Mark Bradley’s send off of Greg McGarity is every bit the tongue bath you’d expect, but this is the part that really does it for me:
It was only after the 2014 season, which saw the Bulldogs go 9-3 with wrenching losses to South Carolina, Florida and Georgia Tech that McGarity began to wonder if Richt could still do what McGarity said he hired coaches to do – play for championships.
Yes, Mark, please tell us about all those championships Georgia’s won under McGarity’s watch. I’ve lost track.
When all you’ve got is a catchphrase of an excuse for running off a football coach you were never that enamored of in the first place, you ain’t got much at all.
Get The Picture 
Your last paragraph is spot on imo. My long standing theory on McG/Richt: he saw at Florida how hard Urban worked, and then he saw how Richt worked.
Which is why I’ve never fully bought the “he never gave Richt the resources he needed” line. Maybe the reason Richt never got those resources is because there was doubt that he was organized enough to know how to deploy them in the first place.
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Except after his 2014 power play flopped, McGarity did provide Richt with more resources.
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That he effectively deployed in 2015?
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LMAO. You think battleships turn around that fast in Athens?
Look, Richt was never McGarity’s guy, for whatever reason. I don’t have a problem with an AD wanting his own man in the spot. Just don’t give me some highfalutin nonsense that it was all about championships, because it wasn’t.
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No, of course not. My point is this: had Richt been given the army of analysts and head out that Kirby demanded, do you honestly believe he would have known how to organize it all? Or would we have just had even more DVH hanging around not doing anything?
Ultimately, we’re spun around the axel here: I agree, Richt wasn’t his guy, and the line about championships is absurd. However, I think it is boilerplate AD speak that sounds better than “I think this guys is aloof and unorganized and is getting out worked.”
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If you want to think Richt’s management style was the big issue holding the program back, be my guest.
I said this at the time and still believe it — UGA’s biggest problem was the dysfunctional relationship between the AD and the head coach. You aren’t going to win big if everyone in the program isn’t rowing in the same direction.
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Agreed, I just don’t think you can separate one from the other. Richt’s laidback style was the direct opposite of the hyper competitiveness that McG had just seen with Urban, who at that point in time was beating the brakes off Richt.
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So you’re saying McG is as hypercompetitive as Kirby is now?
McGarity is nothing more than a lackey for the liquor barons and other money people that run the AA. When he, a UGA tennis letterman, let the tennis facilities run down to the degree that we lost the NCAA championships, I knew he was a do-nothing errand boy. Magill (McGoof’s old coach) worked so hard to bring that event to Athens against all odds, and McScrooge wouldn’t spend (or find) the $10M to make the repairs to keep it in Athens. It was an embarrassment.
That’s just one example, and the lack of championships across the board are many others. He’s a glorified accountant and his results show it.
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No, I’m saying Kirby is closer to what McG saw in Urban at Florida than Richt was.
For better or worse, I don’t think that’s debatable.
Everything else you said, especially re: facilities, I agree with.
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“You’re an errand boy sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill.”
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Don’t insult accountants like this, Russ. 😉
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Mark Richts’ aww-shucks, I’m proud of the boys won or lose, I’ve taken too many Xanax before the game attitude is what held the program back. Players feed off their coaches energy. All that let’s jump off the high dive today nonsense was just that, nonsense. He was up against cut throat killers, coaching on the other sideline. Think Ray Gump 2.0. I lived though all that on campus in the early 90’s. Great guy, would love him as my neighbor or preacher, but Mark Richt himself held us back. And he was stealing money (salary) his last few years. Don’t blame the university.
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Richt didn’t get the resources he asked for from Dooley or Evans either. Guess what the common thread was during that time? Il Duce … Michael Adams.
Richt might not have been McGarity’s guy, but I guarantee you if he had blown CMR out in 2010, he would have never made it to 2015 because Dopey would have alienated every member of the donor class.
The purse strings didn’t start opening until 2014 when Morehead moved into the corner office on the first floor of the administration building.
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Mullen may or may not been able to navigate the donors. I mean, Florida’s donors are no small shakes and he at least treads water there.
I think the more likely scenario is that Mullen’s Northeastern assholeness would have frozen him out with the HS coaches in state.
As for Adams, idk. The University’s profile and reputation increased under his watch, which is his primary job. OTOH, a lot of that is likely due to HOPE really taking root under his watch and it’s undeniable that he was absurdly cheap.
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Adams doesn’t deserve credit for anything… He was in the right place at the right time – that’s it, that’s the entire story!
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I’m sorry I can only “like” this one time.
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Adams is high on my list of those I want to snap kick in the testicles. He gets the bonus knee to the face for firing all the department heads for no better reason than to install “his people”.
Punk ass bitch.
