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
Dogfaddle
September 28th, 2010
12:27 pm
The AD has it right. The answer is to just play weaker teams not to get all worked up about our poor play. Why don’t we just transfer to another conference where the going is easier like the Ivy League? Or the way we’re going we could play prison teams like SingSing or Levinworth or the prison guards like in The Longest Yard. While we’re at it we could change our mascot to the poodle and bring in some pink uniforms.
01HAWK
September 28th, 2010
12:28 pm
I guess Tennessee got beat so bad tby OREGON that your AD could not wait to call that game off. Interesting to see what UGA does with Tennessee.
You know, UAB came very close to knocking of the VOLS if it were not for the field goal kicker missing 5 field goals for UAB. Can not wait for that game. You can always call Neil Calloway a former UGA coach and now the UAB coach and get another game with them or are you afraid.
West Coast Bias
September 28th, 2010
12:28 pm
O1Hawk- are you kidding me? Alabama played Penn State this year exactly because they were afraid to play them a few years ago and BEGGED Penn State to push back the series. Talk about being cowards!
db
September 28th, 2010
12:28 pm
Going for a weaker schedule? Well I guess if you can’t play with the Big Boys, may as well go to the children’s playground and look for someone you can bully. Pathetic! (And I don’t even like using that word).
db
September 28th, 2010
12:31 pm
I hear the Red Panty Petunias are available for a game next year. Can we schedule, can we?
Alphare
September 28th, 2010
12:32 pm
The AD is realistic. If I am the AD, I’d have a schedule like Boise State’s. If I can dump all those SEC teams from my schedule, believe me, I will. Who cares which teams you play against as long as you can win? The fans only cares about wins. If you can win 12 games year after year, UGA fans will pour their money like water.
West Coast Bias
September 28th, 2010
12:34 pm
db- not sure if you’re confused or brilliant since you managed to take shot at both Evans- who promoted a national schedule- and McGarity who wants a soft, Gator-like provincial schedule.
Buckeye
September 28th, 2010
12:35 pm
Here’s to Legitimate non-conference home and home scheduling ……..woof woof
Recent Past: Texas, USC
Current: Miami
Future: Cal, Va Tech, Oklahoma, Tennessee ( who might improve by 2019 )
dale in newnan
September 28th, 2010
12:36 pm
As a UGA fan since ‘74, I have supported the team through good times and lean times equally. However, I find the new scheduling philosophy disappointing. Why can’t we be better than UF, is our envy so overpowering that they have regulated us to such cowardice? I find it humiliating that we have admitted that the program is not capable, or will ever be able, to handle the adversities of OOC’s. This general philosophy that permeates the entire Athletic Department is the primary reason UGA will never be National Power. To be truly Great, One must be truly tested. All the home games against all the La-Laffayettes will ever erase that since of inferiority.
Bud Weiser
September 28th, 2010
12:38 pm
If you want to brag your the best then play a tough schedule. Don’t sign up teams that are willing to sacrifice their players for a million dollar pay check. Who wants to go to a game where the other team has absolutely no chance? You dilute the strength of schedule to the point where you wont be considered for a National Championship no matter how many wins you have. Beating the tar out of the likes of Louisiana Lafayette wont get you anywhere in the poles, beating someone like Oregon will. Damon Evans was willing to schedule tougher schools outside the SEC to give UGA a higher profile for the rest of the nation to see, looks like this new AD wants wins with a watered down schedule that nobody cares to see. This is painful to watch, this season is already in the toilet and if next season is a replica then Mark Richt will be a new annalist for ESPN in 2012.
WinderDogg
September 28th, 2010
12:40 pm
Dale – I agree…but also remember when beating Auburn, Florida, and Tech made our season. Now we celebrate vandy, kentucky….It is easy to see how far we have fallen based on the excitement of who we beat…which this year has been no one.
Tide Roll
September 28th, 2010
12:40 pm
BEN JONES SHOULD BE KICKED OFF THE TEAM FOR THAT STUNT. I HOPE THE MISS. STATE KID IS OK. WHAT A SORRY POS PROGRAM YA’LL HAVE. THEY SAY THE BEST CUT BLOCK YET WAS CHRIS DAVIS ON STURDIVANT. HIS OWN TEAMMATE! SHEESH WHAT A PROGRAM. IF RICHT DOESN’T KICK JONES OFF THE TEAM, HE SHOULD BE FIRED. THERE’S NO PLACE FOR THIS AT ANY LEVEL.
WinderDogg
September 28th, 2010
12:43 pm
Tim Jennings on MNF for the Bears…could not cover himself in bed at UGA….but playing in NFL
Alphare
September 28th, 2010
12:44 pm
Dale,
be honest with yourself, you want to win or you want to win in style and fashion? Remember UGA blew out LA-La and you were ranked 18th, and no fans started complaining?
