re: We Are Missing The Big Offseason Story Thanks to LSU: Georgia is a Dumpster Fire

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I have read plenty of Georgia threads complaining about the Administration and powers that be at Georgia at odds with the Athletic future.

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Because until the Pruitt raise and McGarity's announcement last week that the IPF/Sanford Stadium renovations are on the way and the announcement of hiring an NFL OC (who by all accounts was going to be retained at St.Louis, which means we're probably spending a fair amount there, too), that's how it had been at UGA for years. You rival fans are catching UGA at a weird time in how it does things; we're actually spending money and it's kind of bizarre. I'm not sure if it's a mirage and a pleasant lapse in judgement or if y'all should start getting a little worried that the sleeping giant is waking.

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UGA admins have found what they feel is an optimal return on investment that has made our university one of the most profitable in the nation. They spend just enough to win at a high level but not the highest level; just enough to keep the money flowing in.

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So bean counters?

I get someone in the B1G beancounting, but in the SEC there is no glory in profits. Or is this some kind of weird competition with Georgia Tech for who can seem the least like neanderthals and the most like Yankees?

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I get someone in the B1G beancounting, but in the SEC there is no glory in profits.

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We know. The problem is that the higher-ups don't seem to have recognized that until recently.

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We know. The problem is that the higher-ups don't seem to have recognized that until recently.

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Georgia is one of the most profitable football teams in the nation. I think it surpises people when we spend like a bottom/mid tier SEC team when we make more than alot of schools that outspend us. When teams are paying their Dline coach 300-400k more than Mike Bobo it kinda says something. I get that we refuse to get into an arms race with the big spenders but it's not because we don't have the finances to compete.

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I get someone in the B1G beancounting, but in the SEC there is no glory in profits.


We know. The problem is that the higher-ups don't seem to have recognized that until recently.

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When you say "higher ups" would this be referencing the BOR as a whole or the ignorant, South Georgia, no shoe wearing, dirt clods who the gubner appoints?

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UGA has been gunning for AAU membership for a while now and it looks like we're pretty close to getting it with the addition of our Engineering and Medical programs.

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Well you have our vote!

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When you say "higher ups" would this be referencing the BOR as a whole or the ignorant, South Georgia, no shoe wearing, dirt clods who the gubner appoints?

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Higher ups at the University. BOR is made up mostly of UGA alumni or supporters. They pretty much sign off on whatever the University wants to do.

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I get that we refuse to get into an arms race with the big spenders

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Which kinda makes no sense.

I mean, I never get why B1G teams do it. Freaking Wisconsin makes more than all but the B1G thanks to their network, they could pay their coaches enough money to keep them taking lateral (at best) moves. Why go through the pain of transition if money gives you stability?

Well, that is not true. I know why they do it. They do it because the local political environment won't tolerate coaches making so much more than educators even if they can afford it. Something tells me that is not the same environment a state like Georgia has.

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I will be honest, I have long thought it was Richt holding you back. I figured he was a coach there for so long it created a bubble that kept your program from being exposed to the harsh reality of modern football (to which LSU this week was Exhibit A). I also assumed that once he left yall would hire some nice guy to fit your antiquated bubble-created values, and then after that nice guy was eaten alive without Mark's momentum some superboosters would take over and hire a Nick Saban-esc SOB to remake the program in a more modern fashion.

Given what you've said though, it seems that I was looking at a symptom and thought it was a cause. Richt being there so long didn't create a bubble, he has been there so long because he lived in a bubble someone else made.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your insight. I learned more about your program today than I know about half the Big 12 schools.

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In the interest of fairness, I think part of the blame can be put on Richt at least during the first half of his tenure. Remember, he was a first time HC when he came to UGA in 2001 from a Bodwen-led FSU so he didn't really have a frame of reference for how to handle UGA politics or how to get what the program needed. Couple that with the fact that he got to watch UGA's greatest coach in Vince Dooley get unceremoniously pushed out the door by the University President, and I think it probably put him a little on the defensive with regards to a give and take relationship with the AD. I think he has grown a lot as a coach and the dam finally broke when he hired Pruitt. For the first time, he had an outside voice from Bama and FSU unafraid to go places Richt is just too gentlemanly to go. Pruitt has called our AD out to reporters over money issues. Richt never would have done that. I think the two of them together form a dynamic duo for the program and the benefits are beginning to show in spades, what with a top 5 recruiting class, facility improvements, an expanded support staff, and needed new hires/replacements. There's a reason that UGA is dropping some serious $$$ on Pruitt for a multi-year contract. He's not going to be a coordinator much longer. The real fun is going to be when Richt retires and it'll be a Pruitt vs. Bobo battle to see who replaces him.

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Really? You must mean like the chairman of the broad of regents for the university system of Georgia.

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LINK

In particular, Don Leebern, Jr. is considered to be UGA's "big booster" (akin to Lowder at Auburn and Bryant, Jr. at Bama).

It's also worth noting not only all the UGA grads, but also the Sonny Perdue appointees. Sonny was a walk-on football player at UGA and Kappa Sig brother. In fact, a ton of politicians and Govenors from GA are UGA grads. When we tell Tech fans "We run this state," we actually mean it.