Can UGA sit out an SEC arms race?
Greg McGarity doesn't like the new deregulated NCAA approach to recruiting. (University of Georgia)
There’ve been some interesting discussions recently about the brave new world of college football that may result from the NCAA throwing out part of its rule book, and how Greg McGarity and UGA appear reluctant to follow the trail being blazed by Nick Saban at Alabama.
Even before the recent NCAA move, Saban was already lapping everyone else in terms of exploiting every legal avenue toward establishing an advantage for his Crimson Tide program, getting around the limitations on the number of assistants a school can have on its coaching staff by hiring off-field “analysts.”
Then, in January, the NCAA’s university presidents decided that in an age of texting and social media some of the rules governing recruiting had become pretty much impossible to enforce, so they passed legislation to eliminate a bunch of restrictions. Under the legislation, due to take effect July 1, not only can coaches and anyone else at a school have pretty much unlimited contact via phone calls and text messages with recruits, schools also can add as many full-time recruiters to their athletic staffs as they want and can afford.
Typically, Bama has already jumped on this, hiring former Clemson defensive coordinator and Baylor head coach Kevin Steele as director of player personnel, with his main job being to direct the Tide’s recruiting efforts. Alabama also hired a high school coach as director of player development.
Other programs that can afford to follow Bama’s rich-get-richer template no doubt soon will be staffing up on the recruiting side, but some schools are balking. Big 10 coaches and athletic directors came out last week against key parts of the legislation, expressing “serious concerns” whether the plan is “in the best interest of high school student-athletes, their families and their coaches.” Their statement added: “We are also concerned about the adverse effect they would have on college coaches, administrators and university resources.”
Philosophically, UGA has come down on the side of the Big 10, with McGarity telling the New York Times he fears the new rules will lead to something akin to an athletic arms race among the bigger programs. “Some school is going to want to get on the high dive with this and go all in and spend and spend,” McGarity said. “It is going to start a round of competition among schools that is going to be limitless.”
Nick Saban pushes the envelope ... and gets results. (Associated Press)
You can read “some school” as “Alabama” in that quote.
McGarity told the Times he’s talked with other SEC athletic directors who are opposed to the legislation and he hopes to engineer a conference vote to override the new rules. Opponents of the legislation have until March 20 to gather 75 votes from presidents of Division I universities in order to initiate such an override.
Outgoing UGA President Michael Adams agrees with McGarity. Talking with the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer recently, Adams raised some legitimate concerns about the impact the new rules could have on recruits.
“I think some deregulation on the most ridiculous rules was needed,” Adams said. “But a lot of those rules have been put there because of how competitive coaches are. I don’t know if you ever have a perfectly level playing field, quote-unquote. But I worry about a student-athlete being bombarded in high school, particularly some who need to spend time studying instead of responding to 100 emails per day. All of this is a balancing act, and the pendulum can swing too much in one direction — which it probably had, with some ridiculous rules. But it doesn’t need to swing all the way back to the other side, or we will hurt student-athletes in the process.”
Adams isn’t alone in fearing the new rules will result in the complete harassment of high school kids, as well as massive growth in football staffs at places like Alabama.
But what’s ironic about UGA’s opposition to the deregulation of recruiting and the potential ballooning of athletic staffs is that Georgia is one of the schools that can afford to keep pace with Alabama. As we’ve discussed previously, UGA has one of the most profitable athletic programs in the country and yet ranks in the middle of the SEC in spending. As a result McGarity and company are sitting on a reserve fund of nearly $70 million.
I’ve heard from quite a few fans in recent months who worry that Georgia isn’t keeping up with Saban and Co., and I share that concern.
While I agree that allowing unlimited contact with high school recruits isn’t a good idea, I think the UGA brain trust needs to recognize and react to the fact that, no matter whether these new rules stick or not, they’ve got to be more aggressive and spend more or they’re going to find Saban owns recruiting in this state.
