Georgia Football: Kirby Smart may outlast AD Greg McGarity
The Georgia football program is the apex of the atlantic department in Athens, and UGA athletic director Greg McGarity may be on borrowed time.
For most Division 1 schools, if you want to take the temperature of the athletic director’s seat, look no further than either the football and/or basketball programs. These are the revenue-generating sports, and the lifeblood of a successful AD.
In the case of the University of Georgia, football is by far where the eyes of alumni and donors shift first. Yes, the Georgia basketball program has had some pockets of success, but doesn’t quite have the flex of UGA’s gridiron detachment.
There were some who questioned the timing and manner of former Georgia football coach Mark Richt’s firing (or mutual decision to leave, as it was neatly framed for the masses) by McGarity. Even some who thought Richt’s time was up agreed that the handling of his dismissal left Georgia with a bit of a black eye.
After an unspectacular but somewhat productive first year on the job, head football coach Kirby Smart will now begin to feel more pressure, but not nearly as much as his boss may feel.
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Greg McGarity not only has the football coaching change to answer for, but also the overall performance of Georgia’s athletics, which — to be frank — have suffered mightily during his tenure as athletic director.
Most recently, a former Georgia baseball player and prominent athletic alumni, Carroll Minick, had a letter published by DawgNation.com, in which he describes the discontent that he and many other former lettermen feel towards McGarity.
The letter accounts, in detail, the failings of Georgia’s various athletic teams (including football) in terms of both records and facilities, and goes as far as to suggest a replacement for McGarity:
"It looks like we need a change in our athletic department, and we need professional help. I suggest Billy Payne, or someone else of his stature, head a search committee to name a new athletic director. Look at Clemson and what their athletic department has done with great leadership and a plan for high success."
Minick continues later in his letter with:
"We must reach out to President Jere Morehead and let him know the high level of dissatisfaction. The issue is: Do we want to continue to be average or do we want to be at the top and be excellent? I choose excellent and close with a quote by Midge Decter, who is a writer and thinker: “You have to join the side you’re on.”"
To have prominent former players bonding together to express their wishes for a change to the university president can’t be a good sign for McGarity, and given his approval rating — both from fans and the media — it would seem that the hottest seat of all in Athens is in the athletic director’s office.
Kirby Smart is on the right track. He’s got the ability to recruit and coach, that much has been seen. He accepts criticism and admits shortcomings, that much has been seen. What Georgia fans haven’t witnessed is the progress of the program yet, which after only one season still remains to be seen.
But Greg McGarity — who seems more adept at throwing others under the bus than admitting his own inadequacies — should consider himself on the short leash, even shorter than Mark Richt in 2015.
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Since taking over as athletic director in 2010, McGarity has seen Georgia slip in practically every sport, including the non-revenue sports (gymnastics, golf, swimming, tennis, equestrian) where the Bulldogs once ruled the roost with 26 national championships in those sports from 1999-2009
Since then, the regular national titles in said sports have been reduced to just three — women’s swimming & diving in 2013 and 2014, and women’s equestrian in 2014 — since 2010.
The football team hasn’t won a conference title since 2005, the basketball team has yet to make any significant advancement, and the baseball team has slid from College World Series runner-up in 2008, to near the bottom of the SEC standings in 2017.
Not many athletic directors could survive those numbers, and if the above-mentioned letter (which was forwarded to McGarity without response) is any indication of how boosters and alumni feel, it will take a miracle season by Kirby Smart to save his boss’ job.
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Football is the centrifuge of athletics in Athens, and Greg McGarity should hope his second-year football coach separates himself from all the other athletic teams to provide at least a little security.
Doesn’t seem likely. If you’re a person fond of making wagers, you’d probably be safe putting your money on Kirby Smart being around Athens, Georgia longer than Greg McGarity.