I know this is a Georgia football blog, but the sheer ineptitude of the Tom Crean hire compels me to post something.
He certainly took Georgia basketball to another level, alright.
The hire was another lazy McGarity one. What’s most remarkable about it, though, was how expensive it was — when the dust settles, the total financial outlay should be in the neighborhood of $15 million. Not exactly a great return on 15 conference wins. What’s especially galling was shelling out that kind of money to an unemployed basketball coach. It wasn’t like McGarity was having to outbid other schools for Crean’s services.
For an AD whose Job One was to guard the reserve fund hen house, that’s turned out to be a shocking waste of money. We can’t even blame Jimmy Sexton for it.
Sigh. That’s the kind of thinking that’s gotten men’s basketball in the hole it finds itself in. It’s also what you get when there’s no accountability at Butts-Mehre. In that regard, Kirby Smart turned out to be a blessing and a curse. McGarity got a pass on so many mediocre to outright bad hiring decisions because he was lucky enough to give the boosters what they demanded for the football program.
And now, Josh Brooks is saddled with the task of cleaning the Augean stables. He’ll be judged on his successes and failures on the hiring/firing front, as he should be. At least by the fan base, anyway. It remains to be seen if the higher ups care about anything more than football and making money.
Peeps, we get the Butts-Mehre we deserve.