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Let me expound: I have no love for McG. I’m utterly indifferent. I don’t really think he was a step up or down from Evans who I don’t think was really a step up or down from Dooley.
I’m not happy or sad to see him go, in part bc I don’t expect the next person in role to perform significantly different.
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As the French say, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
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Yup.
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I know this is a CMR thread – but the level to which ADPM let the basketball atrophy is as bad/worse than anything else he did.
One could argue that we are a worse basketball program as Vandy is a football program. And the Tom Crean hire is a disaster.
Every single program in SEC except MSU has had a NCAA win during his tenure except MSU
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That’s bad, but arguably worse is letting the tennis facilities deteriorate to the point that we may never see the NCAA championships in Athens again.
Dan Magill must be rolling over in his grave.
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Yes, and McGarity was a tennis letterman!
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Of all of the worthless and spineless things McGoofy has done (and there are alot as others have pointed out), losing the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship is the biggest sin of all! Outside of the Butler FG against Clemson, attending the Tournament and watching us win 2 NCAA Men’s championships ranks in my Top 5 UGA experiences as a student. The tournament was a marquee event and a wonderful time, so it’ll be a shame if they can’t get it back to Athens. BTW, I would also put the first UGA night baseball game when Bo Jackson slammed 3 HR’s in that top 5 as well.
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If he was going to fire Richt, he should have done it at least two years earlier. He clearly knew it then, but didn’t have the balls to pull the trigger. Instead he left him flagging in the wind with absurd ultimatums, non answers when asked about Richt’s future at Georgia, and vague “not quite votes of confidence” in the middle of recruiting season.
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Fired him in 2013 after every good player on the offense missed time with injuries? Mitchell blows an ACL at Clemson celebrating a TD with Gurley, who missed multiple games with a nasty ankle sprain in the LSU game. Of course, we all know what happened at Kneeland. Chris Conley gets hurt at Vandy. Eventually, Aaron Murray blows out his own knee on Senior Night against Kentucky.
All of this within a year of playing in a de facto national semifinal (really the national title game) against Alabama.
The only time before 2015 you could make the case McGarity had an opportunity to separate Richt was after the 2010 season. No way does a guy come in and spend every bit of political capital in his first year.
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Hard to argue with any of this. Maybe, maybe after the 0-2 start in 2011, but then they were able to make hay against the rest of the soft schedule.
The timing is what it is, and in retrospect, happened when it should have and was the correct, if unpopular, call.
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No no no. I don’t think he should have been fired then or at all. I think he should have been given Bama level resources like Smart received starting in about 2012.
I mean it was clear then McGarrity was going to eventually fire him barring a miracle, so instead of wasting three more years of all of our time, he should have just manned up and fired him in spite of the fact it would have pissed off half the fans due to what you mentioned.
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McGarrity openly placing Richt on the hot seat for multiple years in a row cost us numerous top tier athletes those last few years, and consequently robbed Richt of any realistic chance of rebuilding to the new Bama level standard.
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Sorry – misunderstood
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AD Maj. Major Major Major will be sorely missed.
“Maj. Major Major Major: Sergeant, from now on, I don’t want anyone to come in and see me while I’m in my office. Is that clear?”
“First Sgt. Towser: Yes, sir. What do I say to people who want to come in and see you while you’re in your office?”
“Maj. Major Major Major: Tell them I’m in and ask them to wait.”
“First Sgt. Towser: For how long?”
“Maj. Major Major Major: Until I’ve left.”
“First Sgt. Towser: And then what do I do with them?”
“Maj. Major Major Major: I don’t care.”
“First Sgt. Towser: May I send people in to see you after you’ve left?”
“Maj. Major Major Major: Yes.”
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McGarity and Harbaugh must have the same process.
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So Greg Mediocrity felt CMR didn’t work hard enough?! Most night watchmen at warehouses are more productive than Greg Mediocrity.
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One thing that argument conveniently overlooks is that in his last contract negotiation, Richt wanted his booster/fund raising duties reduced so he could spend more time coaching. McGarity refused.
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Exactly. Richt is no Saban, but this argument/accusation is likely in reverse. It seems McG was the one who puts no effort into improving our sports programs. Instead of the absurd assumption that he wouldn’t give CMR resources because he wouldn’t use them, it’s clear McG was too lazy and cheap to provide the resources in the first place. He had no choice when he fired Richt and was forced to hire Kirby to give Kirby most everything he’s asked for.
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“Mark Bradley’s send off of Greg McGarity is every bit the tongue bath you’d expect…”
Ugh. I can’t get that image out of my head.
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Ding Dong the wicked witch is gone into retirement. We will now see if the President really gives a hoot about the AD or we end up with another bean counter, that could care less.
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