UGA has to step up and play the game. Even without the unlimited-contact rule that might necessitate giant recruiting staffs, Georgia needs to take a page out of Saban’s book and start hiring some off-field quality-control analysts or consultants.
Already last year, the school hired veteran high school coach Daryl Jones as director of on-campus recruiting and, with the departure of recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner, appears content to let him run recruiting instead of putting a member of the coaching staff in charge.
But there are other areas that cry out for additional staffing. As I wrote back in early August, special teams seems ripe for some sort of creative approach like Saban’s, since Mark Richt is loathe to devote one of his precious on-field coaching spots to that crucial aspect of the game.
Why not hire someone like Kevin Butler to analyze video of placekicker Marshall Morgan every day and tell the kid what he needs to work on? It’s allowable under the current rules, as Saban has shown, and it’s needed.
What good is sitting on a $70 million surplus if the conference leader is establishing a new level of excellence that you refuse to reach for?
POOCH KICKS
Hot Dawg Delight. (from Mark Richt's Twitter feed)
Tuesday’s belated signing of another big defensive lineman in four-star recruit Toby Johnson is a great way for Richt to cap off his largest recruiting class ever. It’s time to quit harping on the ones that got away and instead appreciate the talented group of 33 players who’ve decided to play ball in Athens. … And while we’re appreciating the players we have, check out the the piece CBSSports.com columnist Dennis Dodd did about UGA quarterback Aaron Murray, whose remarkable work ethic is likely to have him leaving UGA owning most of the school’s and the conference’s passing records. … I joined my brothers and daughter for lunch Sunday at Herschel Walker’s new restaurant in downtown Athens, where peak time waits of 35-plus minutes for a table are still the norm. I’d say the menu and service need a little tweaking, but overall the food was tasty and well-prepared and we enjoyed the experience tremendously. Loran Smith takes a look at Walker’s evolution from Heisman winner to big-time businessman in his latest Athens Banner-Herald column. … And while I wouldn’t recommend Herschel add this to his menu, I was amused by Mark Richt’s tweets earlier this week about his birthday treat: a Hot Dawg Delight, which he explained is toasted bread, cooked hot dogs, melted cheese, baked beans and ketchup. “Mmm Mmm Good,” the coach said. I’m not sure that’s anything I’d want to tackle, but my indefatigable brother Jon noted: “He forgot the coleslaw on top!”
JUNKYARD MAIL CALL
Got something you want to discuss concerning UGA athletics? Or maybe a question you want the Junkyard Blawg to tackle? If so, send it to junkyardblawg@gmail.com.
Find me on Facebook.
Follow me on Twitter.
— Bill King, Junkyard Blawg
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
167 comments Add your comment
FOTBALDAD
February 20th, 2013
2:30 pm
Don’t you think as high profile as Bama is if they were cheating wild west style they would have been caught by now? I am a Bama alum and season ticket holder and I like Georgia (and my father went to Auburn). If you feel it necessary, light a fire under CMR and Georgia. If you feel your time is coming and our time is going, leave things as they are. Some of these posts are really over the line. When people say football is all we care about and then hurl insults, it makes them look small.
JB
February 20th, 2013
2:40 pm
FOTBALDAD…… Any Dawg fan bashing Saban is standing on their weedy lawn looking over at the beautiful lawn of Bama’s. I use to bash him, but I’ve come to admire what he has done. Georgia has done a lot less with a lot more. The only difference in the results of the two programs is coaching. Not the weather, the money, the location, the stadium, the players available, the water, the gym. NOTHING but coaching.
slydawg
February 20th, 2013
2:52 pm
I said this years ago, right here on this very blog: As long as Georgia’s athletics department continues to maintain this profit margin, then it’s just business as usual. They will never demand anything more than being second and sometimes third fiddle in the SEC. When and if that profit margin shrinks just a “wee” bit, then Richt’s and BoBo’s job will be in jeopardy. What incentive does Adams, McGarity, or anyone else in the Georgia Athletics Association (ahem, “stockholders”), want to win any championships if the money will still look the same at the end of the day. This article right here says one thing to me: Never, and I mean Never expect this University to even sniff a National or Conference Championship unless it is either a down year for the dominant teams or they back their way in the game.
