Inside Georgia's $200 million quest to take down Alabama

F V C K uga

TLDR

oh and Fck Georgia!!

UGly isn't spending to compete with bama. They are outspending them by a wide margin. They have a legit shot this year. I hope Smart chokes again because that o-line is scary good. They are going to run all over us with our below average DTs.

How many Asians in Athens?

We've never been big spenders and it's not about to change now. This administration is essentially saying, better make do with what you have. We have priorities that go beyond football.

"In only three seasons, Smart, a former Georgia defensive back and longtime Alabama defensive coordinator, has transformed the program into his vision of what it should be. In most cases, the administration has given him everything he needs to do it."

In order to win a national title you've got to have everybody on board with that goal in mind. You've got to have an administration that comes right out and says our goal is to win the SEC and if we win the SEC we will be competing for a national title. You can't have an administration like Florida's that says our goal is to be competitive in the SEC and our goal is to win the all-SEC sports trophy.

There has always been more of an emphasis on academics at UF than at any other SEC school except Vanderbilt. Now with the recent rise of UF in the academic ratings among public universities I think our administration is more interested in competing in that arena rather than on the football field. Because of population of our state, the quality of our high school football program, and the allure of Florida itself, we were able to win national championships as late as when Urban Meyer was here despite not have equal facilities and commitment from our administration. That is no longer going to be the case. Big bucks buy better facilities. Better facilities bring better recruits. Better recruits bring winning. Winning brings championships. Championships bring better recruits. And so the cycle goes.

Not taking anything away from Georgia or Alabama, but I don't know if the way they are doing it is good for college football in the long run. That may sound like sour grapes. Used to it was hard for an SEC school to win a national championship. I'm talking about days before Bear Bryant came to Alabama. There was national prejudice against the SEC and favoritism towards the Big Ten. That has all changed in the last several decades. This has brought the quest for national championships closer to Florida with Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, even LSU competing for that goal. Florida is now located in the epicenter of where the action is in college football. We can go pretty high in football with what we've got, but I'm afraid it's not going to be enough to compete with some of our close neighbors. The two states that border Florida are Alabama and Georgia. They're eating our lunch right now. But if we had the type of committment from our administration that those two schools apparently have then it would be a three way fight in the SEC.

You nailed it, Joe. What we have is an abundance of sunshine and proximity to talent. The rest is about catching lightning in a bottle.

Charley Pell miraculously sold the Robert Marston/Bill Carr-led administration on an ambitious stadium spending project. That's it for my time as a Gator.

This is depressing. Everyone here is hoping Mullen could make a couple of changes in the staff and think that suddenly we will be recruiting top 5 elite classes. This article shows that it takes way more to recruit at that level than just hiring the right assistants.

I just don't get it. Most of these upgrades seem to have been funded by private donations. Are we having a hard time finding donars? Just hard to believe.

I just can’t bring myself to care. Our admin isn’t going to change their stance anytime soon so why waste energy worrying about what UGA is doing? And realistically - I don’t think that level of investment is required to win titles. Case in point: UGA. Its been 40 years. I’m guessing they get one sooner than later - too much talent not to - but its not like they’re head and shoulders above everyone else.

Now, don’t mistake this for whistling either. The AD needs to reprioritize - football first. If nothing else, it just makes sense for the program as a whole, if you believe in capitalism. In 2050 when the football facility is finally built, we should immediately schedule renovations for the athletic dorms. Hopefully have them done in 2100.

BMF said:

That's not surprising. This is classic 'whistling past the graveyard'. Don't shoot the messenger. I thought it was a great article. Most on here think we can sign half 3-star recruits and 'coach em up' and we'll be fine....and any success UGA (or any other program outperforming us in all those categories: recruiting, facilities, coaches salaries, etc) are simply "dropping bags" and there's nothing we can do about it...so we just have to be content w/ our sh*tty facilities, lower coaches salaries, poor recruiting and hope we can out-coach em because, you know, Dan is a great developer of talent and a better coach. TLDR? Go read the article.

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You took that way too personally

BMF said:

I'm sorry, brother. I know we all hate UGA just the same. It just disgusts me what's happening up there and it seems like we're spinning our wheels....

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We aren’t - we just don’t have the same priorities as they do. Its frustrating for us football first types but it’s clear that we don’t represent the decision makers. They’re focused on the athletic program as a whole and academics. Is what it is.

DG and others put it best...our administration is more concerned about being the top public university than athletics. There's nothing wrong with that...nothing. We're an institution for higher learning. It should be that way. It's tough to hear but there a lot of great things going on academically at UF. We should be proud.

T REX said:

DG and others put it best...our administration is more concerned about being the top public university than athletics. There's nothing wrong with that...nothing. We're an institution for higher learning. It should be that way. It's tough to hear but there a lot of great things going on academically at UF. We should be proud.

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I don't understand this. Do we have to choose between one or the other? Is our ability to fund the football program limited by us trying to improve our academic status? Why should it affect how we can raise private donations to fund these things?

The only way I can see it affecting us is making it more difficult for recruits to qualify. But outside of that why do we pretend like we can either be a top academic school or a top football school but not both?

BMF said:

That's not surprising. This is classic 'whistling past the graveyard'. Don't shoot the messenger. I thought it was a great article. Most on here think we can sign half 3-star recruits and 'coach em up' and we'll be fine....and any success UGA (or any other program outperforming us in all those categories: recruiting, facilities, coaches salaries, etc) are simply "dropping bags" and there's nothing we can do about it...so we just have to be content w/ our sh*tty facilities, lower coaches salaries, poor recruiting and hope we can out-coach em because, you know, Dan is a great developer of talent and a better coach. TLDR? Go read the article.

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Straw man. No poster thinks CDM's development is sufficient. No poster wants him deprived of support and facilities. Every poster wants recruiting to improve. A few of us think that when better facilities come on line, that if on field success has continued, it is barely possible that recruiting could improve enough for us to compete for SEC and national titles.
Now, if there is a poster out there who is more optimistic than this, please post and say so. I am tired of these misrepresentations and BS from the dumpers.

UFHealthGator said:

I don't understand this. Do we have to choose between one or the other? Is our ability to fund the football program limited by us trying to improve our academic status? Why should it affect how we can raise private donations to fund these things?

The only way I can see it affecting us is making it more difficult for recruits to qualify. But outside of that why do we pretend like we can either be a top academic school or a top football school but not both?

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Too simplistic. Its not either/or - its prioritization. UGA has prioritized football above all else and is funding it that way. UF has prioritized academics and the AD program as a whole - that’s why the UAA reinvests so much into the school and why our title IX sports have nicer facilities than most. Football still gets the lion’s share of the revenue it produces but not at the expense of the overall priorities - unlike UGA or Bama.

UFHealthGator said:

I don't understand this. Do we have to choose between one or the other? Is our ability to fund the football program limited by us trying to improve our academic status? Why should it affect how we can raise private donations to fund these things?

The only way I can see it affecting us is making it more difficult for recruits to qualify. But outside of that why do we pretend like we can either be a top academic school or a top football school but not both?

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Detroit can explain it much better than I. It starts with not having any football people in charge of the Athletic Dept. That's how new baseball stadiums get built before football. But the deeper issue can be explained by DG way better I. If he see this maybe he can comment. @Detroitgator

T REX said:

Detroit can explain it much better than I. It starts with not having any football people in charge of the Athletic Dept. That's how new baseball stadiums get built before football. But the deeper issue can be explained by DG way better I. If he see this maybe he can comment. @Detroitgator

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And lets get off the Foley references. Yes, he did major damage but the dude is gone I would assume and this current admin is to blame.