killed Vince Dooley’s shot at Congress, since he was exposed as a fraud and a cheat during the trial. Make no mistake – Dooley knew everything that was going on.
Nothing has changed in the almost three decades since the trial. If anything, the abuses are even worse. Exhibit #1: Jim Harrick and son.
Today the players are even more illiterate and felonious and, well, just plain stupid, as evidenced by their arrest records and record number of penalties. Even Vince Dooley couldn’t have controlled this mob, much less Mark Richt. And now even the fired former AD is a drunk debaucherer.
There’s a reason why UGA is known as The Cesspool of the South.
But hey, congratualations to all dawgtards for clinching the Fulmer/Richt Cup.
Blair
September 21st, 2010
10:57 am
You Dawg fans who keep repeating “30-24″ like a mantra enjoy yourselves all you want. The thing is… Tech alumni and fans have lives that don’t depend entirely on what a bunch of kids does on Saturday afternoons. College sports are fun to follow, but the biggest reason for going to college is to get an education.
UGA fans don’t seem to care about anything but football, and they don’t care if their players are enrolled in silly majors that no parents who are paying the bills would send their kids to UGA for. The very few football and basketball players who graduate have no job opportunities and end up unemployed or working in menial jobs that hardly require a college degree.
Georgia Tech is a real school with serious academic standards, and that includes scholarshipped athletes. UGA has a long history of being a party school, where parents send their kids for an easy degree, even if the degree itself is practically worthless.
Jan Kemp exposed the crap going on at UGA with athletes being enrolled in courses a ten-year-old kid could pass. That was almost three decades ago, and nothing has changed. If anything, the abuses are more blatant today. Way too many illiterate morons are being recruited, and the very high arrest rate shows clearly that Richt does not care if his players have any morals or self-discipline.
The bottom line is that most Tech fans have very good jobs and productive lives that don’t depend on Tech’s football record for their happiness in life. It would be great to beat UGA more often, but when you put scholar-athletes up against dummy-athletes, it’s usually no contest.
It’s pretty pathetic to see UGA fans who typically have never been within miles of a college classroom and who live or die with UGA’s weekly results on the football field.
So keep on posting your “30-24″ all you want, especially since you’re home with plenty of time on your hands. I wish you well, maybe you’ll get lucky and get your old job back at the Waffle House before your unemployment checks stop coming.
Anti Russ
September 21st, 2010
11:00 am
Also, when I said “Nothing has changed in the almost three decades since the trial. If anything, the abuses are even worse”, what I meant by that is that UGA was administering beatings of GT on a regular basis before, during and since. However, since that time, it really has gotten “worse”….much worse…..51-7…..8 of 9….ugh….
JB
September 21st, 2010
11:01 am
this is just week four coming up and the foaming of the mouth is intense. Another loss or two will bring more anger and the the old apathy feeling kicks in………Let’s let the next few weeks play out and see what unfolds. It is ALL about COACHING now. We know what we got in a team…..But let this team lose to State, Tenn and Tech, it’s gonna be interesting……If I’m the AD, I ‘m looking HARD at what these coach’s can do with this team from here out…..If they lose this team and get beat by teams that we should not lose to ( I’ll name them, State, Colorado,Tenn, Vandy, Kentucky, Idaho, Tech)then I don’t want to predict the outcome of Mark’s tenure. Fla and AU are probably L’s.
My guess is Mark comes back if we lose them all, for 2011, which we won’t lose them all.
jtdawg
September 21st, 2010
11:02 am
UGA Insider, and others,
Most of us are not supporting a “Fire CMR right now!” mentality. But stop ignoring facts.
“All of this bs about fire CMR is asinine! Wake up UGA fans… all college football programs run in constant cycles. Please remember that Alabama was playing in the Independence Bowl only 3 short years ago. Auburn has been down recently and so has UT. Yes, SC and Arkansas are better this year but when they lose their experienced qb’s they will be back in the toilet.”
UGA fans need to wake up?
How about our “constant cycle” being rebuilding 3 out of every 4 years?
How about “wait till next year!”??
How about looking at the facts, the trends, compare.
Mark Richt and this staff is getting paid to be a top SEC team – this top SEC team is 10-11 vs our own Eastern Conference teams since 2005.
Bulldog nation expects a constant from its football team – smart, tough, physical football. When was the last time we watched our top SEC team show that kind of tough, physical football other teams fear? Vs. Hawaii in the 2007 Sugar Bowl?
When’s the last time we beat an equally good, or superior team? In our own stadium even?
How come Jim Donnan got run for losing to TN, SC, and FL but it’s unfair to criticize Mark Richt for doing the exact same thing?