slydawg
February 20th, 2013
2:57 pm
As far as the recruiting rankings are concerned? All fluff. Texas, USC, Michigan, Ohio St., and FSU continue to maintain high recruiting rankings full of fluff too. Why? Easy. Their respective states and pipelines produce more “highly rated” in-state talent than everybody else. Just look at the past 10 national champions. Those rosters were made up of players from all over the country.
Allen
February 20th, 2013
3:02 pm
Strive to be the best in everything . . . spend the money we have to upgrade facilities, starting with an indoor practice facility . . . hire the very best coaches and assistants; pay them well . . . and win championships . . . then the best recruits will want to come play for a winner . . . not the runner-up . . . it is not rocket science.
deaconblues
February 20th, 2013
3:07 pm
Hey Columbus Dawg, can you say SCOREBOARD?
Flat Tire Doesnt Live in Delusionalville Ga.
February 20th, 2013
3:10 pm
This program has a FLAT TIRE and will continue to have a FLAT TIRE because of the whining leadership that we have had for years that do nothing but make excuses and think people are cheaters just because they are more creative than they are
But hey our leadership extends contracts and gives pay raises for no championships just another 10 win season
What a joke
truth teller
February 20th, 2013
3:10 pm
the AL dung pile just keeps getting bigger and bigger. And buck toothed clowns on this board will cheer “Roll Tide”. And wonder why AL is in the cess pool of the nation.
Joey
February 20th, 2013
3:10 pm
Gotta laugh at Urban’s little boy, Buckeye.
Yaps his mouth about Jan Kemp, while his cheating fav is on NCAA Major Probation.
Hey fruitcake, at least we cleaned our classrooms up. You dirtbags have cheated from way back.
Urban Myer!
Urban Myer!
Urban Myer!
LMAO
Flat Tire Doesnt Live in Delusionalville Ga.
February 20th, 2013
3:12 pm
slydawg
I couldnt have said it better myself; that is the truth
good post
truth teller
February 20th, 2013
3:14 pm
@Allen
“Strive to be the best in everything . . . ”
Except jobs and education. You damn fool.
Crank bait
February 20th, 2013
3:24 pm
Seriously? Can’t believe what I’m reading. Whining about Bama will NOT win SEC and National Championships for UGA. Bama, Texas A&M, LSU –those are simply yardstick for UGA to measure itself against. Stop complaining about the length of the measure, just do what you gotta do to move up the yardstick. If you’re happy at about 2 1/2 feet, so be it. The other schools will not come down to meet you there, and your view of the CFB world will not change
JB
February 20th, 2013
3:24 pm
It is a wonder the Athletic dept. drips in money, but hires/pays on the cheap. Look around at other ACC AND SEC programs at the pay compared to ours………..But I know in football at UGa you have a job for life unless you are forced to fire someone. Grantham is the exception.
Flat Tire Doesnt Live in Delusionalville Ga.
February 20th, 2013
3:32 pm
At UGA you have a lifetime contract if you
Beat a meaningless, has been, Div III level GT football team
Win 8-10 games
Come up with catch phrase like “Knocking on the Door To Greatness” “Society of the Miserable” and “Dream Team”
truth teller
February 20th, 2013
3:34 pm
@JB
February 20th, 2013
3:24 pm
“It is a wonder the Athletic dept. drips in money, but hires/pays on the cheap. Look around at other ACC AND SEC programs at the pay compared to ours”
The words of a damn ignorant fool.
zbulldawg
February 20th, 2013
3:37 pm
The only thing I would like to share right now is This offense will be AWESOME.The defense will be all Todd’s players & will be coached under one system. The specail teams still worries me. This defense will be just as strong but quicker & faster. So let’s LET THE BIG DAWG EAT
Flat Tire Doesnt Live in Delusionalville Ga.
