I've read The Senator's posts on the subject. And I read King's as well. I certainly understand the frustration at the lack of spending to keep up with the Sabans, so to speak. But allow me to play devil's advocate for a moment. And actually, it leads to a crossroads many have highlighted already.
After all, this isn't an issue of the haves and the have nots, at least as far as Georgia is concerned; we have the cash and plenty enough join the fun. It's an issue of the willing and the unwilling; programs like Bama and the new Ole Miss are clearly willing to take any recruiting and coaching support advantage they can muster. Georgia is not.
Will the men in power here, namely McGarity, Richt and incoming UGA President Morehead, take the necessary perspective and focus to justify spending some of the cash on hand to beef up the football program's support staff and resources when they feel they are only five yards short of it already? Will they look at last season's "photo finish" in the SEC (and for all intents and purposes the BCS as well) and see a program that needs an influx of tweaks and modifications to finish a new drill? Or will they see a program that has everything it needs other than luck? Is everyone, from the administrators to the coaches, ready to reorganize the current football operations to include the kind of support staff we're talking about here? And lastly, are they capable of transitioning and implementing in that direction successfully?
Before we go any further, let's be perfectly fair. This was an issue PWD hit on after the South Carolina loss last year pretty thoroughly. It's easy to see this as the UGA brass being satisfied with the status quo. Now, said "status quo" means keeping recruiting back in the 1990s while winning 10 or so games a year. We have the coaching staff and the on field talent to do just that most years. As Westerdawg explained, the support can be added immediately whenever the guys in charge are ready.
But that's where we get hung up. McGarity stood by the coach during the turbulent era of Richt's long tenure. He seems comfortable with Richt making the programmatic decisions regarding the football operations and staff (read: strength and conditioning, recruiting coordinator). More pointedly, McGarity would rather address "recruiting concerns" with the NCAA and the powers that be. All while the Alabamas and the Rebels of the world dance in the gray area and push the envelope further and further.
That's the way I see it. We have a coach that's been here a long time and has been highly successful. And we have an Athletic Director that is content with that to the point that it's easier to sit on whatever revenue his head coach brings in...and hope that the ball doesn't get tipped next time.
