What Greg McGarity has to say …
A few notes from a conversation Monday with Greg McGarity:
- Georgia’s new athletic director concurred with Mark Richt’s decision to dismiss Demetre Baker from the football team after the freshman linebacker’s arrest early Sunday. “When Mark talked to me about it, I was fully supportive of his recommendation,” McGarity said. Asked if this reflects a new zero-tolerance approach to arrests on the football team, McGarity said: “It’s up to the coaches, but yeah, I think Mark has had enough. And he’s made it very clear to the players what is expected.”
- McGarity talked at length during the interview about his scheduling philosophy, which is quite different from his predecessor’s. (I’ll have a full story on that later in the week.) Suffice to say, this week’s trip to Colorado wouldn’t be happening under McGarity’s philosophy, as demonstrated by Monday’s news that a scheduled 2015-2016 series with Oregon has been canceled. McGarity’s basic philosophy is that Georgia should have seven home games per season and should schedule in a way that maximizes the chances of winning championships. “Granted, it may not be the big matchups that everybody loves to play, but I can assure you this: You have to do what is the best scenario for you to get to Atlanta [to play for the SEC championship],” McGarity said. Like I said, much more to come on this.
- One thing McGarity doesn’t want to hear in regard to Georgia’s 0-3 SEC record is about the star player who wasn’t available.
“Nobody likes [the record], but we can’t sit around and play the what-if game — ‘what if A.J. Green had been there?’ We can’t deal with what-ifs,” McGarity said. “They are a crippler. They will absolutely cripple a program if you deal with what-ifs.”
At a meeting Monday morning, McGarity asked the athletic department’s senior staff to approach their work in exactly the same way they would if the team were 4-0. “I think players, coaches, everyone, has to take that same attitude,” he said.
“The only way we have to approach things is to be as positive and supportive as we can be,” he said.
He acknowledged that he’s hearing from Bulldog Nation and “there are a lot of people who are frustrated with the way things are going, and that’s what I’d expect. . . . But we can’t sit around and be pointing fingers. We’ve got to do what we can do to change things.”
The message he gets from fans is mixed, he said. “You’ve got a certain element who just don’t like the way things are. You’ve got an element supporting you, win or lose. And you’ve got an element totally supportive of Coach Richt. You’ve got a little of everything. ”
Also:
Mark Richt: “I understand why everybody’s bent out of shape.”
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284 comments Add your comment
savannahdawg
September 28th, 2010
11:35 am
Hey ELVIS………………..take a look at non-conference schedules for Alamaba, Florida, Ohio State, LSU………….keep going……………..Shut the hell up and make intelligent comments. Go back to dreaming of Elvis.
You idiots who want to complain need to stop. You don’t know what you are talking about and it’s obvious. Do the reasearch before you open your mouth!!
SadDawg (formerly WonderDawg)
September 28th, 2010
11:36 am
Look no further than our Percy Harvin-clone, Brandon Smith. Richt/Bobo have wasted over a season of his career by not getting the football in his hands but about 15 times in 17 games. Myer would have him touch the ball 10-12 times a game. Bobo brings him in so sporatically, when he does so, everybody knows the end-around is coming. It’s laughable how inept and predictable our offense is.
When Richt first got to UGA, David Greene in the shotgun throwing 30 yard down the field, one or two trick plays, and running the hurry-up-offense several times a game (and always the first possession) were staples of our offense. Now there is no hurry-up-offense, even when we have to have it.
You would think Vince (Lombardi, not Dooley) was calling the plays. Hell, even Dooley called at least one trick play per game.
uuugh.
September 28th, 2010
11:37 am
I am disappointed in losing the Oregon Game. Think about it…5 years is enough time for them to go through 50 iterations of uniforms. By 2015 their unies might look like the members of GWAR…and frankly, that would be awesome.
Ken
September 28th, 2010
11:38 am
Great decision. We should have never scheduled some of these games anyway. Our SEC plus Ga Tech is tough enough, we need to schedule the way the other SEC teams schedule outside of the conference.
Gabulldawg47
September 28th, 2010
11:39 am
Fire Bobo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
uuugh.
September 28th, 2010
11:40 am
Sad Dawg it does feel like our offense is dreadfully slow. Not the players, the operation. Halfway through the 3rd quarter last Saturday, I felt like we didn’t have time to come back.
j
September 28th, 2010
11:44 am
If he is looking to win matchups, they are going to be playing 5A high school ball. Even then its a tossup!
SadDawg (formerly WonderDawg)
September 28th, 2010
11:44 am
gt, that punch in the mouth a Greenless UGA gave to your boys last year still smarts, huh? We’re playing terrible, yes, but there’s that light at the end of the tunnel that comes 9 out of 10 Saturdays after Thanksgiving.
Before we carve the Turkey, we give thanks for the blessing of having Ga Tech on our schedule.