February 20th, 2013
3:41 pm
truth teller
Thats right enough said I dont live in delusionalville Ga unlike you do
I bet you wear your Red, Black, White, Grey and Pink 10 Win Season National Title Shirt to work every day
Flat Tire Doesnt Live in Delusionalville Ga.
February 20th, 2013
3:44 pm
Yea I bet the defense will be like they always are
Giving up 30 pts to top 20 teams like they always do and at the end of another season Grantham will be wanting either another pay raise or to move on to the NFL
Bill King
February 20th, 2013
3:48 pm
Bama Mike:
Actually this blog has not changed format. But it probably will eventually. Not my call.
Bill King
February 20th, 2013
3:52 pm
Whisky Breath:
I do not think Saban is evil or that he plays dirty. I’m not a fan of his oversigning and grayshirt practices, but he is doing what the rules allow.
intheknow
February 20th, 2013
4:08 pm
Stood in line today at lunch in back of some Bama supporters. They had braided hair, whiskey smelling breath,pants pulled down to thier crotch,and a Bama hat on turned backwards…Yep they were Bama fans alright…even had a Bama sticker on thier jacked up Impala that had tires on it that were so oversized it made the car ride twice as high as it was supposed to…..Man it must be great to be a Bama fan….and I thought they were gonna rob the place until I saw them pull thier money together to split a 3 piece meal…..All I could think of after that was I bet Nick Saban would be proud of how resourceful they were….I bet that chicken tasted good with that beer they were drinking in their car….Man to be a Bama fan!…They got the world by the tail and are proud of it!
BAMABABE
February 20th, 2013
4:09 pm
love seeing all the hilarious haters talking about Saban…someone explain to me why yall keep saying hes cheating by hiring great recruiters to jobs that NEEDED filling at the University?? there have never been any players past or present that have said anyrthing other than positive things about Coach, thats hes actually quite different with them off the field, that he cares about them and has heled them to become better players, students, and men…yall would LOVE him if he was your coach and dont give me that Mark Richt is a christian and thats why hes better than Saban crap, bc our WHOLE team goes to church on sundays together,& Saban goes to Mass EVERYDAY. religious beliefs dont win championships and Saban is doing whatever he needs to within the rules of the NCAA to make BAMA a winning team with lasting success. if thats soooo wrong then i dont want to be right….keep hating and we’ll keep winning…rtr
tony
February 20th, 2013
4:12 pm
Saban wins at all cost? Every team that ask a kid to put on a uniform is trying to win at all cost because football is life threatening with the possibility of long term effects of concussions after football. Lets not kid ourselves, every university understand this but since college football has become a multimillion dollar industry they ignore the dangers.
LakeDawg
February 20th, 2013
4:15 pm
I for one don’t wish to follow Saban down the sinkhole of sleaze. I don’t care if Bama wins 20 NC’s in a row. If UGA does decide go down that path, I will just give up watching college football.
Flat Tire Doesnt Live in Delusionalville Ga.
February 20th, 2013
4:15 pm
Im not hating on Bama I just wished we had leadership that knew how to run a championship program
Instead we have a bunch of whining finger pointers who dont know how to run a successful organization
just the facts
February 20th, 2013
4:22 pm
slydawg and flat tire wouldn’t know their head from thier azz if someone didn’t tell them….neither have ever played football in thier life….but like to pretend they did and know so much about the game. I’ll bet neither one of them ever attended collge…..how’s that lawn mowing job working out for you guys?
Truth
February 20th, 2013
4:26 pm
Someone have any cheese to go with this “Wine”.
TJ
February 20th, 2013
4:27 pm
We will not jump in. UGA has been, is, and always will be tight fisted and conservative which is a great way to run a government but when it’s a competitive situation is not going to yield continuous success. We have failed to close the borders the past few years, and it will continue to happen as we sit by, sit on our war chest and hope that we can continue to keep pace by doing nothing differently.
