With the news that Georgia has hired yet another staff member of the football program…
Blake Shrader, a former safety at North Jackson High and Auburn University, has joined Georgia’s staff as a quality control coordinator for Jeremy Pruitt’s defense.
Shrader, 29, signed with Auburn in 2004 and played mostly on special teams during his career with Tommy Tuberville’s Tigers. He helped coach Auburn for a couple of years before leaving to become a defensive graduate assistant at South Alabama.
His first full-time assistant opportunity occurred in 2013, when he was cornerbacks coach at Jacksonville State. This past season, he was director of player personnel at UAB, which was forced to shut down its program in December.
… I thought this might be an appropriate time to conduct yet another reader poll, the inspiration for which is a reader comment from December.
Senator, I’d like to see a poll similar to the one you did on CMR on McGarity. Here are the categories:
Break everyone into two groups: Alum or non-alum and have each group pick one:
(1) I support McGarity and the BM hierarchy.
(2) McGarity is the problem and he needs to go.
(3) The BM hierarchy, not McGarity, is the problem – they all need to change. McGarity is essentially a puppet.
My response at the time was that I wanted to wait a bit to see how events played out. I think a fair way to characterize my feelings about that would be pleasantly surprised. So let’s see how you guys feel about that.
Besides your vote, what I’m just as interested in seeing is whether the developments over the last three months have changed your mind in any way about how the football program is being managed. Let me know in the comments about that.
Get The Picture 
1.. But there is an asterisk. The simple fact is I am not going to give them enough money to have much impact on any changes I might consider.
Life is short, be happy.
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Yeah, I’m in the same boat. I have the administration that I’ve paid for.
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2 months ago I would have picked “I’m an alumnus. The problem is bigger than McGarity. Blow B-M up and start over”.
Now, I’m not sure any of the answers apply to my current feelings. My current feelings are in kind of a state of limbo……..wanting to believe that all the changes are real and permanent, but scared that it’s all just temporary and somehow gonna be jerked out from under us.
I guess I’d say I have cautious optimism for the mindset of the administration as a whole……..but right now, the emphasis is more on the “cautious” part.
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Agree.
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I’m not overwhelmed at BM right now, but don’t agree with “blow BM up completely” either. I think they’re coming around, albeit slowly.
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I tend to agree with Reverend. In December, I would have voted to clean house at BM. Now, I think things have changed. My guess as to what happened is that the powers that be on the Board have long been split as to how to run things. This split allowed Adams to have enough sway to prevail on many issues. Now that Morehead is in charge, he sides with the other side of the split and things are moving in a different direction.
As to McGarity, I voted as an alumnus to get rid of him. I could be convinced that he was on the other side of the split and was with the “good guys” and just now has the ability to do what he wants. I remain skeptical that is the case though and think he was hired by the Adams side of the split and needs to go. (Also, I may not view McGarity fairly as I think it was a major mistake to fire Kelly Hester (women’s golf). She’s now at Furman and has that program ranked much higher than UGA’s program.)
Regardless, I’m happy with the changes.
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That’s where I am. I’m neutral. Have McGarity and the hierarchy gotten religion? Have they been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century? Or is this a cynical ploy meant to buy time until Richt retires and they can hire a new staff for half the current outlay and cash TV checks while smoking Cubans? I don’t know.
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I voted as an alumnus, and in support of BM and McGarity, but mostly because the alternative offered is worse for the school, and isn’t going to happen, anyway. And I feel like some issues are being addressed as of late.
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The last year has changed my mind about McGarity. I still don’t enthusiastically love the guy (I still hate his philosophy in scheduling pillow fights in the non conference and I still worry he won’t fight hard enough to preserve Georgia-Auburn in the future) but I have changed my view on him with the way he’s suddenly willing to spend money. I don’t know that we could have kept Mike Bobo either way, but it’s still a sore spot with me that the man became the finest offensive coordinator in the country and yet we paid him peanuts compared to what defensive coordinators were making.
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It’s well documented that D coordinators make more in general. The better comparison is that we did not pay him like the top O coordinator that he was.
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Do I have to type a sentiment here?
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Then: I’m an alumnus. The problem is bigger than McGarity. Blow B-M up completely and start over.
Now: I’m an alumnus who supports McGarity and the BM hierarchy.
I have done a complete 180 that matches the 180 of BM. I didn’t think they had it in them. I thought they were too conservative (little c) from the board of regents to the janitorial staff to spend money the way they have spent money and to expand the staff the way they have expanded the staff.
Boy, was I wrong. Something changed. Whatever it is, it seems like the AD administration has decided to give Mark Richt & Co. all the rope they want. They’ll either hang banners with it… or themselves.
