Q&A with Greg McGarity
DESTIN, Fla. – Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity touched on a number of subjects during a 10-minute interview Wednesday with Bulldog beat writers.
Among the questions asked were ones regarding Georgia’s proposal regarding graduate transfers, but also his decision to retain head baseball coach Scott Stricklin, along with the possibility of alcohol sales in Sanford Stadium.
You can read what he had to say below.
What was talked about regarding graduate transfers?
McGarity: “They’re still in discussion. We don’t vote until Friday morning. Every group weighed in today. We continued to talk about them today, we’ll continue to talk about them tomorrow and then we’ll cast our vote. It was just straw polls, things like that.”
Was there a consensus?
McGarity: “It’s all over the map. It’s a mixed bag.”
What is the process?
McGarity: “There’s one cast vote and that’s voted by the presidents.”
But coaches have said they don’t want it? You were in the meetings, can you say what they said?
McGarity: “We don’t talk about what goes on in the meetings. The coaches can but I’m not going to talk about it. If they want to talk about it that’s their business. I’ll just say it was a lively discussion on both sides, pro and con.”
Georgia’s proposal was to allow athletes to transfer within the conference?
McGarity: “Ours was consistent with what the NCAA allows.”
Was there any traction?
McGarity: “We’ll find out Friday morning. There’s a lot of discussion that goes on between now and then because you’ve had all the information to consider. The presidents have been engaged before we left camp.”
Is Kirby Smart on board?
McGarity: “I’m sure all of our coaches will be on board with whatever decisions are made.”
Why did you elect to bring Scott Stricklin back as the head baseball coach?
McGarity: “With all our coaches I have a monthly meeting with them. In each month, we talk about the progress they’ve made, whether they’re in season or out of season. The things Scott and I talked about in months leading up to the last run of the season were things we wanted to see, things that were very important, and those things materialized. As we walked down that path and what we expected to see, and what he expected to see, they matched up with our performance at the end of the year.”
How much did the fact they had a young team play into your decision?
McGarity: “Scott would be the first one to tell you that it was important to see us finish strong. He was very confident in these young people becoming more seasoned. As he said before, it took a lot longer to get going than he thought. The last three series of the year you’re playing Kentucky, who was fighting for the SEC Championship, you’re playing Mississippi State, who’s fighting for the SEC Championship. You’re fighting against South Carolina, who’s fighting for a tournament bid. So, we’re going into those series and two out of those three were on the road. To see the way we played against (Georgia) Tech, against a hot Furman team, you saw the errors were minimized – the wild pitches, the passed balls, all the things that plagued us so early. All of a sudden, these kids started hitting. You saw a lot of things that I know Scott was hoping happened a lot quicker and they just didn’t. But they happened at the right time. I think everyone was very impressed with the way we finished the season. Of course, you don’t want to finish with a loss. We certainly played a lot better in the back half than we did the front half.”
But as an AD, isn’t it tough to be patient with four straight sub-500 seasons?
McGarity: “I knew going in, when Scott discussed the job at the very beginning we talked about his plan and his plan was to build a team based on high school freshman. You can see we don’t have many junior college kids in our program. We have a few but he wanted to build it the right way. What he did that some coaches don’t do is his very first year, he honored all the kids that were already entering school. You’ve got to remember he took the job in the summer so the freshmen class, Stephen Wrenn’s freshmen class, was already coming on campus, OK? The junior class which was going to sign early, they were already committed. He honored all of those commitments. Keegan McGovern’s class. Really, the first class where they had input was really the sophomore class right now, Michael Curry’s class. The first two years of those kids was basically kids that the University of Georgia honored their commitments. Those two years no one was cut, nobody’s scholarship was revoked. Those that had committed to come to the University of Georgia, Scott honored those commitments.
“Has it taken longer than we all thought? Sure. I think it was promising to see the way it ended. I think he’s got 10 kids in the Cape Cod this summer. Last year, I think he had three kids in Cape Cod. What these kids are doing now to put them in a position, certainly at one time I think we had six position players as freshmen…It’s a tough league to break into. Your starting on the road at LSU. We all know what that first game at LSU was like. It was pretty tough but I think it was an awakening and a lot of these kids grew up in a hurry.”
What kind of improvement will you have to see next year?
McGarity: “All coaches know what to expect. I don’t really have to put it down on paper. I’ve talked to a couple of other former coaches about putting pressure on coaches as far as you must do this, you must do that. Sometimes it doesn’t work out that way.”
But Texas A&M AD Scott Woodward made some comments to put Kevin Sumlin on the hotseat …
McGarity – “That’s Scott’s prerogative. Everybody handles things differently. These coaches are under enough pressure as it is and they certainly don’t need specific goals. Our coaches know what our goals are. You ask Mark Fox, his goal is to be in the (NCAA) Tournament, I promise you. Scott Stricklin’s goal is to be in the NCAA Tournament. Our tennis coaches, they’re disappointed if they are not in the final day. You ask swimming, Jack Bauerle is disappointed if he’s not in the top five in the country. Volleyball would be ecstatic to be in the NCAA next year, the same thing with soccer, so there’s different expectations for different sports across the board. Some have a lot longer way than others.”
How did the graduate transfer proposal come about and why was it important to have it along the lines of the NCAA?
McGarity – “We felt like if a young person graduated and got their degree and done everything right, had no disciplinary issues, and knowing they would not have any aid, their aid had been taken away from the school … we just felt like it was an opportunity for a young person who had done everything right to do what they want to do.”
The counterpoint from coaches is playing against their former coaches. Was that not a concern?
“That doesn’t happen that often. I think you really have to look at this because if they are not going to the SEC they’re going to another conference, they’re going to be playing against you, perhaps in the ACC. We just felt like for student athlete wellness and fairness, that was the right thing to do.”
Where do you as a school stand on alcohol sales at Sanford Stadium?
McGarity – “We have not talked about that at all in any of our meetings, that’s yet to be determined. We don’t really have a stance on that right now.”
If the rule was changed would you be OK with it?
McGarity – “We’d talk about it, sure. There would be discussion but we have not crossed that bridge.”
Don’t they serve alcohol in the boosters’ boxes?
McGarity – “The only place that it’s offered and served is in the suites at Sanford Stadium and that’s it. It’s not in the Sky Club, not in the Champion’s Club, it’s really in enclosed places.”
If you served it in the suites, why would you not serve it in the stands as well?
McGarity – “Oh gosh, as it stands right now it’s not allowed in the conference. That’s a discussion I’m sure the presidents will have when they start meeting tomorrow.”