New AD McGarity starts work at UGA, expresses concern about player arrests
For full story on McGarity’s first day on the job, please click here.
ATHENS – Greg McGarity started work as Georgia’s athletic director today, two days earlier than scheduled. In a mid-afternoon interview, he talked about a range of topics, including the high number (eight) of arrests of UGA football players this year.
“I’m going to really learn a lot about that,” McGarity said.”I’m going to learn about our structure, what we have set up as far as education of student-athletes. I want to learn exactly, why is this happening?”
Clearly he is concerned about the arrests.
“Yeah, I think there are too many,” he said. “I think when it happens it’s embarrassing to the institution [and] it takes away from team unity. And I know one of the goals is to make sure we have a system in place that holds people accountable. . . .
“I think it’s a problem,” he said. “and it’s something we want to do a 180 on across the board. It’s really every sport, and I don’t like the excuse that, ‘Well, that’s going to happen [with] college students; that’s just part of the deal.’ I don’t buy that.
“I think it’s a privilege to play intercollegiate athletics; it’s a privilege to play intercollegiate athletics at the University of Georgia, and it must be treated that way. Any other way –- if you want to go and behave like that, then probably you don’t need to be in college athletics. Just go do your own thing and not be a part of something that should be a special experience.”
More from the interview with McGarity is here.
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
162 comments Add your comment
WDE
August 30th, 2010
7:20 pm
The only thing Georgia does more repetitively than lose to Florida is to promise a tight ship and a turnaround in offseason arrests. Believe it when I see it, and I don’t think anyone will honestly hold their breath.
((((WE RUN THIS CELL))))
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 30th, 2010
7:22 pm
Thanks Nick, now I will take UF and 14 with the push, so just place your money where your mouth is.
117 years and 1 title accounted for…stellar, just stellar!!! Pride of Georgia, or more like the biggest embarassment in the state….sorry, that would be Damon Evans. Even your former AD hit the Fulton County Jail….love it!
WDE
August 30th, 2010
7:23 pm
TDawg Money-
Mark Richt doesn’t have the pelotas to sit down a group of kids that he GAVE FULL RIDE SCHOLARSHIPS TO and convince them to do such simple things as not drive if you aren’t legally allowed to. What makes you think he can control anyone’s “grandstanding”. And I know you UGA guys aren’t familiar with management structure (since you dwell on the bottom), but an AD is in charge of and holds every single coach’s career in his hand. That’s the way it should be, because the stripes that CMR “earned” in 2002-2005 have been fading the past 5 years.
ryan
August 30th, 2010
7:24 pm
I trust McGarity will clean up the UGA program its not going to happen over night if he does what he did with The U and Florida it can be done the haters don’t wont UGA to be clean because then they can’t bash the program anymore . The haters wish they had Red Panties Evans back .
Roni
August 30th, 2010
7:24 pm
UGA recruits good kids and has good coaches.
What rubbish. You can say that crap all you want, but it’s still crap.
And it’s been crap ever since Vince Dooley came to Athens.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 30th, 2010
7:25 pm
WDE, UGA not only runs the cell, they run the cell(s). Remember, we could go on and on about the thugs that have embarassed not only this program but the state of Georgia. ESPN has written several articles how this program is tanked, and will not recover until their fan based becomes more educated about football and the coach is replaced.
What team falls in the first 2 weeks, winning both games with a #1 ranking? That would be UGA, because they tend to play Agnes Scott and Parkview HS in the openers.
Everyone loves a winner, which is why everyone, include native Georgians hate the Bulldogs…they are losers, plain and simple.
LawDawg
August 30th, 2010
7:25 pm
Mike Bobo 17 INT,
How many games has your NerdHerd sold out this year?
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 30th, 2010
7:26 pm
Roni, keep up the great work with the good kids being recruited, you have just galvanized what everyone has been saying about your fan base, which is you have no clue. Go ahead like everyone else in Athens and stick your head in the sand.