The next week you played SC, you lost and you lost your ranking too. Every UGA fan wanted Richt’s head.
Remember, winning ugly is whole lot better than losing. Some big-mouth UGA fans would tell you they’d die in glory than live as a coward. Never believe them!
Nick Saban
September 28th, 2010
12:48 pm
Tide Roll- get back on your meds young man.
Gatorbait 17-3
September 28th, 2010
12:48 pm
bulldawgbill
September 28th, 2010
11:07 am
Seven home games is good for the team, students, and Athens economy. We could have 7 home games and schedule interesting out of conference schools if we didn’t have to go to Jacksonville every year. That is something I want McGarity to change. Of all people, he should understand why this is an advantage for FL . We need to do a home and home with FL. Jacksonville is the arm pit of Flrodia. The FL and GA students can get plenty to drink in Athens and Gainesville.
How quickly you forget, Jax was great when Dooly was winning all those games—–not so much with Richt. BTW, you did try a home and home in the 90’s and Georgia had 50+ put on them in both places———–try going some else.
DOO DOO LEE
September 28th, 2010
12:50 pm
what about the other 9 arrest? It acutally took you 10 arrest to say you had enough? TEN? And then only because you are o-3 in the SEC. If you were 3-0, doubt if you would have had enough. Yeah, get the FL athletic director to schedule pitiful div 3 Charleston Southern on the schedule. Could that be anymore shameful? Is that what 5 stars are for? Does it take 5 stars to beat these people? I guess at UGA it does
YoungDawg
September 28th, 2010
12:51 pm
“We’ve got to do what we can do to change things.” It might be time to change head coaches. I love CMR but there’re just too many issues that are now translating into losses. If we can’t turn this season around (Be competitive against FL & Auburn while winning the rest) then it might be time to move on. My short list based on connections to UGA or the AD is: Kirby Smart, Will Muschamp & Dan Mullen. If it’s a boarder search we should consider: Jim Harbaugh, Chris Peterson & Gus Malzahn.
Usually I advocate for the players BUT if we run the table with AJ back on the team I think he OWES it to the Dawg Nation to come back for his Sr. year!!!
DOO DOO LEE
September 28th, 2010
12:52 pm
if you do schedule a game with Charleston Southern, make sure it is at their stadium, which by the way looks like a junior h.s. stadium. High school kids would not even play there.
Gatorbait 17-3
September 28th, 2010
12:52 pm
West Coast Bias
Just how many of those great northwest schools have won National Champioship lately. College football is a business and 7 home games gets the revenue————get it?
brett
September 28th, 2010
12:53 pm
do you think with McGarity’s new scheduling philosophy, that there might be a chance to get out of the Jacksonville debacle each year? Either by going back to the campuses or by rotating game between Jacksonville and Atlanta.
dylandawg
September 28th, 2010
12:53 pm
The scheduling thing is riduclous…would I have felt better if we beat western valley state rather than lost to Oklahoma State….no…why because it is lame and as a fan I like to see good games…..1 patsy a year is enough…it won’t stop until we quit going
Paddy
September 28th, 2010
12:53 pm
hobnailbooty…..there is no payout with the cancelled Oregon series. It was reciprical.
thwg
September 28th, 2010
12:55 pm
Cancelled Oregon – what a pansy program. While FSU and MI and others are playing on the road at OSU, Oklahoma, and Alabama is playing Penn State, etc, sounds like UGA is running away from Oregon so they don’t get the !@#$%^ kicked out of them. Maybe they can replace Oregon with GSU and some other division II teams. What a pathetic athletic program. I guess the new AD is getting an ear full from Richt about minimizing the tough teams. Hell, Boise plays a tougher schedule than the puppies. You dawgs have to be proud: 1-3, and AD with red panties and a DUI, 10 arrests, now a pansy AD to replace him. I have more respect for Vanderbilt.
Florida Dawg
September 28th, 2010
12:56 pm
I’m more concerned if other teams start scheduling us as their patsy….could that actually happen? Hope not.
Been following the dogs since the late 60’s and one thing I know that all of you seasoned guys remember, we didn’t win them all under Dooley, but the games we played in, the opponent knew they were in a DAWG fight from start to finish.
Even if we lost, we could walk off the field with our heads high. Remember those days???
We have to get back to that way of thinking and playing…we have to be the dreaded team on anyone’s schedule.
chickenman
September 28th, 2010
12:59 pm
IN CMR I TRUST…
Gatorbait 17-3
September 28th, 2010
12:59 pm
You people worry about the wrong things, take one game at a time and everything else will work out.