G-Man
February 20th, 2013
4:31 pm
Columbus Dawg – And the state of Georgia is great?? This coming from someone who lives in a Georgia equivalent of Montgomery. Like I’ve said before, you take Atlanta out of Georgia and you don’t even have the state of Alabama. Get over your hatred of Alabama and just own up to the fact that UGA has ALWAYS been and will ALWAYS be behind the UA when it comes to football.
BrandoninAL
February 20th, 2013
4:34 pm
columbus dawg:
It’s incredibly comedic that you, some mouth-breather from COLUMBUS has the audacity to call anyone anywhere inbred and/or backwards. Let’s get one thing straight: There is Georgia and then there is Columbus. Atlanta, Macon, Savannah…nice towns. Alabama has it’s obvious faults, but Columbus is a dump and EVERY time I was unfortunate enough to HAVE to be there, I actually RACED as fast as the law allowed back to Alabama. I’m no Alabama fan, but I certainly can respect what they do. I firmly believe EVERY major D-1 football programs bends and breaks rules (including Alabama and Auburn), but the pot is calling the kettle black if any fan of UGA accuses ANY other school of the same…
Say What GT Bob?
February 20th, 2013
4:35 pm
Techs not good at cheating? Well that is true… because their Football team has really Sucked! What Tech is good at is Cheating and getting on probation and 2 this century and Tech is still on probation. What say you GT Bobby?
Joey
February 20th, 2013
4:35 pm
Flat Tire, the truth is nobody knows how to “run a championship program” but Saban. Myer won two, but has looked silly w/o Tebow.
Les inherited a Bama-like LSU program from Saban, but has done little on his own.
Saban is one of a kind.
But, if McGarity would open the checkbook and put another $15M in the program, although we would still be well below Bama’s spending, we would on the path to closing the gap.
With about 30 more top of the line analysts and support staff, hopefully replacing some position coaches, we would be on the way to at least cementing a Top 2 postiion in the SEC, which usually positions you in the Top 3 in the country.
For whatever reason (Adams?) it appears McGarity is trying to fight the inevitable.
He apparently is under the illusion that SC, Vandy, Ole Miss and others won’t put out the money to try to even the odds with Bama, UF and LSU.
Take the high road, McGarity, sit on your hands, and you will find your football program “back in 90’s.”
Truth
February 20th, 2013
4:35 pm
G-Man speaks “The Truth”. I have no problem with people accusing AL of anything. What does bother me is for you to think that your school does not do the same thing. The fact that they are winning is what bothers you. If Al were cheating and a below .500 team, we would hear nothing out of you. It would be another team that is cheating. Get over it folks and “TCB”.
Say What GT Bob?
February 20th, 2013
4:38 pm
G-man…and you take Birmingham out of Alabama and you don’t even have Mississippi!
Flat Tire Doesnt Live in Delusionalville Ga.
February 20th, 2013
4:40 pm
Joey
If Meyer came to UGA he would put us in the championship race
same for Spurier Peterson and I believe Patterson as well
James
February 20th, 2013
4:46 pm
I don’t know any Dog fans that dislike Saban. They don’t like him beating us, but he’s a good winner and loser. On the other hand I don’t know any Dog fans that like that jerk over in Columbia. He’s a bad winner and a sore loser. Saban said nice things about Georgia after the SEC Champ game. I wish like chit we had him.
Flat Tire Doesnt Live in Delusionalville Ga.
February 20th, 2013
4:46 pm
just the facts
I tennis fan from France can see this program isnt sniffing a championship until things change
wear your 10 Win National Title T-shirt with pride
barrow dog
February 20th, 2013
4:49 pm
don’t know re the best for the recruits, all i do know is that if we want to run with the big dogs we’ve got to pee in the tall grass. if the falcons chose not to spend equal to the competition everybody would go nuts… what’s the difference?
ATLien Dawg
February 20th, 2013
5:11 pm
This is making me like college football less. I hate the recruiting process to begin with. It has a negative impact on life, not a positive one.
