McGarity: from "blur" to "moving forward"

Given the circumstances of what happened nearly a year ago that led to his hiring, it's understandable that the last year has been a blur. From reading this feature on Georgia's not so new anymore AD, you definitely get the feeling that the honeymoon is in the rear view mirror.

McGarity called the last year “a blur.”

This time last year he was in Omaha, Neb., at the College World Series with his son Alex. And now he occupies a corner office in the Butts-Mehre Building with one of the best views on campus.

After making it known he wanted to re-establish a foundation of trust not only among his staff but also among the student-athletes, fan base and University community, McGarity had a clear agenda in mind for the athletic department. But he said there is still work to do.

“We’ve just kinda scratched the surface on what we really wanna do,” McGarity said. “I think that our staff really went to work hard. We focused on really talking about accountability, integrity and honesty and transparency in everything we did and I think our staff became really probably closer as a result of all the tough times we’d experienced.”

After what McGarity called “a tough fall” for the football, volleyball and soccer teams, he said the winter and spring sports began to pick up and had some “fantastic finishes.”

He said the spirit and energy of his staff created an environment in which everyone felt they could thrive.

“I think that there’s no question we can all get better — everybody. Every employee feels like they can get better in everything they do,” McGarity said. “That’s the part of kind of setting the foundation on what we’re all about, which is doing the right thing every day and trying to out work people and try to do the best job we possibly can to move the institution forward. But it’s been a lot of fun.”

McGarity's vision seems pretty focused now if you ask me.