And for goodness sake beat Colorado and don’t embarrass the SEC.
jlc557
September 28th, 2010
1:00 pm
Georgia87. I have always wondered the same thing. I have heard Richt say a number of times about players he didn’t know of getting into the game or going back in. WTH??????????????. what is he doing out there. I bet Saban or Meyer would know. COACHING is the problem at Georgia.
1Traveler
September 28th, 2010
1:02 pm
What a numb-skull statement. “We’re going to act like we’re 4-0.”
Thank gawd I’m not a Georgia fan so I don’t have to hear that sort of garbage on a regular basis.
University of Excuses
September 28th, 2010
1:06 pm
Yep, Georgia fans – the main issue with beating Florida is the location of the game. Not Florida’s players or Florida’s coaches. No, sir. It’s the location of the game. Wow.
Ace
September 28th, 2010
1:31 pm
The ACC has nothing to do with UGA’s sorry showing, funny how childish some of you fans of a losing program can be.
ugaclassof2004
September 28th, 2010
1:43 pm
Yeah Bama and Florida plays real stiff competition like Ga State and the Citadel in NOVEMBER! Yet Tennessee and UGA want to travel all over the country playing Pac 10 and Big 10 teams? Yeah sounds like a sound philosphy! Trying to appeal to the National Media seems pretty minor league to me, not to mention that it is a virtual gurantee that your team will lose more games! I say play your conference games. Its tough enough!
ugaclassof2004
September 28th, 2010
1:46 pm
thwg
Boise plays a tougher schedule than UGA?
OK now you’re just retarded. Did you ride the small bus to school?
University of Excuses
September 28th, 2010
1:48 pm
ugaclassof2004 – Florida plays FSU in November, the week before the SEC championship game, in fact. For 14 straight years that meant that UF played a Top 5 team OOC. Has UGA ever had a 14 year period where it played a Top 5 team OOC each season?
HeHateGator
September 28th, 2010
1:48 pm
Turning over all the coaches except the main one simply postpones the inevitable similar to Auburn and Tenn situations…fix it ALL at end of the season…
Rob
September 28th, 2010
1:48 pm
The move towards three “cupcake” OOC games is disappointing. However, this is the model that Florida uses. Unfortunately, the current system doesn’t reward a tough schedule; a 12-0 team from a major conference is going to be ranked ahead of an 11-1 team even if the 11-1 team plays a stronger schedule.
Georgia ended up in the bowl it deserved last year, but let’s face it – the loss to Oklahoma State knocked UGA from 8-4 to 7-5 and dropped them down a level in the bowls. An 8-4 UGA would have almost certainly gone one or two bowls higher in the selection process.
This isn’t going to change unless the system starts placing more emphasis on quality wins than on number of losses.
Ace
September 28th, 2010
1:51 pm
UGA is the cupcake this year, here your chance to spoil somebody’s homecoming.
harold
September 28th, 2010
1:52 pm
Enter your comments here
harold
September 28th, 2010
1:52 pm
IT IS TIME TO FIRE MARK RICHT!
SEC FAN
September 28th, 2010
1:54 pm
I believe Colorado will win. Even if Richt calls the plays. Colorado will be the more motivated team. The guy at Colorado knows this season will be his last chance.
how2fish
September 28th, 2010
1:55 pm
Ace did you happen to catch the Bug game Saturday…talk about a losing program…NC State is a decent program..but Kansas… Florida Dawg I remember the Dooley Days…and if you think we had any reason to hang our heads after the ARK game..we were watching different games..at SC we didn’t play well ran into a very good running back and lost but we didn’t quit..last week I really can’t say that we should of beat Miss St but we didn’t deserve too.I like the new AD’s approach to this turmoil so far fair and measured with more of a “lets take a good look and decide what needs doing” rather than a “off with their heads” mentality.
Gecko
September 28th, 2010
1:56 pm
Can switching your car insurance to Geico save you 20% or more? Will UGA win an SEC game this year?
jrmdvm1
September 28th, 2010
1:57 pm
One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting
different results. A pattern of decline seems to be apparent to many. Most
fans don’t want to hear that we will “keep working” to get better. Why?
Because most of us do not doubt the work already done by the coaches and
players. They have worked hard, but, so far, it has not worked. Maybe
something in the way things are done needs to be changed. I am sure that
there are many good ideas out there, but here are mine:
My Prescription for the dawgs:
Practice:
All through spring and fall camps and every week of the season,
there are too many “limited” contact days ( Shorts and Shells or less ). More
full contact to get ready to really play football. Eliminate THUD ( whatever that
acronym stands for ) and tackle to the ground. When I was in high school, we
were in full pads nearly every day and always had full contact work. Seems to
me we need this based on our tackling. And full speed, full contact work can’t
be bad for the blockers either. Blocking sleds don’t try to dodge you and no
matter how hard they are to push forward, they don’t really push back against
you. No more 1’s vs. 2’s only. Must have some 1’s vs. 1’s, and substitute as in
a game. I know this may result in more injuries, but the players we have playing
won’t be as “soft” as they appear to be now. The old saying is that you play the
way you practice, so practice needs to be tougher than a game.
