McGarity says football focus 'is on this year'

Georgia athletics director Greg McGarity said Thursday he has not had a discussion with Mark Richt’s about the head coach’s job status.

“We talk every day, every other day. But our focus has been on this year,” McGarity said after a meeting of the UGA athletic association board. “What we do is focus on: Mark, what can we do to help. Is there anything there we can do to help. We basically have those conversations. But really we don’t deal with the future. … We’ll deal with all that stuff at the appropriate time.”

McGarity does have some optimism for the Tennessee game, citing the Bulldogs’ practices this week. Richt held a full-pads practice on Monday, a rarity for him, and has said the following two days were “spirited.”

Through his own observations, including some conversations with players in the elevator, McGarity got a sense that there was a "lot of juice” in the program this week.

“If Monday and Tuesday are any indication as to how we’ve responded to a 1-4 start, all of our fans and supporters would feel very good about things heading forward to this weekend,” McGarity said.

McGarity is still hearing from a lot of those fans and supporters. Coming off the loss at Colorado, he said it’s been a “rather interesting week,” but not as active as it was after the loss to Mississippi State.

“I think you see it’s really almost 50-50,” McGarity said. “You see a lot of individuals that absolutely want change. And you see others that want change in certain ways. And very few that say ‘Mark Richt must go.’ It’s all over the map.”

One thing that was clear from the board meeting: Georgia has plenty of money. A treasury report to the board pointed to a large reserve of revenue, and the construction of Butts-Mehre came in about $5 million under budget.

Football, obviously, is a huge part of that revenue generator. Specifically ticket sales and athletic giving.

Asked about that, McGarity said the focus for the rest of this season would be on gameday atmosphere. He pointed to problems in the NFL, where there have been an increasing number of blackouts. Some attribute it to the recession, while others point to the TV experience.

“If we’re struggling a little bit, an individual is says Well do I go to a game or do I stay at home and watch it on TV,” McGarity said. “We’ve got to be creative in there and just be prepared to deal with every decision that may arise.”