Bill Shanks: Kirby Smart should be given full control

As we await the pending announcement and news conference introducing Kirby Smart as the next head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs, there is still some anxiety in the Georgia fan base.

The debate has turned from whether a veteran head coach should stay to wondering how long the man responsible for firing him will continue in his current role.

Greg McGarity has not had a good week. There are always things in our life you'd like to have a chance to do over again, and McGarity's list for this week alone would be long. Georgia's athletics director might be the most unpopular man in the state of Georgia right now.

First, there are people who will blame McGarity for firing Mark Richt, who will remain popular even coaching a different program in Miami. The fact is, McGarity was told to fire Richt by several huge financial supporters of the program. McGarity likely wanted to do it anyway, but he was directed to pull the trigger on the move.

The decision was made a few days after Georgia lost to Florida. The Bulldogs still had a chance to play for the SEC championship, but Richt started third-string quarterback Faton Bauta. Richt did not cater the offense toward Bauta's strengths, and then Richt left Bauta in the game even when it was obvious the desperate move was not working.

And that was the final straw. That's when people stepped in and made the decision for McGarity. But last Monday at the news conference with Richt, McGarity acted like he had this moment of clarity on his drive from Atlanta to Athens after the Georgia-Georgia Tech game that convinced him to fire Richt.

Yeah, right. No one believed that.

Oh, and about that news conference. What was that all about? Georgia had fired Richt, yet the university allowed him to control the news conference with the man who had fired him sitting right next to him. Richt won the news conference, acting like Richt acts -- humble, appreciative and grateful. Meanwhile, McGarity sat there and did not answer any question and looked miserable.

If they were going to allow Richt to have a news conference, it should have been with him being alone. It likely wasn't even appropriate for him to have it at the Butts-Mehre Building, but to keep their farce of a "mutual agreement to part ways" in play they must have thought it would be OK.

It wasn't. McGarity should have had his own news conference and honestly answered the questions of why he made the decision. He might not have gone into the full story of being told to do it, but he owed the Georgia fans angered by the decision more than, "Today is about Mark" and "That's between Mark and myself."

Wait, you fired a man, and it's between the two of you? You won't even offer any explanation about it?

There have been rumors all week that McGarity has created road blocks in the discussions with Smart. Look, McGarity needs to get out of Smart's way. Smart needs complete autonomy with this football program. There needs to be no interference.

If Smart wants to pay Scott Cochran, Alabama's heralded strength coach, $500,000, then McGarity needs to allow it. If Smart wants to keep Jeremy Pruitt on the staff, then that needs to happen. There should be no obstacles in place for Smart to try and make this a championship program.

This athletics department supposedly has millions in the bank, so what's the point of being cheap? Yes, Alabama spends more on recruiting than others. They have more support staff than most programs. Well, if Georgia wants to be like Alabama, it's time to loosen the purse strings and do it.

Nick Saban has full control of his program at Alabama. He has won enough to deserve that power. But if Georgia is to emulate Alabama, Smart must be given the same privilege even before he takes the field. McGarity and the other administrators need to get out of the way and give Smart the chance.

It might not work, but this is the chance to take a program stuck in the middle of the SEC and make it great. And to do that, the men in charge need to let the new guy have exactly what he wants.

Listen to "The Bill Shanks Show" from 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WPLA Fox Sports 1670 AM in Macon and online at www.foxsports1670.com. Follow Bill at www.twitter.com/BillShanks and email him at thebillshanksshow@yahoo.com.

This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Bill Shanks: Kirby Smart should be given full control ."