UPDATED: Football assistant Rodney Garner leaving Georgia ‘to get Auburn back on track’
Rodney Garner has served as Georgia's defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator for 15 years. He has been Mark Richt's assistant head coach since 2005. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
ATHENS – In the end, Rodney Garner felt like he could no longer ignore his alma mater’s calls for help.
Garner, Georgia’s assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach for the past 12 years, accepted an offer to handle the same jobs at Auburn, where he played offensive line and started his coaching career. He will also receive a significant salary increase from the $300,000 a year he earned with the Bulldogs.
But as Garner adamantly pointed out in an exclusive interview with the AJC Thursday night, “this is not about the money.”
“It was a very difficult decision,” Garner said. “I’ve been approached many times about this opportunity. But it’s my alma mater. It may be more of a pride thing, just looking at where they are right now and feeling like I really wanted to be a part of getting them back on track. I just felt like God was leading me in this direction. It’s something I prayed about and it was not an easy decision. I would not have left for any other reason than Auburn.”
Garner, 46, has received overtures from Auburn several times over the years, including from Tommy Tuberville and Gene Chizik. Chizik was dismissed after the Tigers went 3-9 this past season. Gus Malzahn, who was Chizik’s offensive coordinator but left to become head coach at Arkansas State, was hired by Auburn on Dec. 4.
Garner has spent the last 12 seasons at Georgia working under head coach Mark Richt. He was hired at UGA by former coach Jim Donnan in 1998. A native of Leeds, Ala., he played for the Tigers under Pat Dye from 1984-88. He also met his wife Kimberly there.
Garner will join the Tigers’ staff immediately.
“It’s just time,” Garner said. “I’ve been at Georgia 15 years. It’s been awesome. Worked for two great head coaches at the University of Georgia. Jim Donnan gave me the opportunity to come here, who I have a tremendous amount of respect and love for. And then Coach Richt who retained me and I worked for him for 12 years. Coach Donnan is already in the Hall of Fame, and I’m sure Coach Richt will be one day. So it was a very difficult decision.”
Garner said he spent a long time Thursday counseling with Georgia’s team chaplain Thomas Settles about his decision, then a long time talking to Richt Thursday night.
“It’s difficult because you’re going to a rival school,” Garner said. “Mark has been very good to me and I want people to know that. People need to recognize the body of work that Mark has done here. Here’s a guy who has been at Georgia 12 years and he’s gone to the (SEC) championship game five times. Prior to him coming there, they’d never been to that game. I look at what he’s done there for 12 years, the way he’s done it, the way he’s won with class and integrity, and he’s just been a great guy to work for. So it’s hard leaving him. I mean it really was. But everything I hear about Coach (Gus) Malzahn is that he’s that same caliber of man, cut from that same cloth, and I think it will be a family-friendly environment, which is important to me, with a wife and six daughters.”
Many preliminary reports about Garner’s interest in joining the Auburn hinted at discord between him and Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“The defensive staff we had at Georgia, Coach Grantham, I just think he’s great; he’s awesome,” Garner said. “I think Todd deserves to be a head coach. I was really thinking he’d get some shots at it this year. I think he’s one of the brightest minds I’ve ever been around. Then Scott (Lakatos) and KO (Kirk Olivadotti), we just had a lot of chemistry on that staff.”
Garner would not discuss the financial terms of his contract with Auburn other than to say, “it’s a good deal.” He was on a yearly contract with Bulldogs.
“I’m sure at some point it will all become public record, but that’s not what this was about,” he reiterated.
Regardless, Garner’s departure comes at a complicated time for Georgia. The Bulldogs are in the midst of recruiting their biggest class of the restricted-scholarship era — around 35 in all — and obviously Garner is the hub of that effort. Best known for attracting great defensive linemen to come play for him, Georgia has been considered a leader for junior college all-star Toby Johnson and 5-star defensive tackle Montravius Adams of Dooly County. Both signings could now be in jeopardy.
“I’m kind of surprised, but it helps Auburn,” Adams told 247Sports. “We have a great relationship. He’s a great guy. I know that he’s a guy that will get defensive linemen to the league. I wouldn’t mind him being a guy that coaches me for three or four years. He’s going to be a guy that I’m going to be with most of the time besides the weight-training guy.”
Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs was the first to announce Garner’s hire via Twitter. Auburn later sent out a news release that quoted Malzahn and Garner.
“We’re excited to announce Rodney Garner as our assistant head coach and defensive line coach,” Malzahn said in the statement. “Rodney is one of the top defensive line coaches in college football who has had great success in the Southeastern Conference. We’re excited to welcome an Auburn man back home.”
