July 29, 2015 · 7:12 AM

Burying the hatchet

… but at least not in each other.

Boy, there’s enough to read between the lines in that Weiszer article to make War and Peace feel like a short story.

39 Comments

Filed under Georgia Football

39 responses to “Burying the hatchet”

  1. Reverend Whitewall
    July 29, 2015 at 7:47 AM

    So in other words…”Yes, we were all pissed at each other for a while there, but we can’t come right out and say that”. 🙂

    Like

  2. eethomaswfnc
    July 29, 2015 at 7:57 AM

    “Very competitive with other schools but not being as ridiculous as some institutions have become in that regard …” –Jere Morehead regarding coaches’ salaries

    Can you say shot across the Chattahoochee at our neighbors to the west?

    Like

  3. BCDawg97
    July 29, 2015 at 8:13 AM

    You know what all those comments mean? Such long winding answers for questions that normally would have been answered with very simple statements. Did Carla Williams even answer the question? All it means is that there has been enough talk this off-season, it is time for some football.

    Like

  4. Scorpio Jones, III
    July 29, 2015 at 8:51 AM

    I just read what I believe is more football talk from the president of the University of Georgia than I have heard/read in the ah…yikes…almost 70 years I have been following Georgia football.

    I don’t know what that means for sure, but it is sure as hell different.

    Like

  5. Bulldog Joe
    July 29, 2015 at 8:53 AM

    Happy to know there was friction in the department.

    It’s a refreshing change from the “continuity” B.S. we heard last year.

    Like

    • Beer Money
      July 29, 2015 at 9:53 AM

      Was thinking the same thing. It’s at least worth a shot to shake things up a bit and at least show a sense of urgency. The “poised continuity” angle has been done to death and it really seems like we have spun our wheels a lot in doing so.

      Like

  6. @gatriguy
    July 29, 2015 at 9:01 AM

    My attempt to translate: Pruitt op we Richt’s eyes as to just how much Alabama/FSU were using UGA’s lack of commitment against them. Richt confronted McG. McG got a little pissed. Pruitt went public about IPF. McG got really pissed. Richt screws the pooch against Tech. Everyone is pissed. McG has that bizarre interview with AJC. Richt and Morehead are now pissed for the tone and for going outside chain of command. The weird Richt/Belk Bowl rumors take place, along with rumors that Auburn, A&M, LSU were going to break the bank for Pruitt. Morehead has a come to Jesus meeting, tells McG to do his job, which includes giving Richt the support and resources to do his, with the understanding that Richt isn’t going to be able to fall back on a lack of institutional support for much longer. Carla stealthly watches and observes, waiting for McG to either get canned by Morehead, or lose a power struggle to Richt and position herself for the big job.

    Like

    • Reverend Whitewall
      July 29, 2015 at 9:10 AM

      Ha, not sure about the Carla part at the end but as for the rest of it…….if you forced me to outline what my guess is that happened (and it would totally be a guess, I have no sources), I would have said what you said, pretty much word for word.

      Like

    • Moe Greene
      July 29, 2015 at 11:07 AM

      I think you pretty much nailed it.

      Like

    • AusDawg85
      July 29, 2015 at 11:42 AM

      “…Richt isn’t going to be able to fall back on a lack of institutional support for much longer. “

      Please reference any instance of Richt blaming lack of institutional support for any loss. Asking for more resources to stay competitive is not the same as making excuses.

      Like

  7. mdcgtp
    July 29, 2015 at 9:48 AM

    I am actually surprised at how “open” all parties were at essentially acknowledging the sources of tension.

    Ultimately, the changes make me so excited to think about the place we have arrived at as a program relative to where we have been.

    More broadly, I think we are in a place where the next 5 years COULD bring great joy to all of us and re-write Mark Richt’s legacy among this eras coaches.

    Let’s play hypothetical…what if we win not one but 2 national titles over the next 5+ years?

    His legacy would go from “good to very good” coach who won SEC titles, restored UGA to being a top 10-15 on an annual basis, but could not get over the “hump” to win SEC and MNC titles in the Saban/Meyer era to the coach who elevated UGA football to win and compete for MULTIPLE national titles with a legacy that places him in the pantheon of GREAT coaches historically.
    We would arguably have the combination of brand/credibility and access to in-state talent that THEORETICALLY exists in 2 places (TX and FL), and arguably FSU has an equal claim on FL talent as UF. Certainly, as UT and UF have proven, those advantages can be fleeting with the wrong coaches, but the UF’s 2010 DL haul was a prime example of what happens (Easley, Powell, and Floyd…who incidentally were from CA, NY, and PA) when your program becomes the prime destination for elite talent.

