McGarity introduced as Georgia's new AD

University of Georgia president Michael Adams welcomed Greg McGarity as the school's new athletic director with a five-year contract and an amusing punch line.

"Anybody who spent 18 years at Florida has suffered enough," Adams said Friday afternoon.

After nearly two decades of helping Jeremy Foley build Florida into the Southeastern Conference's premier athletic department, McGarity is returning home. A 1976 graduate of Georgia who played tennis for the Bulldogs and later coached the women's program, McGarity will officially become athletic director at his alma mater Sept. 1.

McGarity will inherit a department that is sound financially but got rocked when former athletic director Damon Evans was arrested June 30 on a DUI charge in Atlanta and had to resign several days later.

"I'm not interested in looking into the rear-view mirror," McGarity said. "We must be focused on the present and the future, and we will concentrate on doing whatever is necessary to make the University of Georgia the best it can be every day. We have the resources to get the job done."

Frank Crumley, Georgia's interim AD since July 5, has been asked by Adams to help McGarity get re-acclimated to Athens and the university.

As Florida's executive senior athletic director, McGarity has worked in a department that routinely brings in more than $100 million in annual revenue, and he has overseen the expansion of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and the William Heavener Football Complex. Florida has won three national titles in football (1996, 2006, '08) during his time there and two in men's basketball (2006-07).

"I remember first meeting Greg when Jeremy flew out to talk to me about the Florida job," Gators football coach Urban Meyer said. "He was involved in every discussion with Jeremy and our family, and I could tell right away that Greg played a pivotal role in the athletic department. I could also see that his relationship with Jeremy and others in the athletic department went beyond the professional level."

Said Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan: "I echo the sentiments of everyone here in wishing he and his family the best in Athens, and we will certainly all miss him. Georgia has made a fantastic hire."

Lightning forced Georgia's football team to practice Friday inside Stegeman Coliseum, so coach Mark Richt used that brief transition time to attend McGarity's announcement.

"He seems like a very genuine person," Richt said. "Everybody that I know that knows him or has worked with him thinks the world of him. It's very obvious he loves Georgia and loves Athens."

When asked if he thought McGarity might share some secrets to Florida's success - the Gators have won 17 of the last 20 football games between the two - Richt said, "I hope he does. I won't hit him with that right off the get go, though."

McGarity will receive $420,000 his first year and is scheduled to receive a $20,000 raise each ensuing year until the contract expires June 30, 2015. He also can receive an additional $25,000 per year for longevity, bringing the total value of his pact to $2.425 million.

Adams said there were more than 70 candidates for the position.

SECOND SCRIMMAGE LOOMS

Georgia's second scrimmage of the preseason was moved to this morning in order for freshmen Alec and Alexander Ogletree to attend their sister's wedding this afternoon.

Richt said starting guard Cordy Glenn will be out several days with mononucleosis but that starting inside linebacker Akeem Dent, who underwent toe surgery before the start of camp, could practice throughout the week leading up to the Sept. 4 opener. Taking Glenn's spot for the time being will be Tanner Strickland.

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