Said Garner: “I owe a lot to Auburn and the men who helped mold me to who I am today both professionally and personally. I’m very appreciative to Coach Malzahn for this opportunity and I feel very strongly that I can be an asset to the program. I have a lot of love for Auburn and I felt this was a great chance to help give back to a place that has given me so much. I look forward to helping get Auburn back to where it belongs.”
Richt finally acknowledged Garner’s departure in a statement released at 11 a.m. Friday:
“I want to thank Rodney for 15 years of loyal service to UGA. He was the first assistant I hired when I came to Georgia and it turned out to be a great decision. He’s a tremendous ball coach, recruiter, and mentor and a great example of what a good father and husband should be. He’s been a blessing to my life as well as to UGA. We wish him and Kim all the best.”
MORE ON GARNER
Here’s a link to a “10 Things You Should Know about Rodney Garner” profile I did this past summer.
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493 comments Add your comment
tell the truth
December 21st, 2012
8:52 am
For people that think recruits will follow Garner to The Barn,I think most of them know that theres a good chanch The Barn will be going on PROBATION.
Who's going to cook the Turkey next year??
December 21st, 2012
8:56 am
Our biggest void will be…..Who’s going to cook the Turkey next Thanksgiving day? Will Garner gone?
Who's going to cook the Turkey next year??
December 21st, 2012
8:56 am
Our biggest void will be…..Who’s going to cook the Turkey next Thanksgiving day? With Garner gone?
Gene
December 21st, 2012
8:58 am
Very surprising that Gus would hire Garner after he was paymaster for Dye. Garner is a good recruiter. Hopefully Gus will keep “Garner-quality recruits” (like Ellerbee and Odell Thurman) in line. Garner is a step up from Trooper Taylor but only a very small step. He doesn’t wear his cap sideways.
AltamahaDawg
December 21st, 2012
8:58 am
I think that the title of recruiting co-ordinator gets mistaken as THE recruiter. The Co-ordinator lines up the trips, meetings, scouting, etc. He’s not really who goes out and sits in the living rooms, and high school games, and coaches offices. (although I sure he does his fair share) Read any recruit Bio, and you’ll see specific coaches assigned to inking the kid.
JB
December 21st, 2012
9:00 am
Purse strings pretty tight in Athens ( say Grantham) so the hire will be an up and comer. VanGorder left over money.
JB
December 21st, 2012
9:02 am
True AltamahaDawg
debow
December 21st, 2012
9:02 am
since when was UGA the leader for Adams???
robodawg
December 21st, 2012
9:02 am
Shoot. Those will be big shoes to fill on our staff. Best wishes to Garner. We have a critical hire coming up.
DawginLex
December 21st, 2012
9:03 am
All you baboons who have been asking for him to be fired, HELLO!!!!
You got your wish.
The recruiting this man did is not something easily replaced. His coaching of many future NFL players is not overlooked by recruits.
He got us players in the ATL area and Gwinnett County.
This is a big loss for Georgia. He wanted to go back to his alma mater. You can’t fault him for that.
But, anyone that doesn’t believe that this was ultimately about money is truly naive.
bamaguy
December 21st, 2012
9:03 am
He has been on that staff a long time. That adds up to a lot of disappointments. Maybe he is tired of seeing Richt shat the bed so much and knows it time to go.
Dawg Fud
December 21st, 2012
9:06 am
Much respect for Jim Donnan?? The dude ran a ponzi scheme.
Give me a break, Rodney.
AltamahaDawg
December 21st, 2012
9:09 am
And paleezz. You Other fan come in here, read..what 7anonymous guys making negative comments about Garner, and pass some judgements about “UGA fans”. Great deductive reasoning there.
.000001 does not represent a fan base. BTW, they say nasty things about the coaches that didn’t leave too, so what does that tell ya?
Based on that, I suppose I could conclude that all (your school) fans are just a bunch of classless trolls, based on the handful of you guys that live in here.
Rational 1
December 21st, 2012
9:11 am
Got to love UGA fans: when the coach leaves, “we never needed him anyway. He sucks.” When a new coach comes in: “he’s the greatest ever and is from Vince Dooley’s lineage. We are preseason national champs AGAIN!”
Dwags gonna dwag.
Cam Dewton
December 21st, 2012
9:11 am
Just think if Garner would have been at the Barn when I came out of HS, UGA would have recruited me as a QB instead of a TE. Then I could have stole laptops at Georgia instead of UF.