BUZZ
September 28th, 2010
11:46 am
just admit you didnt want get embarrassed by the DUCKS , thuga U !!!
Randy
September 28th, 2010
11:48 am
Richt has underachieved with the level of talent that he has had since he’s been here. A couple of years ago he had a team that many saw as being the best in the country. He had Stafford, Green, Marieno and more. Yet he couldn’t even win the SEC. Now the kids see this and many of the top level of talent are going elsewhere. And it’s my understanding that when Micheal Adams was asked if Richt was in danger of losing his job this year his response was No. But his reason wasn’t something like “I believe in Richt and think he can turn things around.” No his reason was that it would cost too much to fire coach Richt this year. This is what UGA has become.
Willis
September 28th, 2010
11:48 am
@ producewiz – Fla plays FSU every year and has played both the Seminoles and Canes OOC in the same season 3 times since 2002 (happening again in 2013). During the 1990’s, UF had to play a Top 5 FSU team the week before each trip to Atlanta. Not exactly the softest OOC schedule.
Ace
September 28th, 2010
11:52 am
UGA has the softest schedule this year and now the SEC is so much better– nope, UGA has degraded so bad they think everyone is better. The SEC is still two tiers with 2 or 3 good teams and a bunch of 7-5 teams. UGA is at the bottom of the lower tier.
SadDawg (formerly WonderDawg)
September 28th, 2010
11:53 am
Bobo thinks the solution to a pass rush (like Ark) is to go play-action, which slows the QG even more from getting back to pass. Dammit, get in the ‘gun and throw a screen to either side, or roll out the pocket (if you must pass from the pocket) to slow down the pass rush.
It took Bobo until the 4th quarter to roll the pocket, and it resulted in Murray planting his feet and making a 46 yard strike. Naturally, he didn’t try it again.
Just because Bobo and Richt played QB in college doesn’t mean they are the best to design plays, or make adjustments vs a clever DC. They should be coaching QBs on drops, footwork, reading defenses and leaving the offense to a new whiz from the NFL.
GaTruth
September 28th, 2010
11:53 am
If your success depends on a single star player, look in the mirror…
You are Duke
CaptainDave
September 28th, 2010
11:54 am
Dirty Dog:
Two words: Anger Management
It was the UGA athletic department and UGA blogs bragging about the OOC schedule last year, so the comment that only ESPN is interested in these matchups is simply not true. The other comments here validate the interest. Take a deep breath.
uuugh:
The AD did not say he was trying to win a BCS championship. He said he was trying to get UGA to Atlanta. Yes, the road to a BCS championship for an SEC team must go through Atlanta. But, the OOC schedule does not help or hurt UGA get to Atlanta.
Want an example how his philosophy might hurt UGA? How about Auburn a few years ago (2004?), who canceled a neutral site game in Atlanta against GT in order to schedule that extra home game against a weak team. Then, when there were three undefeated teams to chose from for the BCS title game, who got left out? Auburn, directly as a result of their decision to weaken their schedule with that extra home game.
dog fan
September 28th, 2010
11:54 am
zero tolerance now? again, the punishment always seems to be based on the position of the athlete caught. starter, key position, another set of rules.
SadDawg (formerly WonderDawg)
September 28th, 2010
11:55 am
“The SEC is still two tiers with 2 or 3 good teams and a bunch of 7-5 teams. UGA is at the bottom of the lower tier.”
****************************************
Thanks for that brilliant analysis, Ace. So I guess that would put UGA in first or second in the ACC?
Paul is a Johnson
September 28th, 2010
11:55 am
Someone said it best above. Everyone wants Richt to start calling plays again. It wasn’t that long ago that everyone was really happy that Richt gave up the playcalling. I think Bobo needs to go but they need to bring in a proven OC and not just turn it back over to Richt.
Non conference scheduling
September 28th, 2010
11:56 am
WOW. Just when things couldn’t get any worse the dawgs start chickening out of games against big time nonconference opponents. So a team like Bama plays teams this century like OU, UCLA, Penn State, VT, Clemson, and Michigan which is looking better in 2012 and what does the Georgia ad do? He chickens out of big time exposure games against big time noncon teams. Are you kidding me?
This is why Georgia was a decent regional team for 50 years and never a nationally elite name like Alabama or UT. Its because those teams played huge noncon games over the years against huge name teams while UGA refused to leave the friendly confines of the immediate southeast for 58 years in the regular season. Freaking cowards! So back to being an ok regional team and leave the national spotlight games to the big boys like Bama.
Savannah dawg,
Put down the crack pipe. Ohio State in recent years played home and homes with USC when it was a power and Texas with Vince Young. Tennessee has been scheduling tough noncon games for years and so have the bammers. LSU played VT in 07 which finished 5th in the country that year. MSU played a 2 game series with Oregon not to long ago. Looks like the real bulldogs in this conference aint scared of the Ducks.
