McGarity New Georgia AD

Following the scandal of Damon Evans, the former Georgia athletic director, the Bulldogs have their new man, effective September 1st. Evans was forced to resign on July 5th, following a DUI arrest on June 30th.  Further soiling his image, he had a woman in his car at the time who was not his wife. The scandal was enough for him to leave his high ranking position at Georgia. The Bulldogs, however, went for a little bit of home cooking on their signing, inking Greg McGarity to become the new athletic director.

McGarity considers the position a dream come true. He attended school there, but was involved with the college, due to his father, from a young age. At 10 years old, McGarity was a helper to tennis coach Dan Magill. He earned a tennis letter from Magill while playing at the school, though he rarely played. However it may be, his ties with Georgia were too much for university president Mike Adams to pass up on.

McGarity, 55 years old, spent the last 18 years at Florida, where he was a senior associate athletic director. Though he will be moving from an SEC rival, Georgia is where his heart lies. As a matter of fact, when Evans got the job to be the athletic director, McGarity was one of the applicants that was beaten out for the job. While the loss hurt, McGarity said he did not dwell upon it, and it only made him work harder.

Call it coming full circle, then, as McGarity now finds himself in the position he seeked. He signed a five-year contract that could earn him up to two and a half million dollars. He will start at 400 thousand dollars per year, with a 20 thousand dollar annual raise. His original run at Georgia ended in 1992, where he last worked in the sports information department, and served as women’s tennis coach.