That Kirby Smart succeeding as Georgia’s head coach is guaranteed to shore up Greg McGarity’s standing as athletic director is a reality that doesn’t escape me. Nor does it curb my desire for the football team to win big.
But, damn, I sure wish McGarity would stop going out of his way to remind me about that.
Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity summed up the 2016-2017 athletic year for in one word during a speech for the Rotary Club of Athens at Holiday Inn Wednesday.
“Almost.”
“I don’t look back too often, but sometimes you have to look back to see what you can improve and really, I thought this was the year of almost,” McGarity said.
He pointed to football — the close wins over Missouri and Kentucky and the close losses. He mentioned the close contests in men’s basketball. Second place finishes nationally in women’s track and field and equestrian, and top four finishes in indoor track and men’s tennis.
Close. But not quite there.
“We were so close, but I really, truly now feel this is the year we’re going to get over that hump, because we have so many good things in place and we’ve got a lot of momentum building in our program, inside our world,” McGarity said.
I hope he’s right, even as I cringe at the thought of the inevitable victory lap he’ll take if he is. It’s never easy being a Georgia fan, I suppose.
Get The Picture 
The AD makes it very hard to be a Georgia fan. If he would put his head down and do his job by supporting his coaches, he would probably be much more likable.
I will never forgive him for what he did to Todd Gurley.
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I agree on both points. Additionally, I find it interesting that most of our successful coaches were all hired by Coach Dooley, the current track coach being the lone McG hire producing positive results.
The leadership trifecta (Leeburn, McG & Smart) are treading on thin ice based upon the coddling of a select few boosters & shunning the rank & file. The frivolous spending (new locker rooms at the stadium that are used maybe 8 times a year, a DJ booth in B-M, a recruiting lounge when we have a perfectly fine lettermen’s lounge in the stadium that they currently use for recruits, … etc) combined w/ ignoring the gameday experience for fans are pushing many from the traditional demographic away.
Too bad the Ath Board has their collective heads in the sand.
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But you probably read that article a while back about how that board functions, yes? This is not their fault. Checks and balances are not part of the deal for GMcG and JM. I’m sure that board could get lots of teeth if the power brokers would allow it, but it’s clearly just a nod to appearances. (Like all that is McGarity–the man is nothing but a shell of superficial appearances.)
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EE, we are on the same page regarding McFrugal. We do differ on the Gurley situation. Do you fault McFrugal for his PR blunders during this episode or merely for the fact the he suspended Gurley?
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Both … he totally mishandled the PR, and they should have handled it like TAMU did with JFF. Then to pretty much to come out and say Gurley would be back for the Cocktail Party even though we hadn’t even submitted the reinstatement paperwork to the NCAA was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Did Gurley violate the NCAA’s stupid rule? Yes. Should we have more vigorously defended Gurley after violation of said rule? Yes.
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And shafted Jack at the same time.
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Exactly, McMilquetoast is the only AD among the Big 6 of the SEC who would have fallen on his sword in front of a bumbling NCAA in the Gurley situation.
And he totally rolled over to give Auburn two straight home games when aTM was admitted, which royally screwed our home scheduling.
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The Georgia Way.
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Still.. this guy sounds to me like someone who knows he’s on the hot seat. Not that I have faith the braintrust is going to step up and fire him if he stumbles next year, but maybe they’re at least making him feel the heat.
I’ve also heard from a fairly reliable source that he’s retreating internally. People historically associated with the program he used to talk to, he doesn’t anymore. So he’s gone on lockdown, not saying much.
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Oh, I think I could easily stomach McGarity’s victory lap. The only reason I read anything the man says is to see what’s being done about losing. If we win, I mute him.
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McGarity is not even an “Almost” AD
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As long as the SEC and media money rolls in and the Parker family keeps funding his compensation, good enough is good enough.
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He’ll need several years of success to avoid a tarnished legacy, and he doesn’t have enough working years left to do that. Although I’d be able to stomach it if the football team allowed him to have one positive thing to look back on.
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F McGarity. Must be nice to be able to give the benefit of the doubt to yourself, when you sure don’t extend it to others. Guess he decided the win over Tech was just “too, too close” on his drive back from Atlanta….
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“Facilities are important, but folks, I’m going to tell you this right now, it’s all about the people.”
He does it for the children®, y’all. Bless his heart.
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That’s funny, I called it the Year of “Jest About”, as in “Jest about time for the Love Child of Archie Manning and Alfred E. Neumann to go.”
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In the words of the great mid 20th century philosopher,
“What a maroon!”
Bugs Bunny circa 1960
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Everything I needed to know about life, I learned from pre-70’s Looney Tunes.
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+1
So true. It even foretold the story of our latest AD hire.
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Only time will eventually move McGarity out and the question will remain, who will hire his replacement. I just don’t see UGA ever having a dynamic, visionary, competitive person in that job.
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For a guy who is so unaware of what or how he’s supposed to do on his job, he’s keenly aware of how thin the ice he stands is.
The legacy of Michael Adams is that he essentially exposed the BOR and Athletic Association as ceremonial and toothless. No one has balls enough or the strike needed to to act here. McG will seve until his contract expires in 2019. Karla Williams will replace him and we’ll continue to come here and bitch about our untapped potential.potentiall
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GTP: the safe space for disappointed UGA fans.
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Well, it is a support group of sorts
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Do they still sell the “Athens, Georgia: A drinkin’ town with a football problem since 1785” t-shirts? I’m assuming Il Duce put the kibosh on those…
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Are there any other type?
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Just finished looking at Dawgnation. See where Chip and Seth have a good article about the four 5 star horseshoe players who are enrolling this fall for the Horseshoe Team. Greg is very excited about that.
Wants the championship game held at a neutral site, Atlanta. Good pick Greg…there is a lot horse manure there.
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Georgia’s win-loss record was ‘almost’ pretty good and ‘almost’ catastrophic. That’s how win-loss records work for a sample size of one season.
But it was an inexcusably bad football team. The average snap produced a shitty gain on offense, and yielded a decent (but not awful) chunk on defense. If that happens again, we (by which I mean the new AD after McGarity is shitcanned) need to find a new football coach immediately that can make hay with the fantastic recruiting classes Smart has put together.
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GA’s athletics program has been “almost” for much, much, longer than 1 year. Multiple decades now…
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I’ve said for years “IF ONLY!!!” is the battle cry of Georgia athletics.
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