This is… awkward.
Jeremy Pruitt was recruiting to the bitter the end.
Georgia’s controversial defensive coordinator was in Elbert County with five-star recruit Mecole Hardman when the news broke that Bulldogs’ head coach Mark Richt had been fired.
“I’m here in Elbert County. I was in church with Mecole,” Pruitt said around 1 p.m. Sunday. “I’m just recruiting. Not sure what to tell you.”
Pruitt said he had bad service and the connection broken when he was asked if the news caught him by surprise or he knew it was coming.
If that’s awkward, this is just plain weird.
Georgia’s assistant coaches have been asked to remain with the program and continue coaching and recruiting through the bowl game. The Bulldogs are off for the next two weeks before resuming bowl practices.
Yeah, they’re still on the company dime. I get that. But without knowing who’s staying or coming, what exactly are they supposed to sell – hang on, something better’s coming than what we’ve been promising you for the last year?
Get The Picture 
I hope the team did not find out the same way but they probably did.
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No they got a txt from Richt.
At least the team didn’t find out by helicopters landing in the parking lot…that is how we found out back in the mid 90’s.
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I hope you are not serious about a text. SMH.
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Saw that was how they found out. Dumpster fire indeed.
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i’d say it’s even more embarrassing for the the institution than it is weird for recruiting. what a disaster.
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Honestly, if I were in Richt’s shoes I would have told the staff to hold off on visits until after the meeting with McGarity. Or maybe if I were the staff I would have volunteered to do that.
Sheesh.
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I though when watching the post-game presser last night Richt said something to the effect of, “Yeah we meet after every season to review it but I have no real expectations of being nor am I anxious about it”. Of course, not in those words but he may not have had a real big clue or even knew a meeting was schedule the next morning. There’s been a ton of hot seat rumors in his past.
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Yes, but here we have the alternative to prudence.
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I mean, McGarity can’t tell Richt anything before the exact moment, you know? But these are football people, they’re a different breed.
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They’re not a different breed. I’ve witnessed some layoffs at corporate offices. Same shitty method.
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Well…that is embarrassing.
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Y’all aren’t considering the possibility that Pruitt might be a candidate for the job.
And I’m not sure why it’s embarassing. What did you expect was going to happen?
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Jeremy Pruitt won’t be a candidate for the job.
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For certain? Bridges definitely burned?
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I can’t go into details, but let’s just say he’s not ready to be a head coach. And I doubt he would argue that point right now.
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I hope he’s ready to stay on as DC.
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Guessing that also means any chance of a situation like VT where an offense-minded HC comes in and retains him a la Fuente and Bud Foster is off the table?
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It would surprise me, yes.
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Especially one Pruitt already knows very well?
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At the very least his past would suggest he’s at best a risky candidate. I’m kind of surprised so many UGa fans around these parts seem to not know why he was available.
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Well I know you wouldn’t blow smoke so I trust you on that, but I still imagine the next coach will get the option to keep him on if he wishes.
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Doubtful, from what I’ve heard.
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So, Kirby>Pruitt>Cochran ain’t gonna happen?
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Well, I could see Smart bringing Cochran. 😉
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or…Smart>Muschamp>Cochran
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You ready to make Muschamp a $2 million/year coordinator? I doubt McGarity is.
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Absolutely correct. Let’s just say he is far from ready for the non coaching responsibilities of a head gig.
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On the bright side of things, all this turmoil should be good for several million hits over the next 30-60 days. Well deserved for keeping us in the loop.
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Honestly the staff should have probably have not made plans to be on the road recruiting today when they knew a decision was forthcoming. They still have work to do but if anyone is in an awkward position this morning when they knew an evaluation was coming, well…. that’s on them.
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Did you really expect McGarity to make a decision today? I know we all said he should do something quick, but they’ve never listened to us before. Coaches coach and recruit. Can’t believe people are trying to fault them for that.
