Give Roquan Smith points for honesty with this comment:
“Your first year, you actually don’t know what they’re going to do in certain situations,” Smith said of the transition to a new coaching staff. “But I feel like after a year being in his system, we know what he’s going to do in situations. … We’ve had a year to actually grow closer and have a bond among each other. It’s awesome to have an extra year now and, rolling into the second year, I think the sky’s the limit for him.”
His head coach sort of fiddled with the same issue.
On whether he felt more comfortable heading into Year 2, Smart said: “It’s hard to measure. I can’t quantify it for you by a number or a measure. Certainly having played however many games, it makes you much more comfortable coming into this season as opposed to the first one, but I don’t know exactly how much more.”
We’re about to find out.
Again, no knock on Kirby here. A rookie head coach is gonna rookie head coach. As I said at the time of the hiring process, though, there’s no excuse for what is supposed to be a premier college football program with the top job opening in the country hiring that rookie head coach without doing its due diligence first. I’d call 2016 B-M’s throwaway year, except I have the sad feeling those geniuses convinced themselves Smart would do it all in his first season on the job.
Get The Picture 
The lack of due diligence is what was maddening about the whole “process.” A prestigious company in its industry would never hire a CEO who had not done it before without appropriate due diligence. They would never make a change especially to someone who had never done it based on a rumor that person was taking a job somewhere else.
I want Kirby to be successful because I want the best for my university, but anyone who says the process produced the best candidate is kidding themselves.
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I blame Steve Spurrier. For everything.
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We are all aware of the walking screw-up that is Greg McGarity, but I’m convinced that hiring Kirby was his superiors call. I think Dan Mullens was the guy he wanted. I think I would have resigned before I let my job be hinged on a rookie head coach that my superiors wanted who may not have even been on my target coaches list.
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Disagree completely, based on the timeline. We fired a ten win coach before the bowl game for one reason and one reason only… Kirby was the guy they wanted and he was flirting with USCe, had been since Spurrier quit when Mark stomped his old ass. I get what everyone says about the process not being normal, but this was no normal situation.
They wanted Kirby here for years as DC, I’m convinced that was because they wanted him to take over for Mark at some point but he always turned it down.
But they continued to want Kirby none-the-less. And now… he’s about to go to one of your division rivals who had started to turn the tide against you under Spurrier. Even if you miss on Kirby, I don’t think you can allow him to go to Columbia. I really don’t. If Kirby was going to be a HC, pass or fail, it had to be at UGA. It’d be different if he was taking the Bobo route, but he was going in big and I can only imagine the vitriol B-M would be getting if suddenly he’s everything we hope he is only he’s wearing garnet and whipping our asses. “You should have hired him when you had the chance, he wanted to come to UGA”.
The entire process was about Kirby. Like it or not.
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Kirby wasn’t flirting with South Carolina. Jimmy Sexton was playing Georgia.
You’ve done a nice job of explaining the idiots’ panic to us. Although I doubt that was your intention.
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Can we all just agree:
Mark Richt had to go. As good a coach as he was, and as much as he was liked, he had allowed a few cancers to grow in the program. He was not going to be able to turn it around anytime soon. Even he knew it was over.
2.The formal hiring process was not designed to identify and hire the best coach, it was designed to hire the coach that the most important guys around the UGAA had already decided they wanted.
ADGM is not on the list of the most important guys around the UGAA, That means he is primarily there for PR purposes, and he sucks at PR.
ADGM could not publicly admit the way the hiring decision was made, so all the officially stated explanations are just BS made up after the fact. Sniping about the truth or logic of those explanations is pointless.
Kirby Smart may not have been the best choice, but that is hard to determine with any accuracy. There were a few possibilities (whose availability and willingness were not publicly known) that may have been better, and there will probably be others who may seem like a better choice in retrospect. Each of the other choices had their own issues.
Despite the deficiencies in the hiring process, Kirby Smart was not an unreasonable choice. He may turn out to be great, or not. His success, or lack there of, will be the result of some combination of effort and ability, but also luck and timing. That is the risk every time you hire a new coach. It’s too early to pass judgment.
If Kirby has a strike against him at this point, it is that (presumably) he was considered a good cultural fit for the most important people around the UGAA. Based on empirical evidence, these people place a relatively low value on fan satisfaction.
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I’m an agnostic on that subject. You could make a reasonable argument for either case and I wouldn’t disagree.
I’m not sure I’d use the words “formal” or “design” to describe the process, but, yes, the fix was in for Kirby.
If that’s his main purpose in life, he’s even less deserving of his position than we believe. I would argue that there are several higher purposes McGarity serves, starting with revenue generation and preservation.
Given the stunted nature of the hiring process, there’s no way any of us can ever know the truth of that.
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Absolutely yes on all accounts! The program had become stale. Even Richt admitted the job had become a grind (I assume working for someone who constantly tried to undermine you would do that to a guy). There was no process other than a call to Jimmy Sexton that said, “Yes, I’ll hire your client.” Finally, there was no list of potential candidates – that’s the AD’s failure and if Kirby doesn’t work out, he’s out, too.
