Using a formula that weighs four factors…
- Championships Won Over Last Decade: 1 point (A division title), 2 points (A conference title), 3 points (Multiple conference titles and/or multiple major bowl appearances), 4 points (A playoff or national title game appearance), 5 points (A national title)
- Recruiting Over Last Decade: 1 point (No top 10 classes or five-star recruits), 2 points (One top 10 class or five-star recruit), 3 points (Multiple top 10 classes and/or five-star recruits), 4 points (A top 5 class), 5 points (Multiple top 5 classes)
- Revenue*: 1 point (No top 25 finishes within last 3 years), 2 points (Top 25 revenue finish), 3 points (Multiple Top 25 finishes), 4 (A top 10 finish), 5 (Multiple top 10 finishes)
- Pressure: 1 point (Extreme job volatility), 2 points (High volatility), 3 points (Moderate volatility), 4 points (Some volatility), 5 (Low volatility)
… this post at 247Sports ranks college football’s top twenty jobs.
Checking in at number three, behind Alabama and Ohio State (now there’s a real surprise), is Georgia.
This isn’t recency bias. It’s a reflection of what Georgia can be when directed by the right coach and money is spent to keep up with the Joneses. The Bulldogs are in an ideal position in terms of on-field opportunity. They’re in the weaker SEC division (the East), providing a yearly path to compete for championships. Georgia also operates in a state with recruiting riches. In fact, Georgia produces more high-end talent than any state in the country per capita. Kirby Smart is mining that properly, producing back-to-back top 3 recruiting classes, including a No. 1 effort during the 2018 cycle. That combination led to Georgia reaching the national title game in Year 2 of Smart’s tenure.
From a monetary perspective, the Bulldogs are finally spending to keep up with the top dogs in the country. Georgia opened a new indoor facility last February, and a $63 million stadium project is on the way. The Bulldogs are investing in recruiting. According to data from the US Department of Education, Georgia spent more money on recruiting in men’s athletics than Alabama did in 2016. [Emphasis added.]
That’s nice, but I’m afraid a little correction is due. It’s not so much a question of whether Georgia’s spent money so much as whether Georgia has used its obvious resources wisely. As a wise blogger who shall remain nameless once posted,
If you manage an SEC football program, there’s a difference between being committed to winning and being financially committed to winning. Everybody wants to win. The hard part is figuring out how to allocate resources to make sure that happens.
I say it’s only a little correction because it’s obvious that Kirby has a clue. And that’s what Georgia needed.
Get The Picture 
Somewhere in this criteria for best jobs should be a factor for what kind of leadership exists above the AD level. Does the president understand what winning does or does he just want the program to run as cheaply as possible so the money can be used elsewhere and does he use the program for political grandstanding?
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From the perspective of “potential” the Georgia job has been 1 in my view for a long time. We’ve simply engaged in a lot of self-defeating behavior over the last 35 years or so. We just need to “slay the dragon” and build on that and we could be THE college football program in America. We’re in the perfect position to do it.
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If our AD and administration has supposedly held us back… and yet we got to the Title game, then how much have they held us back really?
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For some reason, there’s a nagging thought in the back of my head that something changed with the football program over the last two seasons.
Give me a minute. I’m sure it’ll come to me.
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Kirby. Correct. I’m no fan of McGarity but it was RICHT. If the AD, President etc…are holding you back you do something about it. We got to the title game in the 2nd year because Kirby changed the program and hired 1000 people, BS on the AD, who cares who the AD is, the coach is the most important person on campus.
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Do you have to be sarcastic about everything now? Take a deep breath. I get in your business it gets old people always criticizing you but you seem so sensitive now.
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Wut
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ding ding ding
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You sound like the one being sensitive to me.
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That also implies the coach is more important than the administration to successfully allocating resources. Alabama and Auburn weren’t less committed when Dubose, Shula, Bowden and Chizik were coaching there. Did South Carolina’s administration stop supporting the program after Spurrier’s last 11-win season? I don’t think McGarity is an especially good or bad AD, but he became the scapegoat for some when all of the Richt angst hit the fanbase, and it’s lingered on since.
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C’mon, guys. This isn’t rocket science.
Even McGarity was honest about it.
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And that rebuts what I just stated how?
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In this specific case, it certainly does. Again, even McGarity admits he was not up to the task. And there’s no shame in that, either. If things aren’t working and you don’t know why, don’t keeping doing the same things. Question your judgment.
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I’m sorry. He asked the coach what they needed to do to be successful, and the COACH provided that information. Do you think the Bama AD knew what Saban needed beforehand, or do you think maybe Saban told him?
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I’m obviously missing something here, because it sounds like we’re saying the same thing.
Alabama just handed Saban the check book and said do whatever you think works.
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Implying that the mother loving coach is more important to the process than the AD in intelligently allocating resources. I don’t know how much more obvious my point could be, and it boggles my mind how you think what you just said about handing Saban the checkbook doesn’t support that.
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Are you saying it takes intelligence to tell a head coach “do whatever you think is best”?
Regardless, in that scenario, who’s doing the allocating?
