If you want a distillation of what makes Butts-Mehre run the way it does, look no further than Michael Adams’ explanation of why the guy running the most profitable athletic department in the country ranks twelfth in salary in the conference.
“I think there’s a fundamental issue there that we have to solve going forward,” Adams said. “I think Greg is great; I think we have to be cognizant of the market. Whether or not we have to be completely bound by the market is a decision that somebody else will make. Greg is basically a senior administrator. He now makes more money than any other senior administrator but me. How far do you go down that road and you’re speaking out of both sides of your mouth. You’re preaching unity with the body politic on one hand and you’re creating division on the other…” [Emphasis added.]
There you have it. It’s not a matter of how well you do your job. It’s a matter of how willing you are to subordinate yourself to Adams.
I’m really gonna miss that guy.
Get The Picture 
How did Adams rank in salary for his senior administration position? I don’t have an issue with not matching every increase in the marketplace but 12th is not where UGA’s AD should be, just stay around the top 25 % in athletic positions would be my position. But I do agree that keeping Richt and staff in the top 4 is much more important than having administrative folks near the top.
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I wonder if there’s anything that eats at Adams more than what Georgia’s top coaches make.
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Adams is the most grossly overpaid state emplyee in Georgia, IMHO. He’s got no basis for feeling jealosy about anybody’s salary. Don’t let the screen door hit you on the ass on your way out, Mike.
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“The athletic association is a private, nonprofit corporation that manages UGA football and other NCAA sports teams. The association is governed by a board of directors, whose chairman always is the UGA president.”
“The athletic association board voted to begin turning over $2 million a year in 2009, when the Southeastern Conference signed a lucrative TV deal with ESPN.
Last year, the board voted to hand over an additional $2 million to UGA administrators to help fill some of the holes left by state budget cuts, Burgess said. The year before, the board approved turning over $1 million, he said.”
“Some of it comes as the opportunity arises. Some years are better than others,” Burgess said.”
http://onlineathens.com/stories/070111/uga_851120127.shtml
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Were I a bystander I wouldn’t have a problem with that statement at face value. The fact that college athletics have so little to do with the colleges that they represent (other than a free supply of labor) is exactly what all the fuss is about with amateurism these days, and it creates many odd job/salary situations for everyone that will have to be rectified as some point.
However, I’m not a bystander and this statement is coming from a man that negotiated a $50,000 / 10% raise for himself last year (at a time when his employee’s salaries were frozen) that came straight out of the athletic budget… So yeah, screw you Mikey A!
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Free tuition, free housing, free gear, free food, etc for playing a sport is a pretty sweet deal. Most of us had to pay for all of that.
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…not to mention the finest training to be had in your field of discipline.
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There are so many things wrong with those statements I don’t know where to start. That wasn’t even my main point, so… whatever.
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I’m just wondering how Adams was able to give this interview. With his head being shoved so far up his @ss and all…
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Yeah but you can’t see his lips move there.
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SEC athletic programs compete against each other while Georgia’s athletic program competes against its university.
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Is there an economics professor down the hall that can maybe explain this stuff to Adams?
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“Whether or not we have to be completely bound by the market is a decision that somebody else will make.”
I thought this was the key phrase. Translation…we aren’t going to pay market unless our hand is forced. What an awful person to work for.
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Is Mike adding in the cost of the expenses, trips, parties for family members, salaries and expenses for family members, etc. to his calculation of how much money Mike himself makes? Because I’m pretty sure Greg McGarity isnt throwing any parties for his kids and billing it to UGA.
God forbid anyone at UGA make more money than Mike Adams, regardless of whether they’re doing a much better job than he is. He can’t possibly be gone fast enough, or go far away enough when he leaves.
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Must be a perk all college presidents would like to have.
http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2013-04-23/college-head-reimburse-school-wedding-costs
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Believe me, you don’t know half the shit that prick has stirred up in Augusta lately.
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Don’t get me started on that third-rate asshole. He’s doing permanent damage but will probably be gone himself in another couple of years. Everybody in the eastern part of the state needs to get mobilized for the next Governor’s election. Deal let this happen and needs to pay.
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The problem with Adams is that he keeps opening his mouth and words come out.
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I will be sooooo glad when the day comes that no one gives a crap to record or write down & repeat anything that comes out of his mouth about athletics (or much less anything else).
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Adam’s quote after the highlighted emphasis sentence : “How far…………………creating division on the other”; – Where does this hypocrit get off after dividing the CFB coaching staff when he gave Grantham a 90k raise while dissing Richt and Bobo year before last? He has to be the world’s largest pusillanimous hypocrit. And he doesn’t know dick about people on his staff. He conveniently left the Bd Rm door open so that Tommy Lawhorne’s remarks about Richt to the AD are bullhorned to Bulldog Nation and further create divisiveness at a critical time of our football team’s recruitment and upward perseverance. There’s nothing like the exhilarating power to tie a weight on a coach who is struggling against an ignorant tide to keep his head above water.
He is as bad as the corporate head in St Louis who had a multimillion dollar toga party while the FDA was sinking his ship. What egotistical douchebags!
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