LawDawg
August 30th, 2010
7:27 pm
Mike Bobo 17 INT,
And who does your mighty team play in it’s opener? Being jealous of UGA is your strong suit. You just can’t stay away can you? I’ll bet $1000 you can’t stay off this blog with some smart aleck remark.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 30th, 2010
7:29 pm
LawDawg, it is just too easy around here, like shooting fish in a barrel, or more like UF playing UGA in Gainesville….it is an automatic.
LawDawg
August 30th, 2010
7:29 pm
Mike Bobo 17 INT,
you can mail me the check!!
dawgster
August 30th, 2010
7:29 pm
“The haters wish they had Red Panties Evans back.”
Michael Adams has Evans’ phone number handy in case McGarity is really serious about cleaning things up.
I’m just sayin’…
WDE
August 30th, 2010
7:30 pm
Why do you guys always dodge Mike Bobo’s points rather than address them? If you read these blogs at all, you’d know he’s a Florida fan. Instead of changing the subject, why don’t you take his comments and refute them?
Because you can’t.
LawDawg
August 30th, 2010
7:31 pm
Mike Bobo 17 INT,
no girlfriend or friends is a terrible thing. Can’t you root for your own team (spin the wheel) and quit with your daily diatribe against UGA (you know…the team you can’t stop obsessing about)?
WDE
August 30th, 2010
7:32 pm
The simple fact is, the UGA program is and has been rotting since 2005. It is really too bad that the fan base is too “woof woof sic ‘em” delusional to realize this and make the change. UGA has a lot of upside, but with an outlaw culture and a coach that doesn’t have the fire to take you to the top, you have to be wondering why you bought that UGA hat in the gas station all those years ago.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 30th, 2010
7:32 pm
WDE, remember these are folks that are members of the Jan Kemp school of reading and debating. All players were required to just show up and color inside the lines.
Shall we go down the Jim Harrick road of testing?
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 30th, 2010
7:34 pm
Caleb King just changed his major to “Physical Education Equipment Management with a minor in “playground organizational theory.”
Bremen Dawg
August 30th, 2010
7:35 pm
Get a new police chief would be the best fix. This happens at every college campus, just others let these little things slide.
ryan
August 30th, 2010
7:35 pm
I think every needs a dose of the SES Strait Edge Society .
Getting old
August 30th, 2010
7:37 pm
Does anyone know if there is an athletic dorm that replaced McWhorther? My understanding is there not, and this unsupervised living environments could be part of the problem. Make the freshman and sophomores stay in one dorm, and have a dang curfew. It will not solve all the problems, but it would be a start.
WDE
August 30th, 2010
7:37 pm
Letting little things slide like sexual assault in Valdosta and underage kids drunk driving on suspended licenses? Bremen Dawg, you should be the new ambassador of UGA football, because you summed up the Athens fanbase’s line of thinking perfectly.
Ralph
August 30th, 2010
7:39 pm
UGA has a larger fan base because they have double the attendance. They are the lower and underclass favorites in this state. Just look at the quality of trucks, cars and trailer parks with the Dawg stickers (and how they drive them).
Tech has a national following (partly because of their higher academic ranking, and being a smaller, scrappy athletic University) and is why they are more often on ESPN Thursday nights.
Paul in RDU
August 30th, 2010
7:41 pm
Les chiens,
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
gt4ever
August 30th, 2010
7:43 pm
I’m going to really learn a lot about that,” McGarity said.”I’m going to learn about our structure, what we have set up as far as education of student-athletes. I want to learn exactly, why is this happening?”
What a JOKE! He is going to look into it……… Typical UGA!
WDE
August 30th, 2010
7:43 pm
FRESH OFF THE NEWSWIRE: McGarity has taken his first administrative step as University of Georgia’s Athletic Director and hired Waka Flocka Flame as Assistant AD of Jail Relations. Here is Waka Flocka in the new pregame video to be aired every Saturday at Stanford Stadium before kickoff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFiPANvxfDg#t=3m13s
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 30th, 2010
7:43 pm
LawDawg, I watch and study alot of college football on Sat., but my favorite game is watching the Dogs getting their asses kicked and the faces in Sanford Stadium. My favorite was the College Gameday Alabama game 2 years ago, now that was a classic.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 30th, 2010
7:45 pm
Ralph, also remember that GT is an ESPN favorite based on their quality of athletics, academics and 4 National Championships.