Is anyone very tired and annoyed that we lose to FL every year? Doesn’t it hurt any of the blind homer’s feelings that Jacksonville isn’t even a rivalry game any more? Are we just supposed to hope for a New Years day bowl (now that there are 163 of them anymore) and at least beat GT? Is that where are hopes for our program are supposed to stop?
Or I guess we are supposed to just take it for what it is.
How about analyzing what is really happening here and wishing that staus quo isn’t good enough?
Facts, just make “some of us fans” foolish I guess. Man, it’s funny how the door only swings one way for some people..
JB
September 21st, 2010
11:04 am
Blair……good waste of blog space. We all quit reading your essay on about sentence 10 or so.
JB
September 21st, 2010
11:08 am
Has Blair seen any of these Tech players “interviewed” after a game………Like ALL football teams, you need someone from the UN to help interpret ……….Blair needs to know that ALL Tech folks are not ” boardroom material”……LOL
Lowcountry Bulldawg
September 21st, 2010
11:10 am
Yeah no Tech fans ever said 45-42 for the entire calender year.
Billy Jack
September 21st, 2010
11:10 am
If Georgia had just run a couple of toss sweeps to Ealy when it was 3rd down at mid-field we probably win that darn game…that’s what kills me we score 2 late TD’s and then crap in our pants at mid-field…we had the game…
georgiagirl
September 21st, 2010
11:10 am
BANDWAGON FANS
ALWAYS A DAWG FAN
You bandwagon fans are so cut throat.
DamntheButcher
September 21st, 2010
11:15 am
For all the idiots that keep saying that GA will be fine and they will be back let me ask you this. What have you saw the last 3 seasons that gives you that confidence in Mark Richt? Or I will ask it this way… Since Brian Van Gorder left what have you saw that makes you think he can get it done?: You sure can’t go by his on field record.
jtdawg
September 21st, 2010
11:17 am
Bottom line,
McGarity (sic), Richt and staff need to seriously analyze the defficiencies of where we are, how we got here,a nd how to adjust mentality and practice to get those issues corrected.
Every “business” should be run in the same manner. If it was your business, and you consistently underachieved or didn’t meet expectations you strongly feel you are capable of (and you are paying your CEO to achieve), then shouldn’t you analyze it and fix it?
Don’t hate Bulldog Nation supporters for wanting better; not all of us are ridiculous in our expecations and what it takes to meet them.
gdawginkalamazoo
September 21st, 2010
11:21 am
I’ll take 7-5 as a positive season at this point. Get to a bowl game (preferrably one that has a jersey with no post game value to it)and win that. But IMO I think we will do better as the season progresses and might end up much better than these last two games have shown. One thing for sure they did not quit in either of those games. That speaks volumes for these kids and the heart of this team. Are they going to make mistakes, sure with a new QB and new D scheme. Forgive them of these and be fan. I support Coach Richt 100%. He will get the job done.
WonderDawg
September 21st, 2010
11:23 am
JB, I quit reading at “Blair”….
5150 P.O.A.D.
September 21st, 2010
11:24 am
McGarity has just started to rearrange the Deck Chairs on the UGA Titantic. “DON’T WORRY POSSIBLE RECRUITS. EVERYTHING IS JUST FINE”. Early damage control. We at UGA are backing Richt.
Well, all that is true until UGA loses a few more games, finishes 4th in the SEC east, and Loses to TECH for the 2nd time in 3 years.
Dawg Lover
September 21st, 2010
11:24 am
McGarity’s calm about this?
SEC Standings
EAST CONF OVERALL
Florida 1-0 3-0
South Carolina 1-0 3-0
Vanderbilt 1-1 1-2
Kentucky 0-0 3-0
Tennessee 0-1 1-2
Georgia 0-2 1-2
Huckster
September 21st, 2010
11:28 am
“I support Coach Richt 100%. He will get the job done.”
I agree. Give Richt and the other coaches lifetime contracts. Give them free houses and luxury cars. Anything to keep them there forever.
Really.
WonderDawg
September 21st, 2010
11:29 am
Haha, I went over to the AJC Tech blog the Sunday after the Kansas game and Tech fans were calling PJ, “fat ass” and calling his offense “high school.”
Now, one win against a team the same Techies called “depleted by suspensions” when LSU beat them, and all is forgiven.
My point is, losing breeds discontent at all traditionally successful programs, not just at UGA.
I love Yech fans!!!!
