Georgia baseball coach Scott Stricklin isn’t naïve. After four straight losing seasons, he knows the onus to win is now.
Coming off a 25-32 campaign last spring, Georgia’s best record in four previous seasons under Stricklin was a 26-28 mark posted in 2016, numbers that haven’t set well with the Bulldog fan base.
Currently in the fifth year of a six-year contract that pays him a gross salary of $300,000 according to records obtained via open records, Stricklin understands the angst.
He doesn't disagree.
“It’s time to go. It’s time to make the next step. I know that. I’m no dummy,” Stricklin said in an exclusive sit down with UGASports. “I signed up for it; it’s taken time to build it. We haven’t taken any shortcuts. We feel like we’ve done it the right way. We’ve got really good kids, we’ve got really good players and we need to have a good year.”
It’s not the first time this point has been made.
During last May’s SEC spring meetings in Destin, Fla., a handful of Bulldog beat writers broached the subject with athletic director Greg McGarity, who said the team’s strong finish that saw Georgia win three straight series against ranked foes (Kentucky, Mississippi State and South Carolina) played an important role.
“The things Scott and I talked about in the 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,” McGarity said on May 31. “As we walked down that path and talked about what we expected to see, and what he expected to see, they matched up with our performance at the end of the year.”
Stricklin – who said he’s never been given a directive pertaining to a specific number of wins - said his expectations are simple.
“We need to get in a regional. That’s what we should be doing, that’s what I came here to do,” he said. “I don’t have a number and I’ve never been told there’s a number. I was told just go out there and coach your rear end off, go out there and develop your players, and put a good product on the field. That’s what everybody wants to see. Everyone wants to see good baseball. Everybody wants to see Georgia succeed and move onto the postseason and that’s what we want to see, too.”
In two weeks, the journey begins.
Georgia opens its season Feb. 16 with a three-game series against instate rival Georgia Southern with a team that’s arguably the strongest in the Stricklin tenure at UGA.
With six returning position starters and what’s potentially a very good pitching staff, Georgia isn’t favored to win a stacked SEC East, but should be expected to at least flirt with .500, both overall and in league play.
“When people ask me about that, I tell them we need to have a good year. I know that,” he said. “That’s all we can focus on. I know you have to ask that question and I get asked that question a lot. But I can tell you the support of our program is really high. People are excited about what we have, we’re excited about what we’re doing but now it’s time to get the wins on the field. We’ve checked a lot of boxes, now it’s time to check the most important box.”