I wish recruiting would become more restrictive, not less.
Jay Crooner
February 20th, 2013
5:12 pm
Flat Tire… See, that’s the difference between a lot of us and you. Some of us don’t feel the need to make a deal with devil just to win a National Championship. And yes, I consider Urban and Spurrier to be “devils.” Urban quit on his team when the going got tough and Spurrier is simply an ass. If you feel that way, then go support Ohio State or South Carolina.
The bottom line is that in the college coaching landscape, it is Nick Saban and everyone else. God bless him! He has had more success at the college level than anyone else. His program is top notch, his recruiting is stellar, and he has total control over what happens to any of his players in Tuscaloosa. As Rick Flair used to say: “To be the man, you have to beat the man.” We came close, but did not clear that hurdle.
ATLien Dawg
February 20th, 2013
5:17 pm
I’ll also say that just b/c you’re not breaking rules (or the law), that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ethical.
Saban is an unethical piece of trash. Spin it any way you want.
OneHairyDawg
February 20th, 2013
5:33 pm
All that and we still came within 5 yards and 4 points with 16 less sholarship players. Make no mistake, the Dawgs are here to stay.
Whiskey Breath
February 20th, 2013
5:56 pm
You know Bulldykes, I know more about your crappy school than you do.
Ga has been the second biggest money maker for the last 10 to 15 years.
Texas has been the number 1 money maker.
Instead of Ga reinvesting that money in facilities, equipment, etc,
they put in back in the general fund of the school.
So that is why you have had crappy facilities, your school elected
to keep the money. You should know that better than me, you bulldykes.
Bama has reinvested their money wisely. Basically, you have inferior facilities.
alpharetta alice
February 20th, 2013
6:33 pm
Les inherited a Bama-like LSU program from Saban, but has done little on his own.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Joey..Les Miles is 84-21 since he arrived in Baton Rouge in 2005…has won a national championship and 2 SEC championships…Richt since Miles arrived is 76-30, no national championships, and 1 SEC championship…none since 2005…LSU is 34-17 vs. top 25 opponents under Miles…we don’t really want to discuss Richts record since 2005 vs top 25 teams…and lets not forget 42-10..hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not 5 yards short bs…you won the first half bs, which is even funnier…
alpharetta alice
February 20th, 2013
6:35 pm
Georgia could sign a top 10 recruiting class every year and still not win anything…hey, wait….
10dawg34
February 20th, 2013
7:00 pm
First of all I can’t figure out why Alabama fans are always on a Georgia blog, and while you guys may be no 1 in football, you guys are also number one in the nation in trailer parks and number 48 in earnings per household only ahead of Mississippi and Louisiana. So what’s a Alabama degree really worth?
alpharetta alice
February 20th, 2013
7:40 pm
So what’s a Alabama degree really worth?
++++++++++++++++++
shouldn’t that be “So what is an Alabama degree really worth?”…typical Georgian…
Fotbaldad
February 20th, 2013
7:41 pm
I bet a lot of you guys didn’t like Coach Bryant either. It probably bothered him as much as it bothers Coach Saban.
drive by dawg
February 20th, 2013
8:48 pm
There is no way to color McGarity as anything but a huge disappointment – guy doesn’t seem to get it and has magically turned into Wally Cleaver now that he’s left the protective wings of Jeremy Foley. Of course, McGarity is just symptomatic of the great Georgia tradition of doing less with more. Nobody is better at it than we are and it appears that won’t be changing any time soon. These guys are abdicating their “fiduciary” duty but no one will make them pay for it. It’s dumb and dumber over at BM – same as it’s always been.
Ron
February 20th, 2013
8:53 pm
I can see it now. Some high school player decides he wants to sign with another school and I can’t get him to change his mind. I just flood him with emails, texts and phone calls at test time, distracting him and causing him to fail. I don’t get him, but you don’t either. He goes to small college for couple of years.