Chuck UUGA
December 21st, 2012
9:11 am
As a 43-year UGA football fan (serious fan) and current booster, I can tell you the history of Auburn derailing Georgia football success is legendary. This is just another example. Georgia’s defensive line recruitment just crashed and probably means they will lose both Johnson and Adams to Auburn and then some (may not sign but one or two DL). What was a likely return to the Dome in 2013 just plummeted to a 9-3 Outback Bowl appearance at best and perhaps one more SEC East title before Richt leaves in a few years. We won’t win another SEC Title for a decade or more. The only thing Richt can do to alleviate the situation is find a defensive line coach with an NFL pedigree to avoid a collapse of the program. You CANNOT WIN in the SEC without a slew of defensive linemen. Both Richt’s legacy and Greg McGarity’s job hinge on a solid hire. Combine that with Adams retirement and the “unknown” as to who will run the University places Georgia football at a crossroads. Could maintain a 9-12 wins-per-season or plummet back to Goff days within five years or less. A LOT of jobs are on the line here!
George Brewer
December 21st, 2012
9:12 am
Coach Garner has done a-ton for the UGA and I for one thank him for a job well done.
Good Luck “G” and may God Bless you and your family!
Cam Dewton
December 21st, 2012
9:12 am
Rational 1 was that Dooley’s lineage or loineage?
Moist Dawg
December 21st, 2012
9:12 am
What a traitor. He’s right, it’s not about the money, it’s about loyalty, and Rodney just doesn’t have it. Don’t let the door hit ya on the way out Rodney. What a disgrace.
PR
December 21st, 2012
9:13 am
Good Luck to Coach RG. He’s given many good years to UGA. I’m VERY excited however about some of the names I’ve seen out there to replace CRG…
The right hire at this position could be crucial for finishing the ‘13 class with a bang.
TIM BUCK
December 21st, 2012
9:13 am
BAMA OWNS BOTH AWEBARN AND GAWGEE…..
Aubie
December 21st, 2012
9:13 am
@ Fig Newton….what the hell are you talking about? Teams on probation????? doesn’t UGA lead the SEC in suspending players for drugs, weapons, assault. Spurrier always said he loves playing UGA in the beginning of the season because half the starters are on suspension. Now thats funny….but true.
The Barn Mentalist
December 21st, 2012
9:16 am
Rational1, “Dyes paymaster” but not CMR’s paymaster? L E G H U M P E R S never cease to amaze me.
Bryant Young
December 21st, 2012
9:17 am
Richt better hire an NFL lineman like me to coach these young pups.
AltamahaDawg
December 21st, 2012
9:18 am
I’d be happy with a guy who actually has the Other Georgia on his map, for my money. The legends rarely seem to come from Atlanta, IMO. It’s probably the central core of recruiting, based on pure #s, I realize, but we need more plowboys.
And we’ll always get just as many Atlanta boys no matter what.
clem
December 21st, 2012
9:18 am
look for more future problems with recruiting at auburn….to get auburn back on track will cost lots to get the athletes
YeahC'mon
December 21st, 2012
9:18 am
MoistDawg….you’re an a$$
The Truth and you know it fellas
December 21st, 2012
9:19 am
Garner left because he was tired of answering to Choke Grantham after the worlds greatest Defensive Coordinator had the ball jambed down his choking throat by Bama.
Nothing Could Be Finer
December 21st, 2012
9:19 am
Who’s ready for 4-IN-A-ROW?
See yall September 7, 2013.
Rational 1
December 21st, 2012
9:20 am
UGA fans say that the guy who recruited in Knowshon Moreno, Asher Allen, Akeem Dent, Brandon Boykin, Branden Smith, Alec Ogletree, Chris Burnette, Kwame Geathers, Jonathan Jenkins and many others isn’t much of a loss.
LLH.
AltamahaDawg
December 21st, 2012
9:21 am
Moist, you are the king of negative vocabulary words, aren’t you?
And I am sure you boss will appreciate your lifetime commmitment to your current job.
GimmeAbreak
December 21st, 2012
9:22 am
No sour grapes here. Garner did a good job for UGA as a recruiter. I have never been sold on him as D-line coach though. It shouldn’t take 4 full quarters of missing tackles to see that a big man is rarely brought down when he is hit chest-high! Never did our line try to make leg tackles and the result was… 350 yards rushing! I guess CRG was in grade school when Herschel played for UGA!
But I wish him well… except when playing UGA!
Texas Pete
December 21st, 2012
9:24 am
When you look at all the DL that have been successful in the NFL that Garner recruited, I don’t know how anyone could say he wasn’t valuable for UGA. People didn’t pay Geno Adkins much attention at all on a national level and he instantly became a stud in the NFL so obviously it’s not the talent but the way it’s used that is the consistent problem at UGA.