    More broadly, the salary issue is one that I have harped on over and again. there is an unending line of highly qualified guys who would work for peanuts to have a position coaching job at UGA. Yesterday’s Will Friend is today’s Rob Sale. We hired Friend for “league minimum” at the time. Pruitt was a high school asst coach as recently as 2007. The key is figuring out which ones have skills that are worth a premium and which ones are not. I hope our paying Pruitt was with the understanding that we were not simply “matching money” but that he was going to be an integral part in the major decisions around our program.

    Like

    • Moe Greene
      July 29, 2015 at 11:12 AM

      Let’s win the conference first before we get carried away and start talking about multiple national championships.

      We went 10-3 and 8-5 the last 2 years and didn’t make it to Atlanta either year. Take it one step at a time.

      Like

  8. Bright Idea
    July 29, 2015 at 10:30 AM

    So does McGarity even talk to Richt or does he tell Carla who talks to Richt and vice versa? Weiser sure makes it sound that way.

    Like

    • @gatriguy
      July 29, 2015 at 10:45 AM

      That is exactly what I took from it as well.

      Like

      • Marc
        July 29, 2015 at 11:25 AM

        Here’s what they said about communication. I didn’t have room in the story.

        McGarity
        “We have scheduled meetings. We’re constantly either texting or voice mail. We’re constantly in communication. I think one thing that gets lost in the shuffle is there’s much more communication with Carla and Mark.”

        Richt
        “We’re not going to meet once a week, but when things come up that are important enough to talk about, we’ve got each others’ cell phone numbers. I’ll walk up there or he’ll walk down. Whatever we need to do to get together to iron out whatever needs to be ironed out if there’s an issue that needs to be handled. I’m just talking about day to day operations stuff, you know?”

        Like

  9. Gravidy
    July 29, 2015 at 11:17 AM

    That was odd. Those people are all politicians of sorts. They all have an incentive to minimize talk of friction, but not a single one of them uttered anything close to a denial. It was almost as if they were all going out of their way NOT to minimize the rumors. So I’m either living in a Bizarro World where public employees have no desire to shade the truth, or things were a lot worse than I thought.

    Like

  10. 3rdandGrantham
    July 29, 2015 at 11:23 AM

    Agree with most of the comments here, but I’ll simply add that, as icy as the relationship is/was between CMR and McG, it was just as bad, if not worse, back when Damon Evans was AD. Now that was a certifiable mess that mostly was kept in-house, aside from a few rumblings here and there.

    As for McG himself, indeed he has made a litany of errors, mistakes, and boneheaded comments, and I’ve been relatively displeased with his tenure. With that said, most of us don’t realize just how tough he has it overall, in which the proverbial cards were stacked against him from day 1. There is so much palace intrigue within the AD and university as a whole, with all sorts of factions engaged in their own machinations for personal gain. Yes, McG is paid quite well, but that is not a job for the weak of heart, and it will take years off your life.

    Like

  11. Cojones
    July 29, 2015 at 11:40 AM

    All of the above and more. What was with the promises to get a facility beginning with McG’s first year and fully 10 yrs after Richt complained about bussing players to the Falcon’s facility? After that, it was like dragging a carrot down the road while paying no attention to Richt’s pleas. The last words exchanged with Pruitt (who confirmed that it did affect recruiting) implied that a fast tracking could be done after the project was finalized, except we didn’t understand the meaning of “finalized” taking another year, i.e., no one had made any plans during the last few years of promises to actually build the thing.

    I’m firmly convinced that McG was given directions to “free us from Richt” by the Bd of Regents, the “Good ole Boys” (who didn’t like “Bowdin’s boy” any more than his predecessor Dooley playing for and being an Auburn man) and possibly Adams. McG then embarked on a road to share the responsibility for Richt’s going because he was about to be caught between the Bd of Regents who wanted Richt out and the fans who wanted Richt to stay. He conveniently left the conf room door open such that we could at least hear this charge from the mouth of Dr Thomas Lawhorne that McG would use to take himself off the hook whenever he later pulled the trigger. Or not, because Jery took over and changed the direction in which it was headed.

    I’m reminded of a few of Richard Pryor’s last words on his “Bicentennial Nigger” recording: “I ain’t gon’ never forget.” after he told of the wonderful treatment of blacks by those relegating them to a diet of leftover ham hocks, cornbread and greens to live on. Thus it has gone with Richt and the gashing of his respect; a respect needed to garner favor in our school’s recruiting that he has worked uphill for so long to accomplish.