WDE
August 30th, 2010
7:45 pm
HAHA UGA had quite a good showing against UF and UA the past couple years…
ryan
August 30th, 2010
7:46 pm
There should be an curfew that students who are under 21 not be allowed in bars after 1:00 am evan on the weekend .
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 30th, 2010
7:46 pm
Just as a gentle reminder why College Gameday will never return to Athens, because this is the night the lights when out in Georgia…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl-WDvCsmcM
Capt. Dawg
August 30th, 2010
7:49 pm
Mike Bobo 17 INT – So you get more joy from watching UGA lose than watching your team win? You just summed up your character for everyone on here. Now get outta here ya fricking dink!
Abdul GT Jihadist
August 30th, 2010
7:49 pm
Yes, we here at Tech have a lot of leeway to talk. We teach our players to count to 3 (see Reggie Ball for more details) and had to forfeit 4 years of football games, because our players weren’t attending classes. Lastly, we’re internationally famous for cultivating Islamic Jihadists. Yes, we have high academic and entrance requirements at Tech. Oh and did I mention, our football team has lost to UGA 8 out of the last 9 years and 5 in a row at our home stadium (that looks like a south GA. HS stadium to go along with our HS offense). We also have X-sports stars who get offered jobs at our nerd school and then get busted for smoking weed. Yes we have a fine institution.
Dog Fan in South Carolina
August 30th, 2010
7:49 pm
Liza – are you so unintelligent that you can only use crass slang words?? Why doesn’t someone allow articulate comments on this blog? I am sick of the profanity and name-calling. Only comments that are not degrading should be allowed. I am sick of the arrests, but that does not make UGA a terrible program. Imbecilic morons such as yourself need to get a life – or a blog for the team you support.
WDE
August 30th, 2010
7:51 pm
How many US presidents have graduated from UGA? How many astronauts? How many CEO’s of Wal Mart, the number 1 company on the Fortune 500?
How many Leonard (IQ = -150) Popes have graduated from GT?
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 30th, 2010
7:52 pm
Capt. Dawg, easy now…..you are starting to sound like some Clarke County redneck. You know that if you marry in Clarke County and divorce in Oconee County you are still brother and sister.
Look dude, you need to toughen up like they do in New York and Boston. If you cannot take someone criticizing your program, then you need to move on. Everyone in Athens is do defensive about their tanked football program, and never hammer it and make changes.
Keep up the great work!
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 30th, 2010
7:54 pm
Athens will not fire CMR, because there are not any quality coaches willing to take this program. CMR was hoping for the Pitt job, but settled for Athens only because it was closer to Miami, which is where he will be in 2 years or less.
Kirby Smart with Alabama, a Georgia Alumnus, already gave you the middle finger for DC last year, does that not tell you anything. You are now trying to bring in a 3-4 to try and stop the spread with a washed up pro coach, and it will be business as usual.
You should have fired CMR and turned the program over to Van Gorder, you morons.
DUH
August 30th, 2010
7:55 pm
McGarity has learned the art of covering up at UF. Hopefully, he can pay off the cops in Athens as well.
Envy of UGA out in force
August 30th, 2010
7:55 pm
WDE asked why aren’t Mike Bobo’s points being addressed.
MB said tennis and gymnastics are the only sports we are good at. 132 SEC titles, NCs in 8 sports, multiple in several: football, baseball, men’s tennis, men’s golf, women’s tennis, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, women’ swimming. I will not count equestrian since only a few participate, though for WDE’s sake, I feel sure we own Auburn in that sport.
As for recruiting, just about every UGA football player had multiple offers from ACC/SEC schools, so everyone is recruiting those so-called thugs.