01HAWK
September 28th, 2010
11:59 am
When is UGA going to schedule a big time opponent outside of the conference instead of canceling the game.
SadDawg (formerly WonderDawg)
September 28th, 2010
11:59 am
CaptainDave, how exactly would scheduling a what, 6-6 or 7-5 Ga Tech in ‘04 have helped Auburn’s case for anything?
dawg from a distance
September 28th, 2010
12:00 pm
We don’t develop talent anymore. We used to take 3 star athletes and turn them into David Pollacks, Thomas Davis and David Greene. Now we take 4 and 5 star recruits and they never get any better and actually take steps backwards.
Example, Boykin burst on scene, now can’t cover any one. Brandon Smith was an ex factor now a no factor. How about all those 4-5 star linemen?
Much has to be addressed and changed it appears. I think AJ coming back only deepens the issue since he has been a cancer to the team.
Just my 2 cents worth.
FlaDawg
September 28th, 2010
12:00 pm
Dropping Oregon and picking up Samford (no I didnt spell it wrong)…gotta love it!!!!!!!!
slaughdog
September 28th, 2010
12:01 pm
john–
this is a sports blog. PRES.OBAMA does not have anything to do with GA schedule. Sorry, u could not find your sister to blow u this morning.
WDE
ozzfest
September 28th, 2010
12:02 pm
I AM A SEASON TICKET HOLDER, PULLING THE PLUG ON OREGON IS A SLAP IN THE FACE TO THE FANS. SCREW RICHT AND McGARITY, I WILL BE RIPPING MY IDAHO STATE TICKETS IN HALF AND MAILING THEM BACK. THEY WILL NOT BE USED.
HELL, COLORADO, OK STATE AND AZ STATE SUCKED WHEN WE PLAYED THEM ANYWAY…WHAT IS THIS “WE ARE NOT GOING TO PLAY GAMES LIKE COLORADO” CRAP…WE SHOULD BEAT THEM!…AND I AM GOING!…$$$
ALABAMA PLAYS CLEMSON, VA TECH, MICHIGAN AND NOW TWO MORE GAMES IN OUR BACKYARD. I NOW PICTURE McGARITY AS THE KID IN THE SCHOOLYARD LOOKING TO PICKOFF THE BULLY WITH A SLINGSHOT FROM 50 YARDS OUT INSTEAD OF HITTING THE WEIGHT ROOM AND PROCEEDING TO ACTUAL BEAT UP THE BULLY.
UGH.
WinderDogg
September 28th, 2010
12:03 pm
It is Tuesday and things are not any better….I like the people that come on here and say McGarity is doing a great job…He cancelled one game a million miles away…common sense. Let’s see how long he loves on CMR. He explained that there are CMR supporters…yes Tennessee, Tech, Kentucky, Miss State, Vandy fans…Florida don’t care who our coach is…means the same to them.
Bo in North Carolina
September 28th, 2010
12:04 pm
Burdell, it worked for Florida.
01HAWK
September 28th, 2010
12:05 pm
How about playing some games to get some exposure UGA. Saban gets what he wants, He wants to show recruits in Georgia that I will paly in Atlanta probably every other year and he goes out and does it. UGA plays OK STATE, Arizona State, cancels Oregon. Play some big time opponents.
Bama to play Michigan in 2012
By BamaFootball4Life | Sep 24, 2010 | – Alabama is expected to play Michigan in 2012 in Dallas, UA coach Nick Saban said on his radio program Thursday. “It hasn’t been announced yet, but we’re going to play Michigan in Dallas probably for sure,” Saban said. Saban also said the Crimson Tide will look to set up Atlantic Coast Conference opponents for neutral-site games in Atlanta for 2013 and ’14. Alabama has been in search of a marquee opponent for the 2012 season for months, with speculation ranging from Miami to Texas Tech, from Notre Dame to the Wolverines, and potential venues in Atlanta, Dallas or even Jacksonville, Fla. UA has not played against Michigan since the 1999 Orange Bowl
mcdaviddawg
September 28th, 2010
12:06 pm
The answer for the games no one wants to see , is for the SEC to play more SEC games. As the schools want more and more money, the expectation that playing Southeast Weatern Iowa is getting really old. I get 8 season tickets but that may change completely next year is Richt is still coach. The way things are going we may even lose to some of the these high schools. The coaches want to count these wins in their won loss record but these wins just don’t count. We are 0 and 3 right now and it’s going to get a lot worse. Richt appears totally uninterested. Five plus years of not coaching and I don’t think he remembers how. He can’t coach and can’t manage, what does he do?
Shug
September 28th, 2010
12:06 pm
Can’t wait to see all the UGA-Presbyterian/Elon/UT-Martin match ups that are on the way!