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I’m with Trey on this. BM has given Richt all the rope he wants and needs and the hope, of course, is that the rope will lasso a championship.
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I have to agree with the Reverend. I support the B-M hierarchy and hope that Morehead has brought some semblance of order to what happens down there and the support of the athletic program. I reserve my right to change my mind if GM were to do something stupid like let Coach Fox get away without a serious effort to retain him or decide to pull something like the Bradley interview again. Fox seems to have found his groove and has the hoops program headed in the right direction.
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I’m an alumnus who still wants to blow up BM.
I think McGarity and Co. are spending like crazy now because the SEC TV money is starting to come in. The reserve fund is still safe.
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This, plus I can’t help but think McGarity and BM are being forced into taking action by outside forces. It’s not like everyone in the building woke up one fine day in December with new purpose in life and a collective inspiration to get serious about their jobs and to start competing on the same plane as top programs. I would like to see the work of an athletic department that didn’t need a gun held to their head.
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I’ve been very critical of McGarity (and still have a toe in the cool waters of Wait and See), but in the last three months I’ve gone from option 3 to option 1. I had no choice really. I think some powerful people have been in McGarity’s ear, but I must give credit where it’s due.
Go Dawgs!
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I’m pretty sure you are correct as to the source of the problem and the cure; some powerful people started him on the wrong track and some powerful people have pulled him back to the correct path. Regents, BM and Adams share the blame for the first part of his tenure and President Morehead is the clear leader in charge now. Jerry’s stature grows daily and he has linked to the athletic program at the correct time.
Glory, Glory to old Georgia.
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…Jere…
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Emerson pointed this out a while ago, but the loosening of purse strings seems to have come around the same time Crumley (basically B-M’s CFO) resigned/was fired. Emerson’s theory is that they brought in a new guy who told McGarity that he could spend some money and still be ok.
I’m not sure where this leaves me poll-wise. I’m in kind of wait-and-see mode.
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Very interesting …
That, coupled with The other Doug’s observation regarding the SEC TV money, might explain a lot.
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Alumnus and on the fence and SB I believe you are on to something there. Though I think the changes came more from President Morehead than a new CFO. I believe (and have heard to an extent) that after the GT debacle many of our top donors gave President Morehead an earful which he in turn gave to McGarity in a meeting the following Monday. McGarity had lost Crumley and Craig White who were complicit in the miserly operations of BM thus he had no one to help him maintain the narrative that not “indulging” from an economic standpoint was the best course of action. That coupled with his PR gaffs with the Gurley situation, the Bauerle situation, and his silly interview with Bradley gave Morehead the confidence to demand that we try and do it the Coaches way for a while. And when I say Coaches, I am not just referring to our football program. There may be a hint of “let’s give’em enough rope and see what happens,” but Morehead had to do something to turn the heat down.
The inherent problem for McGarity, at least the way I see it, is that if the new philosophy works, the question will be raised as to why he didn’t do it sooner. If it doesn’t work, then the case could be made that he is just not the right man for the job.
My 2 pennies.
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Great name! It’s a beautiful day to be in Athens …
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a good CEO doesn’t let his CFO run the organization.
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I am not an alumnus, and I think the BM hierarchy used to be the problem but has recently started to see the light. Time will tell just how much of the light they end up absorbing.
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I’m not an alumnus and I think McGarity has been the problem. I don’t think he made all these changes since Bobo left because he wanted to. I think someone got in his ear hole and said make the changes or else. In essence he was forced to. Usually people who are forced to make changes are not happy and who knows what else is going behind the scenes with him. Time will tell….
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I’d agree with you overall, but don’t think McG is that powerful. You hit some good points that should be added to the mixture .
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The problem was (and still lingers) in the form of Mike Adams. He used all his power to run our program in the direction of conceit, high road and puerile snobbery. If you think that changed overnight…….good luck. Greg is the right man, give him a little more time. Championships are in the near future at UGA.
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McGarity lost me when he used the power of Butts Mehre to censure Radi Nabulsi over at Rivals.
Three steel balls and strawberries…
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I didn’t know about that. Can you tell me what happened?
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I feel your pain, Radi
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Radi, although a DGD, is not (and should never be considered) above the UGA AD. Radi exists to sell subscriptions and advertising. His need to increase market share doesn’t trump our AD’s discretion for damage control.
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What did he do? And what did McGarity do to him? I missed this story somehow.
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Alumnus that before blow up the BM. Now hold and see if GM was forced to change or changed on his own. Last 3 months have been a breath of fresh air.
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I am an alum and think that the President has been the driving force behind this sudden change of direction. Don’t like McGarity’s cupcake scheduling philosophy at all, but with ND that appears to have changed slightly.
