re: Georgia Should Be a Top 10 Program

Alabama has started keeping surpluses because their debt payments are rising and they are planning more renovations currently and in the future (see new baseball stadium).

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Is LSU currently a Top 10 program?

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Yes. I think you'd be hard pressed to list 9 other programs that are "better" than LSU as a program. As a specific team, no LSU fan would argue the past two years have been below expectations. Blame early draft losses on that.

Of course, "top 10" is kind of relative depending upon what you decide is most important when evaluating teams. Is it coaching staff? Recruiting? Facilities? Wins? Highest players drafted? Total players drafted? Revenue? Profit? Sell-out games?

And yet everyone complains we hire so many coaches and hide them in staff positions, and the amount we spend on recruiting.

If Nick Saban wants something, he gets it, does UGA have an indoor facility yet bigger than 20 yds?

Uga just isn't a great football program. never has been, never will be. for Christ's sake, they only have 2 more sec titles than vandy does in the last 33 years. That aint good.

In UGA's defense, their way to ATL in the 90s was tenuous because of Spurrier at UF. They were also dealing with a stout UT.

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Pretty much a positive to have a healthy reserve fund. Hopefully money can be made off interest and investements.That's the main reason $30 million was transferred to the UGA foundation.

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It is good to have a healthy reserve, but there is a fine line in healthy and not being a good steward of donated funds. I don't know enough about UGA's Athletic Foundation to know where they are on that line, but people I work with who look at Athletic Foundations for a living and are UGA grads universally think they aren't doing a very good job in that respect.

I guess Championships, paying off coaches you fired, expanding, etc DONT always pay off.....

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Auburn athletics department reports $865,994 deficit in 2013

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UGA with their resources should have a more recent national title than 1980 imo

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What a new and original opinion.

I can answer this question in real simple terms. UGA has always operated under the assumption that becoming an elite academic school should take precedence over sports. That is absolutely the correct mindset. However, a lot of school have found success balance in both. With advent of the Hope Scholarship, the Administration became blinded by an appropriate separation between school and sports. It has caused friction with donors and alumni of all groups. Times are changing. We’ll never be Vanderbilt but the President will go down fighting.

The UGA AD followed this thought, but in terms of trying to accumulate as much money as possible. Hence, they cut corners (low salaries, no IPF, lack of support staff, etc, etc.) The revenue they have generated is sitting in a bank, and it’s ready to be invested. Over the past year, the Administration has taken note. If you want to be elite like Alabama, you have to spend money. If you want to out-recruit Alabama, you have to spend money. If you want to out coach Alabama, you have to retain the staff (save Bobo).

I for one and really excited about what is going on in Athens. I think the AD and Richt recognize they have to partake in the arms race or become a casualty of mediocrity. They also recognize there is no better time than now. UGA came close in ’02, ’07 and ’12. Close isn’t good enough in the SEC. It’s time to open up the checkbook, and the results will follow. There is no doubt whatsoever that this will generate a better product.