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I’m not faulting anybody. I think McGarity handled this as well as he could and I don’t fault anyone for being out doing their job. Just saying it really couldn’t have gone any other way.
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Completely agree.
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chili, I get the feeling that if McG had a bomb dropped on CMR’s truck with him in it, you would have considereed it well handled.
BTW…you haven’t used a curse word or slandered anyone all day.
Good to see the other side of you.
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Ugly, I know you have a low opinion of me but I’ve stated in the past that ideally I would have liked Richt to simply resign. Contrary to what some of you might think, I have no wish to see Richt disgraced. I simply wanted to move on, as quickly and painlessly as possible.
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Some of us are prolific posters. Probably some ego involved because we think our opinions are so wonderful that everyone else should get the benefit of them. Of course, we’re wrong..although there are some opinions on here I greatly respect. I don’t have a low opinion of you, chili, I realize you are just competitive in stating your opinion (as a lot of us are). I do take digs at you, but I do believe you’re a Dawg fan..and never thought you a troll..(Back up a few days ago and you can find a post where I defended you against that very charge).
In the end, we all want what’s best, but we get overcharged and emotional about our disagreement as to what “best” is.
I have said that I can see both sides. It made me angry when I got out of church this morning and found out how this was done. I love the man and that has a huge bearing on my responses. In this instance I’ve taken digs at the people attacking him, and I’ve kinda pegged you as the point man for that group. So it’s really a slighty controlled, semi-civil debate. You’re side has prevailed and now we’ll see how it goes. But I apologize for any unkindness..(until you piss me off again) : )
Best wishes to the Dawgs and all on here…even you, chilidawg.
We all want the same thing for the football program.
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Ugly, I nominate this as the post of the year. Well said, Sir.
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Appreciate that, dawgman.
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Well thanks for that, ugly. I feel the same way. About most of you 😉
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Did you honestly expect McGarity to make a decision today? I know we all said it was for the best to make a quick decision, but when have they ever listened to us?
The awkwardness is on McGarity. If he knew he was going to make a decision soon, he could have easily told the staff yesterday after the game to stick around town tomorrow for a meeting.
Not that this matters much in the long run, though.
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Oop, sorry for the duplicate post.
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But given history, is there any reason to think the administration would move this quickly? After years of hot-seat talk countered by hemming and hawing and “we’re looking to the next game” out of McGarity?
I think a lot of people are stunned they actually made a decision–and who knows, maybe it took reading Anthony Dasher and Fletcher Page last night to push them into it. (Or saw LSU’s administration roundly mocked post-game.) Sadly, that wouldn’t surprise me.
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Russ beat me to it…
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They DID make a decision quickly, they didn’t let anyone twist in the wind and they didn’t let rumors run the news cycle like LSU dif. So far they’ve gotten it right. Let’s hope they continue doing it right.
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You’re right. Mcgarity has done well, given the difficulties involved. I am grateful for how things have been handled and look forward with optimism to the next steps. Richt will be fine; UGA will be fine.
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Brace yourselves. The decommitments are coming.
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Yep. So what? Some will decommit. Then recommit to the next coach. Some recruits who weren’t considering Georgia might end up doing so. It’s a wash.
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Some won’t recommit obviously but this decision was never going to be based on keeping recruits and shouldn’t have been.
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Chili, do you think your fans are all waiting to hear your opinion 20-30 times an hour? If so, you really should start your own blog. Then your fans wouldn’t have to be bothered coming to GTP to see your 20-30 opinions an hour. I know I’d appreciate it if all your opinions were concentrated on one Chili site so I could see them there any time I wanted.
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You’re free to read them or ignore them as you see fit. I’m not forcing you.
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Chili Start the “Support Greg McGarity site” because that will keep you talkin out your ass for at least the next 6 months or at least until Jere figures out they fixed the wrong problem. Chili support McGarity and that will get me a desired result …McGarity fired. Support the administration on this one and be the good little “useful idiot ” that most of us recognize you to be. Here comes the regression to the mean ….and you and your ilk helped.