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For me, I liked the changes in philosophy we’ve seen as of late but I still don’t trust BM or McGarity. There is more money coming into the conference than ever and they were faced with overwhelming evidence that our rivals will spend whatever it takes to win. Operating on the cheap was no longer an option. Adapt or die.
This current administration has been there 5 years. Why is this just now happening? They have always been reactive rather than proactive in almost everything they do.
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I am an alumnus. I don’t think GM was the reason for the changes or that he supports them. He did it because he had to. He is not a leader in that regard. So, I would prefer someone else, who I think needs to be from outside the program who would then clean house of the dead wood at BM.
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Agree. I think McGarity is a screw-up, as he showed for all to see with the Gurley issue. He also has poor skills, as he’s also recently put on display for all to see. Just because he’s the AD doesn’t mean he’s orchestrated any of the recent improvements. Right now everyone is working around the elephant in the room.
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Meant to say ‘poor MEDIA skills’. His skills as a beancounter are actually pretty good.
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I am an alumnus and I feel much better about how things are happening now.
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I am an alumnus. I don’t really support or oppose McGarity or the BM crowd. They are doing what has been done for years in Athens, only making changes when it becomes unavoidable and making sure they and their cronies get rich. I think the root of the problem is the Georgia fan base who is too accepting of mediocre results in all of our athletic programs. As long as the checks keep pouring in, McGarity and the BM crowd have no incentive to make any real changes.
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I am an alum. I have confidence in Jere and am encouraged by the recent changes.
(But the paranoid in me wonders how many of these new support people from Alabama and Auburn are collecting two checks, ifyouknowwhatimean.)
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Here it is March 12 and I still have not received any sort of communication regarding ordering tickets. The deadline for ordering has historically been March 31.
The Georgia Way.
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Frank,
I received the season ticket order form last week. I would call them today.
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I’ll probably give them a call in the next few days. I know I’m not the only one who hasn’t received anything. No email. No snail mail. Nothing.
The Georgia Way.
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I received an email last Thursday, 3/5/2015, directing me to the online order form. I’ve been out of town all week so not sure whether the printed forms have been delivered to my house, but definitely received the email last week.
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I am an alum. I don’t really care why changes are being made (SEC TV money, new President, etc); I’m just glad they are.
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Like Scorpio and a few others, I went with the first option, but so far as I’m concerned, it’s still “wait and see” with McGarity. I infer from recent events that the football coaching staff has won some sort of internal struggle in which McGarity was either an obstacle to needed moves or perceived as just not taking necessary actions. I think Morehead has come down on the side of decisive, innovative progress and that’s been the difference. Hopefully this is a sign that the bureaucratic inertia and stodgy proceduralism that stifles so much of the UGA administrative process will be shaken up.
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I have been as pleasantly surprised as you have with the retooling of the football staff model. I was not confident of the B-M staff in total and their commitment to winning before the recent changes. I think the by-product of the Pruitt hire has been a re-energized and re-focused tprogram as a whole.
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What’s gonna be interesting, to me, is whether Georgia can be at least some of what that vocal segment of the fan base wants…win big, make playoffs etc, without changing the dope rules, or the academic demands or the player behavioral guidelines.
My perception is that there are folks leading the parade in Athens who think this can be done, there.
Man, would that not be a sweet thing if we could win big and so forth without becoming Auburn or hiring a coach with the morals of Dickhead.
Gives a ole man goosebumps, there.
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The survey strikes me a little funny the way it reads Senator. “I am an alumnus WHO” verses “I’m not an alumnus BUT.” For the record, I am not an alumnus, but can’t I be a WHO also?
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Don’t you know that “sidewalk fans” aren’t wanted around here?
We are the great unwashed, my friend.
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Poor baby.
Get over yourself.
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The whiplash like approach from BM after the bowl game is startling to me. The progressive changes we have seen are welcome news as it seemed like UGA was letting other athletic programs run away from us. I am not saying all of what has occurred will prove to be the best way to spend money, but publicly getting behind the football staff, bringing in more support staff to free up the coaches’ time, and moving forward on facility upgrades were way over due.
I blame McFrugal for that, although prior administrations have to share in the blame for setting the low standard he inherited. What is more troubling to me is the leadership having to wait until we reached crisis mode to act. Effective leadership should not require knee jerk reactions and 180 degree shifts in operational direction. The same guy is still at the top of BM. Is he a better leader because others intervened and told him how to run his department? Jury is still out on whether he is on board with the new direction or suffering from butt-hurt for what looked to be a guy who was taken to the wood shed and forced to eat his words. Consider me as one who feels we need a new leader, one who doesn’t need to be directed on how to do his job and sees the icebergs from far enough out that it doesn’t require emergency procedures.