September 21st, 2010
11:32 am
Fellow Dawgers,
Please, allow the Yechers to project their frustrations onto us. You must have sympathy for them. They have yet again hired an overrated, overpaid coach that is only further pushing their dead program back to it’s rightful home of mediocrity. They have a campus that is properly situated right smack in the middle of the Atlanta ghettos where you stand a better chance of getting robbed or mugged walking to class than passing a pretty, English speaking, girl. Their baseball and basketball programs are the epitome of what an annually overrated, over-hyped team is. And most Tech fans never even attended the institute. And the ones that did couldn’t hack the engineering classes so they were left jumping onto the “M-train” like 95% of the athletes. Getting a management degree from Tech and bragging about it is like getting a physical education degree from Harvard. What a waste of time and money. So please, have pity on our little sisters from the slums of Atlanta!!!
Lowcountry Bulldawg
September 21st, 2010
11:34 am
Here is the link to the team stats and individual stats for the SEC:
http://sec.xosdigitallabs.com/Portals/3/SEC%20Website/football/confldrs.htm
ScoutDawg
September 21st, 2010
11:40 am
Thank you “Slow your Roll”! These DAWGS STOOD UP at the ten minute mark against the pigs and took over the game. We didn’t get it, but we STOOD UP and took the game then lost a squeaker. $hit happens! Sometimes you get ‘em and sometimes you don’t. Defense got us back in the game late in the fourth when all looked lost, JUST DIDN’T WORK OUT! Get over it! This team GREW UP at 10 minutes left in the fourth against the pigs and it may be a blessing that these kids who TOOK OVER in the fourth lost! Adversity teaches character and grows HEART! Go DAWGS, Love you Coach Richt, Repair the holes in the ship, AND FINISH THE DRILL!
gdawginkalamazoo
September 21st, 2010
11:41 am
Of course the Bees have to live vicarioulsy through other teams when it comes to beating Georgia.
gdawginkalamazoo
September 21st, 2010
11:41 am
vicariously
11-0-1 1990 National Champs
September 21st, 2010
11:42 am
thUGA has more problems than all the arrests?
WonderDawg
September 21st, 2010
11:42 am
Dang, you shoulda included one of those government-type warnings about what we are about to see on that site, Lowcountry.
GTBob
September 21st, 2010
11:43 am
Do you feel better now I love Yech fans!!!! ? We are all glad you could get that off your chest. I tend to agree with some of the UGA fans. Losing causes discomfort and causes the crazy people to want to make quick and rash changes. If UGA wins the next 5 games and is 5-2 then none of this talk will be there any more. Even if they lose to Florida after that. UGA played two good teams and lost to them. Its not the end of the world. The preseason arrests and NCAA investigations are more concerning then the 1-2 start.
Pee on a Bee
September 21st, 2010
11:45 am
5150 POAD, better get your own hive in order before you start talking smack to us. You lost to KANSAS for God’s sake. A team that got beat by a PBC (Punching Bag Conference) team. I bet that STUNG! LMAO!
11-0-1 1990 National Champs
September 21st, 2010
11:48 am
My best player (Green) hangs out with an agent (who is also awaiting trial for being a cocaine dealer) and sells him a worthless Jersey for $1000. I bet you $1000 dollars thUGA didn’t drug test Green. Everything out of Athens stinks lately!
Lowcountry Bulldawg
September 21st, 2010
11:50 am
Yeah, couple of good things in the link, but boy that Ark game really blew up those rankings that UGA defense created. It will be interesting to see those this time next week. The team is not as bad as we think, but nowhere as good as we think they should be. This week will be the true meter of how much fire is left in the belly of this team.
Kate Gosselin
September 21st, 2010
11:51 am
Mike Bobo needs to stop having kids and watch some d*mn film!
dawg gone
September 21st, 2010
11:54 am
Richt is a good Coach. Where would get another Coach as good right now?
Make changes in who picks these players and go for some moral values to go with 3,4,5, star ability. Get a Good Offense Crd. fire Bobo are give him some other duty.. The Buck stops with Richt. He’s got to take control.
JSS
September 21st, 2010
11:56 am
@ Jeff Schultz…
Now sit down, you let the subject tell the story… Congratulations, I’m complimenting you…
bamadawg
September 21st, 2010
11:58 am
Pee on a Bee, from what I watched last Sat in Athens….. Kansas would have kicked our dawgs a@@ too. Be nice and let the cards fall where they may.
Greg McGarity
September 21st, 2010
11:58 am
Meehhhh
All this is nothing.
I tolerated MUCH WORSE at Florida.
Dawg Tell
September 21st, 2010
11:59 am
As stated before ” Wait till next Year” That is our slogan for the last five years! Go Dawgs and the new AD has not been here but one month. I believe he will have a difference of opinion at the end of the season.