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Oh c’mon. Hiring coaches (or other executives for that matter) is not a science, despite what consultants would like us to believe. No process was going to identify an obviously ideal candidate. I preferred Tom Herman, but I can’t say that we would have won a bidding war with a bunch of oil men. Or that he would have brought in a staff able to recruit Georgia well.
I am surprised that you can’t see through to at least say that KS was not an unreasonable choice.
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If your natural inclination, like mine, is that a program of Georgia’s supposed stature shouldn’t settle for the hire an assistant coach with no previous head coaching experience, what exactly is wrong with saying Smart’s hire wasn’t reasonable?
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That is not my natural inclination, and I did not know that it was yours. So I guess that is the difference.
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And I think it undermines your point that you have to use the word “supposed” before stature.
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I don’t think I’m the one who undermined that point. That would be McGarity and the folks he answers to, wouldn’t it?
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By the way, you’re getting your seasons mixed up. Texas wasn’t hiring a coach when Georgia was. There was no oil men bidding war to contend with at the time.
Once the USC job went off the board, it was the top opening in the country. You really think it’s reasonable not to explore all your options under those circumstances?
I have no idea if Tom Herman was the right man for the job. But I sure would have preferred that B-M took its time to do the due diligence to find out.
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I was referring to the oil men at U of Houston.
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And I tried to be clear that I thought the hiring process was unreasonable. Can’t an unreasonable process lead to a reasonable result?
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Asked and answered, your Honor. 😉
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If Texas could outbid Houston, it’s hard to think Georgia couldn’t. (Herman wanted out of Houston. Word has it he or his representative made tentative overtures Athens way.)
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I would have preferred UGA do its diligence as well, but I think U of Houston has more money than you think.
You seem to accept as gospel that Sexton was playing Georgia with the USCe overtures. Any chance Trace Armstrong was doing the same? He played LSU and Texas against each other to get this:
“Herman will be paid $5.25 million during the first year of the deal, and his compensation is scheduled to increase by $250,000 in each subsequent year.”
“Herman will be able to make up to $725,000 a year in bonuses — about $275,000 less than Strong had been able to get. Herman also will be able to get a $1 million one-time payment if he is employed by Texas on Dec. 25, 2019.
“The financial term sheet did not address the $2.5 million buyout that Herman owes Houston, but it is likely that Texas will end up covering that, as well.”
I know you think Georgia needs to open up the purse strings, but that is an ungodly sum for a coach that hasn’t won anything in a major conference.
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Again, at the time, there was nobody for Armstrong to play off against. Georgia had the playing field to itself once USC kept Helton.
Also, I am not saying Georgia had to hire Herman. I’m saying Georgia should have gone through a legit process with an eye towards hiring someone with head coaching experience.
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No point in arguing with me that the process was deficient. I led the whole thread with that. Or that Herman was just an example for discussion that I introduced–because I enjoyed watching his product in Houston.
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And I’m not saying Smart can’t turn out to be a success. I surely hope he does.
But when the process was so corrupted, I can’t buy into any hire being reasonable under those circumstances.
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I’m not convinced he would have actually fired Richt if the Columbia job wasn’t open along with the threat of Smart going there. Its’ always felt more like a coup d’etat led by Jimmy Sexson and boosters rather than any sort of decision making process.
Basically, I think speculating over who a proper search would have vetted out as the coach assumes there would have been a search to begin with…which is a HUGE assumption…[If someone has any shred of evidence anywhere that says ADGM is interested in actually having accountability over ‘championship level programs’, I’d love to see it.]
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Fletch, McGarity tried to can Richt after the 2014 season ended. Didn’t get the backing to do so.
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I get that he might have tried…but I think that cuts both ways. He could have wanted to fire him after 2015, too…but there’s a long way from wanting to and actually doing it.
Just to be clear, I think the premise that the final decision to can CMR was made sometime between the loss to Bama and the loss to Florida and that Kirby was THE replacement is accurate. I also think that they were ready to fire him if they lost the Mizzou game before the bye week. And was shocked that they let him keep coaching after the Florida game…I just think they had to think he’d lose to UK, Auburn, GA Southern, or Tech and give them cover.
What I disagree with is that IF Kirby wasn’t available in that October decision time, I’m not sure what would have happened. The part of me that hopes we have competent administrators in the AD’s office hopes they would have fired CMR after the Florida game and started a national search. (I like the term agnostic…I could have gone either way with CMR) But honestly, when I play the scenario out in my mind, I start assuming that they would not have the fortitude to pull the trigger after Florida, they would have bungled along watching CMR win those games while hoping he’d lose and provide them cover, then would have hemmed and hawed for about 2 weeks after Tech game…and honestly, I have no idea if they would have actually pulled the trigger.
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He was not going to be able to turn it around anytime soon. Even he knew it was over.