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Think he ate his words with an AJC spoon?
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I’m an alumnus, and I agree with this message. BTW, be thankful we have someone to take GM to the wood shed. In the old days, that wouldn’t have happened.
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That is a fair point, and I am grateful that someone got involved. Other SEC rivals have been proactive in increased staff support and facility upgrades for years with no obvious intent for BM to act. I had heard that some influential backers were concerned but am very surprised at how quickly changes were announced in late December. You are right, we should all be thankful for their intervention and commitment. I think we will see results from these changes and feel UGA is very close to taking a step forward….everything is looking better these days, imo.
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I am an alumnus who would prefer that we clean house in the Athletic Department. Here are a few reasons:
We still don’t have an indoor practice facility despite the fact that our coaches have requested it for years.
We can’t maintain a decent basketball program year in and year out. I don’t expect an elite basketball program, just a decent one.
Our baseball and women’s gymnastics programs are going backward.
All of this has occurred while the AD hoarded a large reserve fund.
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Didn’t read all of the comments, but I still think a lot of the change we are seeing is the absence of Michael Adams and the support of the new Prez
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I see the hand of our new President operating behind the scenes in these changes. God bless Jere Morehead.
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I am an alumnus and I have gone from blow it all up to only dump Mcgarity. I have yet to see any real vision from Mcgarity. The only things he has appeared to take a stand have been cupcake games and padding the reserve account. His whole PR approach is vanilla at best with the lone exceptions being the Mark Bradley and Todd Gurley situations which were train wrecks. I see the changes as a result of Morehead being confident in Richt’s ability to get us where we need to be as opposed to anything Mcgarity may have done. There is nothing I have seen to this point that inspires any sort of confidence about the man. I could be wrong or just looking at the wrong information but could someone please let me know something that he has tried to build a legacy on that isn’t penny pinching?
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I give all the credit to Jeremy Pruitt. The changes seem to coincide with his hire and his coaching mentality. Without JP, CMR would be rearranging chairs on the deck of the Titanic.
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It’s not like Richt hasn’t voiced his displeasure with busing players to the Falcon’s facility in inclement weather long ago. Pruitt has just added his voice to the cacophony that had already begun. I’ll give him credit for speaking up, but the impetus had always been there by Richt. Pruitt just confirmed that it was being used against us on the recruiting trail. I look at several big players we have lost in the last 5 yrs and blame B-M and McG.
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Almost 500 votes in and vote is split evenly between currently supporting McG vs. change. (Frankly, I thought this poll was a poor forced choice, but whatevers). From the comments, however, there is really not overwhelming support for McG and B-M…at best a relief to see some long overdue changes finally being made as a show of support.
I’m an alumnus and think UGA can do better on all fronts in our athletics program. When naming the top 10 AD’s in the country, I doubt an UGA AD has ever been mentioned. You can’t “clean house” at B-M if I understand that reference. Those donors who support with the biggest dollars have the most influence…and that’s how it works everywhere. While it’s reasonable to expect to have a more forward-thinking AD, the crowd that hires is probably not interested in such an individual. Nevertheless, I’d like to see much better leadership from the AD and above at UGA…one that is consistent with excellence in academics and athletic performance. You can have both if you want.
.
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i am an alum who thinks we need to give the recent changes a chance to take hold. As several have previously said…..under Adams I would have voted to blow it up but now while not innovative it appears the Athletic Dept is doing what needs doing.. I feel compelled to openly apologize for some earlier posts regarding Pres. Morehead because I sincerely believed when he first took over that he was just going to be Mike Adams lite. I posted some less than faltering posts in Morehead’s early tenure but evidence is changing my mind. I profiled Jere because of all the years he worked with and for Adams and profiling is wrong. I think a good administrator sits down with his staff individually and makes a decision regarding whose vision he/or she trusts the most. It is just a possibility but I think that President Morehead has decided that when push comes to shove he’ll trust Richt more than McGarity Trust your Coach over a bean counter.
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Senator, thanks for posting this. I was the commenter that suggested the poll – so I get the blame listed above for the lack of choices. Stuff like this makes this site great.
Like many here, my opinion has changed as I’m much happier with the current direction than our direction 3 months ago. I’m not sure who should get the credit for the change and who should get the blame for before. My general thought is that Morehead and his “people” are responsible for the changes and that Adams and his “people” were responsible for the prior direction. Regardless, it’s clear that positive changes have been made by someone.
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I didn’t like the poll choices.
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I do like the changes that have happened with the purse strings on coaches, but the other issues like scheduling, gameday experience and “nooners”, road ticket pricing(Auburn $115) , etc. etc. have not progressed. I believe GM will roadblock changes unless ordered otherwise. He needs to go!
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