    Didn’t know about Richt heading the donation gathering for the team’s facility (as if to say,”OK, you wanted it so now go raise the money for it and, oh, btw, we want you to coach up a NC team as well.”) , but since the Pres is standing beside him it should be easier. Any one of you who has ever headed a donor project of any type knows what a drag it is and how it encumbers your time. Richt is now raising the money for his own project? Doesn’t sound as if the scratchiness between B-M and Richt has gone away to me. As far as I’m concerned, Richt’s excuse for not having a great team this year has been furnished to him. What was this talk about “freeing him up to coach a championship-caliber team” about?

    Like

  12. Dog in Fla
    July 29, 2015 at 11:41 AM

    @Bright Idea July 29, 2015 at 10:30 AM
    “So does McGarity even talk to Richt or does he tell Carla who talks to Richt and vice versa? Weiser sure makes it sound that way.”

    Apparently they’ve all read the book and are using it on each other

    Like

  13. PansyTheDawg
    July 29, 2015 at 11:53 AM

    That was a great article. I think the Senator has already said this, but it would be great to read a book about what really happened last winter. Whatever happened, it appears to have given way to a new era in Georgia football.

    Like

    • WF Dawg
      July 29, 2015 at 1:39 PM

      I’ve said before that I’d stay up all night to read a tell-all book written at the end of Richt’s career. He’s too nice to spill others’ dirt and will probably take most of it to his grave. But still. That would be a page-turner.

      Like

  14. Uglydawg
    July 29, 2015 at 12:32 PM

    It is all very interesting, but something that stands out is the amount of people and intrests involved in running the UGA AD and esp. the football program. Lot’s of meddling.
    Contrast it to Alabama..which is the epitomy of success in college football (though not necessarily to be admired)….where Nick Saban wouldn’t have had time for any of this shit. He’d be firing the Board of Regents if they screwed with him, and the State Govt..being by the people and all of that, would have hurrahed him.
    While it might not be right, Nicky is at the top of the food chain.
    Everything else at the University of Alabama is incidental to the football program.
    But at Georgia…we have the “Palace Intrigue” as 3rdandGrantham so aptly described it in his post above.
    If things are now simpler and more streamlined for CMR, hallalujah!, but one could easily get the feeling that meddlesomeness is just hiding in the shadows.

    Like

    • Dog in Fla
      July 29, 2015 at 1:13 PM

      If only the newly-branded Georgia Way™ of Palace Intrigue℠ could be adapted into a Stones® song©, Nick®™© ℠ would have time for it:

      Have you seen your AD, baby, standing in the shadow?
      Have you had another, baby, standing in the shadow?
      I’m glad I opened your eyes
      The have-nots would have tried to freeze you in ice
      Have you seen your Deputy AD, baby, standing in the shadow?
      Have you had another baby, standing in the shadow?
      I was just passing the time
      I’m all alone won’t you give all your sympathy to mine?
      Tell me a story about how you adore me
      Live in the shadow, see through the shadow,
      Live through the shadow, tear at the shadow
      Hate in the shadow, and love in your shadowy life
      Have you seen your President, baby, standing in the shadow?
      Has he had another baby, standing in the shadow?
      Baby, where have you been all your life?
      Talking about all the people who should try anything twice
      Have you seen your AD, baby, standing in the shadow?
      Have you seen your Deputy AD, baby, standing in the shadow?
      Have you seen your President, baby, standing in the shadow?
      Have you had another baby, standing in the shadow?
      You take your choice at this time
      The brave old world or the slide to the depths of decline

      Like

  15. Uglydawg
    July 29, 2015 at 12:34 PM

    Forgive my misplaced apostrophy in “Lots of meddling”.

    Like

    • Dog in Fla
      July 29, 2015 at 1:21 PM

      Lot’s wife agrees with this

      Like

    • Cojones
      July 29, 2015 at 7:15 PM

      You gotta be kidding, Ug. When I see phonetlc spelling or unplaced diacritical marks, etc, I assume that the writer knows better unless he’s given to that error often. Who cares if the communication is made anyway? Not I or anyone here is a grammar cop although there are English majors present who sometimes are helpful. I often find typos and unguarded misusages after posting, but if the message is clear, why give a rat’s ass?

      Like

  16. Uglydawg
    July 29, 2015 at 12:36 PM

    AND, as far as “Burying the hatchett”, maybe so, but I’ve heard it said that when someone buries the hatchett, they damn well remember where they burried it in case they need it again. But I’m happy things are better.

    Like

  17. Lrgk9
    July 29, 2015 at 1:00 PM

    Dear Greg and Carla,

    Mene Mene Teckel, Upharsin.

    Sincerely,

    Jere and Mark

    Like

  18. Mayor
    July 29, 2015 at 5:19 PM

    I’ve said it in previous posts here–I feel better about the direction of the University of Georgia football program now than I ever have before and IMHO it is all because of Jere Morehead. God Bless him!

    Like