The NEW Georgia Way

The crying over the Toneil Carter saga is laughable to me.  I said it years ago (and I say the same thing about Dabo now) – Richt is too good of a man to compete at the highest level in the new CFB climate.  Dabo doesn’t want to do satellite camps.  Okay, see how that works the next 5 years for you.

 

But values in collegiate athletics are all relative.  Some will lament what Kirby did to Carter as cold blooded.  Um, what did you think we were getting in a head coach?  But, I’d guarantee you that Kirby would say his highest value is to do what he believes is in the best interest of the organization no matter who is left in the fray?  And it’s a predicament in the modern era of CFB.  The kid can leave you at the altar the first week of February but the school can’t do the same?  Recruiting is ugly.  Bottom line. 

 

But, we soon forget that Richt and crew were banned for a while at Carver-Columbus because Garner pulled a scholly offer…just like Kirby had McGee pull this offer.  I think you’ll just see Kirby do it more often.  Richt would do the disinterested girl thing most often and just stop contacting a kid rather than flat out tell them the offer was pulled, hoping they’d just decommit, which they most often would.  Which do you think is better?

 

This is the dilemma for the Dawg fan.  I adored Richt, but we saw what that got us.  It got us 5^th best recruiting classes in the SEC and walking out of Everbank repeatedly with our tail between our legs.  And I never felt like, “At least we have a higher standard.”  There is a level of cut-throatedness in this business that is ugly, but it depends on how you look at it.  Do you feel more comfortable giving in to a family in Texas who have never really done a thing for UGA at the potential expense of thousands of donors and fans because you wanted to do the right thing for a kid?  Or do you feel more comfortable jilting that family for the good of the current team, fanbase and long-term interest of the program.

 

Those that would want to paint the issue as a 2-sided issue disregard the very complicated nature of the process.  Who among us is willing to sacrifice a position of need (say LB or DB) to make a kid happy at a position that is not one of need (like RB, right now)?  Which promise is greater?  The one you made in a living room to a kid or the one you made at a podium to put the organization first?

 

It’s hard to say what’s right and what works, but we’re about to find out the next 2-3 years.