He had the #3 class in the nation committed when he was canned, obvious sign he didn’t want the job anymore. Hate him, think he lost his drive, whatever floats your boat, but the man was stabbed in the back. Remember going 6-7 in 2010 and then being one play away from beating Alabama in 2012?? Short-sighted simpletons have turned this game into a soap opera.
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As of October 2015, CMR was going to have to fire his offensive and defensive coordinators. The fan base was as negative as 1994-95. The big donors had turned against him. Still I thought everyone was crazy to want to fire him.
And then he lost his cool and started Faton Bauta in Jacksonville. I was sad that night, because I knew he would be let go, and because I knew it was the right decision.
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I’ll always believe (until someone with firsthand knowledge of the situation tells me otherwise) that Sony was going to be the main wrinkle that day, not Faton. I think the week prior was spent working in plays that got the ball in his hands (he was our best weapon, at that point). Of course, he gets his foot broken in the first series and is out for the game.
We didn’t have a QB on the roster that could win that day, Faton was the only one that hadn’t been given a chance to make that perfectly clear. That game doesn’t haunt me like it does some. We were snake bit that year and still managed 10 wins…
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A Georgia grad and fan, but a member of the media in South Carolina for over ten years with probably more media connections from USCe and Clemson than UGA these days… it was more than flirting. They thought they had their guy. And frankly I do believe he was resound to going if UGA didn’t make the move.
My intention above was simply to A) point out the process that it did take and why then B) help some folks realize that some folks–including you–wouldn’t be happy either way. Some folks just hunt for things to bitch about and honestly you’re one of the best.
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Hal, I heard Kirby was getting the Georgia job from a couple of well-placed sources before South Carolina was ever mentioned as a possible location.
If there’s one thing Jimmy Sexton knows how to do, it’s make folks believe.
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The whole process and public comments was a botched abortion, very deceptive by a “leader” who isn’t smart enough to pull it off. Embarrassing, from start to finish.
We all know the “search operation” was a joke, did we actually make a payment for that head fake, or assume no one would ever check? If we did, that could be Exhibit 1 in the termination process.
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Even if it was a flawed process, we don’t know that the choice wasn’t a great one. Perhaps Providence has smiled on us…I don’t know if it’s fair to see last year as an indictment of the product…but, yeah..it was a screwed up process.
So maybe we got lucky in spite of it all. Wouldn’t that be something..if KS turns out to be a really great one, leading the Dawgs into a long period of glory and all that……McG and Co. will be seen as visionaries. Sheesh!
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Nah Ugly, if Kirby is successful as we all want him to be, then we will view it as we view a broken clock, its right twice a day.
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Last year’s coaching left much to be desired. Although Kirby was a rookie HC, most of the assistant coaches had decades of experience. But it sure didn’t show on the field last season. The lack of productivity of the assistants is what concerns me.
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I think that again falls squarely on the HC who is admittedly very “hands-on”.
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Senator, I have to disagree. I dont think the BM crowd nor those who control them felt the move would leave to immediate success. There is nothing they do with a sense of urgency. Its all about the Georgia Way and getting one of their own is a huge part of that. Kirby has 3 – 4 years with this crowd I’m sure to show competitiveness vs. Florida, games against top schools like Bama and the occasional SECe title. Nothing theyve said or done is aboit quickly upgrading to the CFP level.
If Kirby wins the SEC this year or next its in spite of them, not due to them.
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“I’d call 2016 B-M’s throwaway year, except I have the sad feeling those geniuses convinced themselves Smart would do it all in his first season on the job.”
Replace ‘do it all’ with ‘increase fundraising’ and you’ve got it right. And I think they had it right too.
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Jimmy Sexton absolutely owns the SEC. When you have almost all of the coaches in any league you are the King and “it is good to be the King.” He is the master of the best business plan ever conceived “Create a need and then fill it.” He is so much smarter than most AD’s it’s just a shame. Kirby was going to become a HC and I guess he told Jimmy he preferred the UGA job. SOS’s resignation from USCe was the just what the doctor ordered. Now whether this occurred before or after McGoofy got his marching orders from the liquor guys I don’t know but once Jimmy set the trap McGoofy stepped right into it. The one fly in the ointment was Mark winning out. Even McGoofy needed some cover after that. The search firm thing was just a bad cover your ass move. I think the SEC schools should make Jimmy Sexton the Commissioner and cut down on the BS.
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I could not agree more. And they better hope Smart can actaully coach or this could be a similar situation drawn out disappointment similar to Les Mile/LSU.
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If I remember correctly, at one time, we did an exhaustive, non-corrupt head coaching search and, even then, ended up hiring an assistant coach with no prior head coaching experience. His name is Mark Richt. And a lot of people bitched about that decision back then as well. Same as it ever was.
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Um. CMR was the best candidate from that process. Dooley screwed up the Donnan hire (see Glen Mason), but he got that one right. I didn’t hear people complain back in the day about the process or the hire.
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