Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity has been on the job only four months, but he's studied Bulldogs football coach Mark Richt enough to know one change needed to occur.
"I thought that one of Mark's weaknesses was that he was trying to do so much himself," McGarity said Thursday. "He was the point person with so many issues, whether they be academics, discipline and things of that nature. Mark has had his hands in so many things that it was almost impossible to focus on the X's and O's of the game."
The Bulldogs were coming off an 8-5 season that ended in the Independence Bowl when McGarity was hired in August to replace Damon Evans. They were worse this year, finishing 6-7 after a Liberty Bowl loss to Central Florida.
Georgia's losing season was its first since 1996, but McGarity reiterated his support for Richt. He also stuck to his pledge of not putting a needed win total for any coach in any sport.
As for trying to lessen Richt's load, McGarity said moving former strength coach Dave Van Halanger to head a character education program and having former receivers coach John Eason become more of an academic liaison are two steps in that direction. He added that Richt previously led the character education charge.
Included in the character education is leadership training, which McGarity hopes will help reduce run-ins with police. The Bulldogs had 11 football players arrested last year from March to October.
"The more you teach leadership, the more you preach about accountability," McGarity said.
He has heard from fans following the loss to UCF but is urging Bulldogs supporters to stick together. The past year was the first since 1977 in which the football, men's basketball and baseball programs all had losing records.
"I wish I could turn a light switch on and change it overnight, but people have to make decisions whether they want to hang in there with us or choose to do otherwise," McGarity said. "I know they're frustrated with football, but what is so important is that the contributions go in to support every sport we sponsor."
Seay commits
Georgia picked up its 16th commitment Thursday from Sanford Seay, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound receiver from Leesburg, Ga. Seay had 68 receptions for 1,105 yards and 15 touchdowns this past season and chose the Bulldogs' offer over those from Louisiana Tech, Marshall and South Alabama.