I also detect some racism in use of that term, since high percentages of football players are black.
If you are envious of UGA, at least do not stoop to using implied racism by calling players thugs and hinting that they are academic dumbbells. My guess is the UGA recruits met higher standards to gain entrance than most everyone’s favorite school, omitting the obvious like Vandy, WF, and the Ivy Leagues.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 30th, 2010
7:57 pm
WDE, now give credit where credit is due. Buddie “Blue Jean Shorts” Johnson, a UGA alumnus, we just promoted to CEO of Jeans Outhouses and portable toilets.
How much are those booster fees at Sanford? You folks might want to look for a refund.
J Clay
August 30th, 2010
7:57 pm
Ralph you are complete moron. Tech is on Thursday nights a lot because of the ACC tv deal with ESPN. Surely you must realize that UGA is much more popular on a national level than GT. Anyway, the arrests do need to be cleaned up no doubt about it. I think the Tech fans want Richt fired so badly because they can’t beat him consistently…I wish they could have different sections on this site that all would honor: Tech fans to discuss Tech football (or other sport), UGA fans to discuss UGA football, etc then a section for all this trash and garbage….I think it must be the Tech fans wet dream to come talk smack about UGA th way they troll every article. Get a life and go bow down to mr man boobs CPJ
Big Al
August 30th, 2010
7:59 pm
Man, the ignorance coming out of UGA & Georgia Tech makes the State of Alabama look high classed.
StraightJacket
August 30th, 2010
8:01 pm
The new A.D. needs to learn MORE about UGag traditions. UGag is in an ELITE member, … one of the FEW, the PROUD, … of Fulmer Cup competitors EVERY year.
Greggy, EMBRACE THE TRADITION! LINK:
http://i1043.photobucket.com/albums/b434/GTCorndog/SMALLERFULMERCUP.jpg?t=1282950056
Dawgs Tell
August 30th, 2010
8:01 pm
As stated last week,a number of high profile alumni (money givers) have given the word that the current climate must change.New A.D. has been told to clean up the act,Now not Later! Won/loss records want count in the end.Everybody needs to get their act together.
WDE
August 30th, 2010
8:01 pm
Envy of UGA? What is there to envy about UGA? A declining program and an entire athletic department in complete disarray?
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 30th, 2010
8:02 pm
This is how it is done….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoF1WCSPAus&feature=related
Jan Kemp legacy
August 30th, 2010
8:06 pm
Like GT a few years back, UGA had some problems that Jan Kemp pointed out. It was painful for a few years, as the Dogs watched high profile athletes admitted to other ACC/SEC schools that could not get into UGA due to the reaction to Jan Kemp.
Most UGA alumni now are proud to have high academic standards and a quality, all round athletic program that contends for titles year round, not just in the fall.
WDE
August 30th, 2010
8:07 pm
I call BS, Jan Kemp. What a hollow, unsubstantiated attempt to clarify the sad state of the program.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 30th, 2010
8:08 pm
This is solid coaching and nothing you will see with CMR in your program…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3AnhOAHPZw
Calm down
August 30th, 2010
8:11 pm
Don’t let bitterness rule your life. It is not good for your health in the long run or short run. Look for positives in your favorite school, every school has them. Sure, UGA has more than most, but look at the cup as half full, not half empty.
If not getting admitted to the university is the source of your UGA jealousy, I would like to point out that you can get a good education in every SEC school, plus a number of other colleges in this state.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 30th, 2010
8:11 pm
WDE, unfortunately the UGA program has been tanked since 1981, and not even close to a title since. I think the fanbase would prefer to have Ray Goof or Jim Donnan of New Era back.
Jon Stinchcomb said it best in the spring..”UGA will not win a title, because they do not play as a team, which he learned with the NO Saints, a true champion with a great coach, Sean Payton. I respect Jon and I could respect UGA more if they had fans and players like Job, but they don’t thus it is not easy to toss arrows at this program.