WinderDogg
September 28th, 2010
12:07 pm
Ford Commercials…
dawghater
September 28th, 2010
12:08 pm
Zero Tolerance policy, give me a break. The kid CMR kicked off the team was a freshman that’s never seen the field yet Ealey is caught on a hit & run, driving on a suspended license and underage drinking in his car. What does the tough UGA coaching staff do, suspends him for a meaningless game. To bad for UGA fans, Ealey wasn’t suspened for the S. Carolina game and Miss. State game. The outcome might have been differnce. That’s called Karma!
dawghater
September 28th, 2010
12:09 pm
UGA cancelling the Oregon series. Put that tail between you leg and run. Guess the UT/Oregon game scared Athens off! Woof, Woof, Wimper, Wimper!
GaTruth
September 28th, 2010
12:11 pm
Man, I just hope we don’t schedule James Madison… I mean they are ranked higher right now by Sagerin
wimp
September 28th, 2010
12:12 pm
this guy is soft. taking the path of least resistance. the oregon series would be tremendous
01HAWK
September 28th, 2010
12:13 pm
HEY UGA…………………………..You can take some of those 3-5 stars BAMA has and get them to transfer to UGA since BAMA is 4-5 deep at every position.
BAMA…………………………Not afraid to play anyone. anywhere, and at anytime. CMR has set your school back another 5 years.
Get used to the ROTO ROOTER BOWL, and the TAMPON BOWL.
wimp
September 28th, 2010
12:13 pm
Dawghater – that is hilarious! Ealey has single-handedly ruined the season so far – and if Richt had been consistently strict (rhyme intended) perhaps UGA is 3-0.
wimp
September 28th, 2010
12:14 pm
easy now – I think Buford HS would be a good matchup for Michigan these days
Right On
September 28th, 2010
12:16 pm
Right on NC Dawg, we play it the toughest conference why would you want to schedule anything else. The last 4 NC have been from the SEC, get a life people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
01HAWK
September 28th, 2010
12:16 pm
I hear Greenville College, FURMAN, and APP STATE………………OH, I am sorry, APP State would probably beat you. I meant to say SAMFORD or UT Chattanooga.
Don
September 28th, 2010
12:17 pm
Greg, if you want to do everything to help us win championships, you will terminate this one-sided affair in Jacksonville ASAP and make the games home-and-home.
icallbs
September 28th, 2010
12:18 pm
I agree with elvisaintdead, UGA needs to schedule more creampuffs, like for instance, Georgia Tech.
WinderDogg
September 28th, 2010
12:18 pm
Buford recruits better than Rich Rod that is why…
Truthfully
September 28th, 2010
12:22 pm
There are only two really good SEC teams UF Ala and two pretty decent teams SC AUB and these two are good in cycles every couple of years or so . So why does everyone think this conference is sooooo tough ??
seriously ??
01HAWK
September 28th, 2010
12:22 pm
On the uniforms………………….Oregon and UGA could have switched up every quarter on the uniforms.
UGA could wear there combination of the red and black hats with RED, WHITE, or BLACK jerseys, and have gray, black, red, or white pants to do a black out or a red out.
And of course Oregon has 100 uniforms due to they are close to NIKE. You could have GLAMOUR magazine along wiith NEXT TOP MODEL there to look on.
T
SlimG
September 28th, 2010
12:23 pm
With our SEC schedule, nobody will question who we play. Next, CMR has to address the offense play calling. We just forget who we are when in the red zone, and no more big play attempts when the defense is fooled.
Speaking of defense, since VanGorder left, there has been no attack defense. None, nope, nadahhhh….Bring Back the JunkYard Dawgs, Please!
Truthfully
September 28th, 2010
12:24 pm
The last 4 titles were won by those same two teams UF ALA. That does not make the conference tough just those two teams with the rest riding their D@&**
seriously
West Coast Bias
September 28th, 2010
12:25 pm
I have to disagree with McGarity and some of the posters on this blog- cancelling the Oregon series is embarrassing. It goes to the heart of what is already said out West- the SEC is afraid of non-conference games against BCS conference teams and they point to the SECs losing record against the Pac 10 this decade as evidence.
I was really looking forward to seeing the Dawgs in Autzen. I can’t believe UGA is now taking the cowardly Florida way in scheduling- can’t wait for all those games against the Citadel.
PTC DAWG
September 28th, 2010
12:25 pm
The lack of basic knowledge about UGA and scheduling is funny to me. Many of UGA’s rivals have 8 home games EVERY YEAR, and McGarity wants 7, and some are freaking out.
toga
September 28th, 2010
12:26 pm
Cancelling Oregon is weak. Change from red and black to yellow. Georgia has never been the same since Bama thumped you during the blackout. As an SEC fan, you guys are an embarrassment. Can’t wait to see Colorado pound the dogs.