Conditioning:
I have said this before: I think that there is too much emphasis on
strength and too little on conditioning. When I was in high school, everyone on
the team had to be able to run a six minute mile, and it wasn’t just at the
beginning of fall practice. We might have to “qualify” at any time during the
season, especially after a loss. We appear to be weak in terms of
cardio-vascular conditioning. I am not totally sure why this is. We don’t see
much film of S&C work, so I may be wrong about this part, but it seems to me
that we could use more endurance, even with a slight loss in the strength
department. The question that comes to mind: When we see players “taking a
play off”, is it because of endurance problems? ( see above about practice:
the game should be easier than the work in practice and in conditioning )
Defensive scheme:
I can live with CTG’s 3-4, even without a mammoth nose tackle.
Whoever is playing nose must beat his man by either pushing him back, or by
getting around him. When that happens, someone else will have to “help the
center” and that will clog the middle and keep the “helper” off the linebackers. I
like that CTG is teaching the “philosophy” of the scheme, so that there is
understanding of what the defense is trying to do by the players. But, I am
also a proponent of KISS, and maybe the defensive playbook is too
complicated. Haven’t seen it, so I don’t know. I do know that in college
football, there will always be a greater number of new players than what a pro
team will usually face, so KISS is still somewhat appropriate even after the 1st
year of a new defensive system.
Offensive scheme:
I don’t care who “calls” the plays, so long as they are called with
some thinking behind them. There are some simple things that seem to work in
the game of football. If the “box” is stacked at the line and is tight, find a way to
go outside. Quick screens are the nearly universal response to a defense that
is blitzing heavily. When the defensive line is penetrating, you don’t call a play
that starts on the right side of the backfield and is designed to go wide left. In
short yardage, if you need to pass, you should try to run routes that create a
short zone where there are more recievers than defenders. “Blind” play calling,
whether for runs or for passes, is not acceptable after the initial series of plays.
Something must be done to keep the defense guessing, instead of apparently
being sure about the play that is coming next. I could even let AM call the plays
on the field.
Trust me, I AM a Doctor! Specifically a Veterinarian, so I know how to fix dogs.
Ace
September 28th, 2010
1:59 pm
GT beat MS the last 2 years, there again GT has nothing to do with UGAs losing record, or does it just make you feel better to change the subject.
Army Chaplain in Iraq
September 28th, 2010
2:01 pm
Just wondering, what would you had rather had last year, a win against U.L.L. or a loss to Oklahoma State. It great if you win these big games, but a killer for the season if you lose, in the end it is about campionships (not that we know what that’s like in Athens).
University of Florida
September 28th, 2010
2:03 pm
New decade, same ol’ Dawgs. Can’t wait to see y’all in Jax!
Undercover "dawg", North Ave, Atlanta address
September 28th, 2010
2:06 pm
Whats sad is you “kerryb”, this blog needs a hellava lot more Bama, Florida and a yea, Ga Tech. If we don’t have a good football team at least walking around our campus IS exciting. The drive by’s, the armed robberies, the hookers, what a life. YOU need to get out more.
bbcsickdawg
September 28th, 2010
2:06 pm
death penality don’t have to watch that way
ugaclassof2004
September 28th, 2010
2:08 pm
University of Excuses
Yeah, because FSU has been a real powerhouse in this decade!! Florida out of conference scheduling is a joke. Need I remind you that your program DROPPED Miami in the early 90’s at the height of their dynasty. And the SEC in the 90’s was NO WHERE near as tough as it is now. I’ll give the Gators credit for their recent run, and as a program they are light years ahead of UGA. But I don’t see them scheduling any Oklahoma State’s or Pac-10 teams on their schedule. Its not so much the out of conference scheduling that is killer as it is the TRAVEL! This isn’t the pros: these kids aren’t used to traveling from coast to coast, then having to turn around and play a tough conference opponent the next week. Hell that’s even tough for Pro players! Yet the UGA fanbase thinks that will give them more credibilty with the BCS? I say pattern yourself after the winning program in you division. Florida pays their conference schedule and then finishes with their ACC “rival”, at the end of the year. UGA should do the same thing.
shannon
September 28th, 2010
2:18 pm
Both teams wanted to cancel the series-oregon’s new schedule when it becomes the PAC-12 was causing problems for them too.
As far as a new hire, I want Jim Harbaugh