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Yeah it was all me.
For someone who’s so unimportant I’m sure getting a lot of credit this morning.
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Yeah..it’s on you to some degree. The AJC writers read this blog…and so do a lot of influential people. News people love any kind of upheaval and you’ve had a pretty busy shovel. So if things don’t work out…ie Georgia being on the same level in less than three years that Alabama is on now..you can expect us to remember all of this. If things do work out that way, I’ll sure give you kudos….we’ll see.
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Hey! You’re not unimportant. Somebody has to carry the mantle of being the most insufferable prick to comment on GTP.
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At your service.
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+++
I sent my letters to Morehead regarding BM(McGarrity for those who wonder who I reference) last year and this year. He doesn’t seem to be listening and I am in top 10% donor level.
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It ain’t gonna be a wash if Eason de-commits.
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And we’re counting on this bunch to handle the hiring process well? Sheez!
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McGarrity better have the replacement lined up and in Athens quickly.
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True that.
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This is a clusterfuck of epic proportion. If they have asked the current staff to continue recruiting though the bowl game, does this mean a new hire won’t be announced until after the bowl game? Our current staff is now selling an unknown on the recruiting trail.
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You don’t know that.
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nothing here is fact. However given the preponderance of information it is a more resonable conclusion. Again the AD has no plan. We are in for a 30 – 60 day period process. While other candidate complemplate why they would want to work for an athletic administration that fired A 9 win a year coach.
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If they had a name, then the recruits would have a name..and we would have heard it already. They’re feeling their way along in the darkness and that’s always a risky walk.
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It’s standard operating procedure. All this means is that we don’t have a new coach and coaching staff as of today and we know that we’re going to need coaches and a coaching staff.
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SOP for most serious programs would be to have some type of plan in place prior to axing the head man and simultaneously embarrassing assistants on the recruiting trail by making them look completely uninformed, not to mention making it look like we don’t have a clue to recruits. The fact that they’ve asked the current staff to keep recruiting through the bowl game leads me to believe we don’t have anything resembling a plan. I hope that’s not true, but it’s B-M we’re talking about here.
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It is barely believable, the incompetence being displayed by the AA. Almost unfathomable. We have a business school faculty member as President, he should be extremely displeased at how this was handled. It sends a very bad signal about the leadership at BM.
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Mecole has a great story to tell for the rest of his life. All good.
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Remain calm! All is well!
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I hope McGarity is now skating on thin ice. He just made a major mistake.
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What a fricken fiasco! For goodness sake, get the meeting lined up before sending assistants out recruiting. Call a short list of 3 candidates to make sure somebody’s gonna accept the job before you dump a hall of fame HC. Get your ducks in a row before going off half-cocked!
McGarity just made another massive mistake in a long line of mistakes. This speaks, no screams, of absolutely no forethought or preparation. Fire McGarity too!
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I feel really bad for Thomas Brown. He had a great gig at Wisconsin and came home to be a part of this tire fire. I hope that the new staff will retain him. But I also hope he jumps at the first great gig that comes along and that he doesn’t wait around for Georgia to make a decision, because he’s a talented young coach and deserves better.
Heck, I could say that about a lot of the coaches on this staff.
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Even the head coach.
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I think the tough thing is that in the back of our minds, we all wanted to see Richt win a national championship one day as reward for running a program with integrity and as a rebuttal to the notion that nice guys finish last. I think this means that dream is over. It certainly is as coach of UGA. Somehow, it just seems wrong that Auburn has played for two championships and won one during an era in which Richt (10-5 vs. AU) has played for none. But then again, life’s not fair, is it?
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No it’s not, WF. But Richt would probably be the first to give you that old adage, “It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game that counts”. He’s played it very well and is a great winner to boot. I’m afraid the losers in all of this don’t really understand it yet.
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