I guess I’m missing the point about why it’s wrong to give Kirby the credit here. His enormous salary increase would seem to indicate that the school did.
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No. I just don’t understand why you keep harping on McGarity when he’s similar to every other AD in existence. Better than a few in that he at least doesn’t throw money down the toilet.
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Oh, FFS. I’m not harping on McGarity. The post was about what a great job Kirby’s done. The noise on this has come from commenters.
And if you think the best defense you can come up with for McGarity is that “he’s similar to every other AD in existence”, LOL. Talk about your low bar.
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I can’t imagine why anyone would think the line about Kirby having a clue might have been a dig at the athletic department. It’s not as though you bitch about it every fifth post.
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Or, perhaps — just perhaps — it was offered as a reaffirmation of something from the linked article:
I’m not the one bitching here, brother.
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Senator, honest question? Did we not fulfill our potential in football because of McGarity or Richt?
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I blame McGarity for not having a clue. I blame Richt for not pushing McGarity.
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I blame Bobo?
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Always a safe fallback… 😉
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All 3 in my opinion. McGarity knows Smart has the ears and pockets of the Alumni, and now has shown success. If McGarity does not ally himself with Smart…
McGarity and Richt was a dysfunction relationship at best. McGarity held Richt back but Richt didn’t push McGarity, and I thought we read a story recently where Richt continues to under sign. Richt could have done better but I doubt he would ever do as well as Smart is capable of.
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I’m pretty sure when mark started paying his assistants bonuses he was pushing. The difference is one is the ads pick the other isnt.
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My point being I really don’t care about the ADs. For the record I think McGarity isn’t the right guy. Especially for the overall athletic program. And in smaller sports that is really important. But in football, in the end it doesn’t matter. It starts and ends with the coach.
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I think we all know where he stands on Richt, that’s not changing.
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Oy. Back to this, are we?
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Not back to anything…just a fact..I can accept it, none of us are perfect…
I enjoy your blog, and I understand you like CMR….and blame GMAC for all of his shortcomings at UGA….
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“…and I understand you like CMR….and blame GMAC for all of his shortcomings at UGA….”
By no means does the Senator need me to defend him, but… that’s patently false. And even a casual reader of this blog should understand that.
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Then you don’t understand correctly. As just one example, see if you can find a single mention of McGarity in this post.
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You must be new here.
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This line smacks of recency bias, “They’re in the weaker SEC division (the East)….” There’s no inherent disadvantage for most programs in the East. They’ve just made a series of bad hires at the top programs. Georgia, Florida and Tennessee are every bit as potentially good as Alabama, Auburn and LSU in the west. The West does have A&M as an outlier in the bottom four, a team with a high floor and a potentially unlimited ceiling, while the East has Vandy as their outlier, a team with both a low floor and a low ceiling. South Carolina, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri and Arkansas are all pretty much the same kinds of middling programs.
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Not defending the article but in college football, which really has about a 3 year life cycle of teams and their performance, recent events are more important to analysis than more distant history. Florida and Tennessee’s glory from 10-20 years ago really has no bearing on the current state of the East or their respective programs. South Carolina had three 11 win seasons when they had statistical outlier for them type talent 5 years ago but that really doesn’t matter now. Auburn and LSU seem to get some sort of default stamp of greatness every season even though their recent history has not been stellar. Auburn is 1-4 in their last 5 bowl games and LSU has not won the West since 2011.
Right now, the SEC is essentially Georgia and Bama and then 12 “others”.
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It does when you’re discussing the top jobs in the sport and including the relative ease of the division in it.
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The “relative ease” of the division could change drastically in 3 or 4 years. If Mullen and Pruitt get their respective teams back to close to where they were in the late 90s to early 2000s the East will become the stronger division.
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That was my point about recency bias.
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This is the second time in a few days that I have read “recency bias.” I’m guessing that’s going to be the fashionable talking point buzzword this year. 🙄
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Kirby has a clue. Richt apparently did not. Otherwise he would have had more resources allocated to him while at UGA. This is obvious since Kirby has been able to get anything he wants since arriving, from the same administration. The only other explanation is that the administration wanted Richt gone and started this enacting this evil plan many years before his dismissal. Yeah…Tin Foil Hat kinda shit.
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This analysis is utter garbage and I’m insulted the Senator linked to it!
Any analysis should include a 5th criteria….attractive Coeds.
Clearly, Georgia blasts past tOSU in that category and is thrust into 2nd place behind the Tide, who have the obvious edge due to more rings.
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Georgia and Texas… one seems to have gotten their s*** together, the other still operates like a flailing country club that still thinks its name and fame mean it doesn’t have to hustle.
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I expect Texas to exceed expectations this year, much like we did last year. I don’t see them in the playoff, but I can see them winning the B12.
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If Texas wins the Big 12 with one loss or less they will be in the playoff in my opinion. They are a traditional power program and their “return to glory” would be too good of a story to pass up.
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Didn’t expect gratuitous dawg porn to turn into such a pissing match.
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Oh come on it is July, and McGarity was brought up along with historical potential of the program which of course means Richt and the following discussion will come.
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*nearly July
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