AltamahaDawg
December 21st, 2012
9:25 am
No rational, what we are saying is that Knowshon Moreno, Asher Allen, Akeem Dent, Brandon Boykin, Branden Smith, Alec Ogletree, Chris Burnette, Kwame Geathers, Jonathan Jenkins would have been recruited by somebody else had Garner not been here. And for any one of those that did not sign, several other names would have.
The guy did a fantastic job. But he was recruiting for a program with a lot of horsepower behind him, and the next guy will also do a great job.
Nothing Could Be Finer
December 21st, 2012
9:25 am
September 7, 2013
You’ll see a real D-Line do work in Athens.
BMOC
December 21st, 2012
9:27 am
I’ll admit it comes at a bad time, but head coaches are hired after football season, and then they fill their staff soon afterwards. SO, it is never a ‘good’ time when a coach leaves, espcially when it’s a rival school in your own conference. HOWEVER, Rodney Gardner is WAY OVER-RATED. Maybe UGA can recruit like Alabama does & STOP recruiting by selecting from Scout.com.
@bamaguy
December 21st, 2012
9:27 am
LOL A bama person speaking of disappointments over the past 12 years 21 vacated wins, 2 post season bowl bans, 10 years on NCAA probation.
SeaAtl
December 21st, 2012
9:30 am
Auburn is a mess and a stink hole?! This past season was an absolute embarrassment, yes. But Auburn won a National Championship two years ago and has been a premier program for years. UGA has also been a premier program since Richt arrived, but hasn’t had a sniff of a National Championship in 32 years when Buck handed the ball to Herschel every play. Seems like those who live in a glass house shouldn’t throw stones…….?
Nothing Could Be Finer
December 21st, 2012
9:30 am
Dogs fans thought Ray Drew would be better than Clowney.
Whatever happened to that guy, anyway?
Moist Dawg
December 21st, 2012
9:30 am
I am the most positive person on this blog but I’m not one of the sheeple that wish him well. Would you wish a Marine good luck if he decided his loyalties were with the Taliban? It makes me sick to my stomach.
He should have a police escort to the state line. Good riddance, now we can get a true Bulldog to bring those pups into the fold!
AltamahaDawg
December 21st, 2012
9:32 am
Grantham will take over D-line, and we’ll hire a new LB coach. Or Olivadotti’s role will change. Current staff member will head up recruiting.
SeaAtl
December 21st, 2012
9:35 am
Moist Dawg….really?! Auburn = the Taliban? The guy, and his wife, are Auburn alumni. It shouldn’t be a surprise that he is going to coach there. The surprise should be that he didn’t make the move years ago. Weird comment, man, from somebody who claims to be “the most positive”…..?!
DIT
December 21st, 2012
9:35 am
For some of you, grow up! Garner did a great job at UGA and we should wish him nothing but the best.
Now it will be interesting to see who will replace him.
Nothing Could Be Finer
December 21st, 2012
9:36 am
Ray Drew for Heisman, 2013!
D line coach
December 21st, 2012
9:37 am
UGA now should allow CTG to interest some hot dog, hard charging, up and coming NFL d guy to come to UGA.
Gus Bus Express
December 21st, 2012
9:39 am
Welcome home Coach Rodney Garner! The Auburn Family is very excited to have you back where you belong!
Funny
December 21st, 2012
9:41 am
Everyone is talking about how awful Auburn is right now. I find it interesting that no one has any grasp of historic precedent.
2008 – Auburn was 5-7. Fired the coach. Won the national championship 2 years later.
1998 – Auburn was 3-8. Fired the coach in midseason. Won the SEC West just two years later.
1991-2 – Auburn was 10-11-1 and fired the coach. 1993-4 went 20-1-1.
FACT – Auburn has more perfect seasons in the last 20 years than anyone.
FACT – each of the last 4 Auburn coaches and 5 of the last 6 either have a national championship or could claim one if we counted like some other school (UAT) do. Look at 1983, 1993, 2004, 2010.
Auburn will be back. And sooner than any of you would like to admit. TO all Georgia fans claiming to be glad that Garner is leaving, you sure were screaming from the mountaintops about how great it was to keep him every year that he had offers to go elsewhere.
Welcome home, Coach Garner!
ghost
December 21st, 2012
9:42 am
Aubie, Auburn set a Fulmer cup record for number of points in 2011.The NCAA is snooping around again(nothing new at Auburn) How does it feel to be like GT, 1-6 vs Georgia , 45-7 , 38-0 .
allDawg
December 21st, 2012
9:42 am
mcgarity should have doubled whatever auburn is paying to keep garner at uga. Ga can pay whatever it takes with all their millions.
HPDawg
December 21st, 2012
9:50 am
Moist Dawg, it sounds to me (and to some other rational bloggers on here) that the moistness can be found behind your freaking ears…………