As my sweet mama would say, “Things just get curiouser and curiouser.” That is the best way to describe the recent events at the University of Georgia — or more specifically — the athletic department at UGA.
As of this writing, Kirby Smart, who has morphed from a Bainbridge High Bearcat to an all-SEC defensive back at the University of Georgia to nine years as defensive coordinator under Nick Saban at the University of Alabama, is scheduled to become the head football coach at Georgia.
Dick Yarbrough
Some observations on the coaching changes at The University of Georgia
He will succeed Mark Richt, who in 15 years on the job, won 145 games — second on Georgia’s all-time wins list — two SEC championships, was one incomplete pass from perhaps a shot at a national championship and took his teams to a bowl game every year. That turned out to be too ordinary to the people whose opinions matter in such things. He was fired by Athletic Director Greg McGarity. I suspect he had some help in making his decision.
But pity not Mark Richt. He has been named the new head coach at his alma mater, the University of Miami, and will reportedly get a cool $4 million a year to resurrect that once-proud program. For some reason, I keep thinking of Brer Rabbit and the briar patch.
At his press conference alongside AD McGarity, Mark Richt looked positively relieved; laughing and joking with reporters and talking about how blessed he had been to coach at UGA. McGarity looked like someone had stolen his puppy. Think they knew something the rest of us didn’t know?
No word on whether Richt will take two of the great football minds in the country with him to Miami. They are a pair of sports columnists in Atlanta, including one who called for the coach’s resignation and when it occurred, promptly suggested the university show its appreciation for Richt by naming the field at Sanford Stadium or a building for the man. This is the same guy, by the way, who predicts the outcome of football games by having his dog lick pictures of the competing coaches. You can’t make this stuff up.
I find the furor over who coaches the football team a bit off-putting. In fact, I find college athletics off-putting these days. It is a big business, replete with multi-million dollar television contracts, three-hour games played at ungodly hours and loyal fans forced to sit in the rain while the networks try to sell the rest of us razor blades and Range Rovers.
UGA is first and foremost an academic institution and a good one that gets better every day. All of this talk about who is going to be the football coach diminishes that image in my opinion.
For the complete column pick up your copy of The Baxley News-Banner on newsstands today or CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE.
But pity not Mark Richt. He has been named the new head coach at his alma mater, the University of Miami, and will reportedly get a cool $4 million a year to resurrect that once-proud program. For some reason, I keep thinking of Brer Rabbit and the briar patch.
At his press conference alongside AD McGarity, Mark Richt looked positively relieved; laughing and joking with reporters and talking about how blessed he had been to coach at UGA. McGarity looked like someone had stolen his puppy. Think they knew something the rest of us didn’t know?
No word on whether Richt will take two of the great football minds in the country with him to Miami. They are a pair of sports columnists in Atlanta, including one who called for the coach’s resignation and when it occurred, promptly suggested the university show its appreciation for Richt by naming the field at Sanford Stadium or a building for the man. This is the same guy, by the way, who predicts the outcome of football games by having his dog lick pictures of the competing coaches. You can’t make this stuff up.
I find the furor over who coaches the football team a bit off-putting. In fact, I find college athletics off-putting these days. It is a big business, replete with multi-million dollar television contracts, three-hour games played at ungodly hours and loyal fans forced to sit in the rain while the networks try to sell the rest of us razor blades and Range Rovers.
UGA is first and foremost an academic institution and a good one that gets better every day. All of this talk about who is going to be the football coach diminishes that image in my opinion.
For the complete column pick up your copy of The Baxley News-Banner on newsstands today or CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE.
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