DawgsOnline
Since 1995 - Insightful commentary on the Georgia Bulldogs

Post Richt’s new org chart

Thursday January 6, 2011

Think about the layers of people that take care of everything you need to do your job. Everyone from the IT staff keeping the bits flowing to the assistant who takes care of office supplies and keeps the coffee stocked to the HVAC guys who are outside working on the broken heat pump. Every second you have to spend thinking about these things is time spent away from what makes you productive and valuable to your company. If your company doesn’t have people and systems in place to abstract away those functions, I probably don’t have to tell you how frustrated you are about the constant interruptions and crap you have to deal with before you can even do what it is you do.

We’re trained to think of management in top-down terms: orders and direction are given and followed, policies are imposed, and so on. But the best managers get that one of their most important roles is to create those abstractions and make them as transparent as possible. If a salesperson is constantly dealing with IT issues, management has failed.

So it is with athletics or any profession, and Mark Richt is just another guy with a job. So it makes sense that his manager, Greg McGarity, is helping Richt to clear some of those distractions away. Whether you disagree with Richt’s assessment that “we are very close,” the one takeaway from yesterday’s season-ending press conference was that Richt would be more available to “study the game of football.”

“I’m just spending less time messing around with things that Greg wants to be able to help take off my plate from an administrative point of view,” Richt said. “Things are being put in place that are going to help free me up to spend more time doing the things that I love the most, which is study the game of football and be an expert and be on the cutting edge.”

It might seem obvious to the point of “what took you so long,” but there are reasons why coaches sometimes get bogged down in the peripheral stuff. Going back to the role of management, what’s changed in that area over the past year? We know that this move was undertaken with the cooperation of McGarity, and we don’t know what level of administrative support was available from McGarity’s predecessor.

It can also be a difficult balance because those non-football areas can derail what you’re trying to accomplish on the field. Take the emphasis of this offseason: the restructuring of the conditioning program is the one major change made since the 2010 season. The emphasis on toughness and attitude has nothing to do with schemes and cutting-edge football, but Georgia has decided that they can’t win without it. It’s a similar story for academics. They’re in good hands with Dr. Eason, but it’s an area that can sink your program if it gets out of control with a head coach whose head is mostly in the Xs and Os. Richt will still need to have clear communication with these areas while he studies the game, and that’s something that a good manager like McGarity will have to keep an eye on.

Is this a good or even an important move? I don’t know. On one hand, I don’t see the shuffling of some administrative duties as key to the survivial of Richt’s program as some much-needed upgrades on the conditioning side. On the other hand, Georgia, especially on offense, isn’t exactly what you’d call a cutting-edge program. Teams like Stanford showed that you can still win, and win big, with a conventional I-formation and pro-style offense, but Georgia’s offense heavy on sprint draws and play action isn’t actively being copied in what has become a very copycat business. If it takes some reorganization for Richt to have the time to study those areas and make the changes that are implied by that reflection, at least that’s taken care of now.

4 Responses to 'Richt’s new org chart'

Subscribe to comments with RSS

  • I understand your comments. But for 3 million a pop and you
    stand on the opposing 50 yd line against teams like Florida, Bama,
    Auburn, and others…and you have year-end evaluation of your
    coaches / program…well I might have a little issue with more than
    time, a table of organization, and delegation of duties…something
    like leadership, judgement, timely decision making, initiative
    would be good. But the real message I took form the presser is two
    fold…the AD and staff in attendance. Those two messages or items
    are these…one, we are here to support your program, and second,
    this program is under further review.

  • Mark and Bobo have forgotten the Tight Ends. Watch Stanford
    and see a good OC use them to crave up a team. I hope Mark can
    relearn the TE game.

  • We are # 19 in recruiting rankings for both Scout.com and
    for Rivals # 19 as well for the Signing Date 3 Thursdays from now.
    61 percent of say 2011 will be more of the same 39 percent of us
    say 2011 will be unbelievably great This is the “DREAM TEAM.” We
    are not getting the job done in any area of the football program,
    especially SUSPENSIONS / ARRESTS. 9-4 for 2011 will make us # 32 in
    the nation at 9-4. 9-4 in 2010 is # 32. 9-4 in 2009 is # 32.
    Surely, we are more than # 32, Greg McGarity. The combined record
    of all the teams we beat this season is 24-49 and, there is not 1
    team in the group of 6 wins with a winning record. We have won 5 of
    the last 14 SEC games. We must interview every recruit in the state
    of Georgia and ask them why they don’t want to come play for Mark
    Richt. And, then, of course, we must change those areas. 9-4 is #
    32 in the nation won/lost record. Mark Richt must be better than
    9-4. We are # 11 in all-time 1-A wins. We are # 3 in all-time SEC
    Football Championships There are only 3 other states with more high
    school football players who go on to the NFL that this great state
    of Georgia. We have -0- of the Top 10 Scout.com high school
    recruits for this Signing Class 3 Thursdays from now.

  • CMR needs to own up to his responsilibilties as Head Coach.
    If he see’s the offence is not up to par then step the hell in and
    do something about it, any other COACH will. If that is his
    specialty then USE IT!!! Our program has been slipping for seasons
    now, and reality has to set in at some point. Recruiting is down
    also, these younger kids see programs like Ala, Aub, LSU, and Fla
    so they leave the state.. They want to be winners not a wait until
    next season team! Hell I think we need a motivational coach as well
    because they lack enthusiam at times…. I truly hope this 3-4 works
    better this year, I can understand the playes had to adjust but
    giving up all of those rushing yards is embarrissing. Our running
    backs compared to the elite programs in the FBS is sub par as well…
    The enire organazation needs to take a look in the mirror and
    BULLDOG UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Take PRIDE in what you are doing and let
    it show in the Classroom, off season, weight room, and especially
    on Saturday morings on the FIELD.. Man the HELL up
    DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!