Greg McGarity recognizes he can be impatient.

He knows it takes time for any large staff to click on all cylinders.

And he knows he must find the delicate balance between allowing his staffers to flourish while still teaching how he wants things done.

MCGARITY

“And I still think that’s one of my weaknesses is just being patient. I’ve talked to so many people in the profession that tell me that it takes time to do certain things the way you want them done,” McGarity said. “It causes you some sleepless nights because you know at the end of the day it’s going to be a reflection on your institution, whatever you do.”

But since being hired as Georgia’s athletic director in August 2010, he has started to find that balance as he fine-tunes his leadership and management skills. And he continues to work on his patience, something he said has been the hardest lesson to learn throughout the last year.

“You don’t want to do the work for [the staffers],” McGarity said. “You try to provide the guidance, the resources and try to help guide them because they’re never gonna learn how to do it themselves unless they try it themselves.”

McGarity called the last year “a blur.”

This time last year he was in Omaha, Neb., at the College World Series with his son Alex. And now he occupies a corner office in the Butts-Mehre Building with one of the best views on campus.

After making it known he wanted to re-establish a foundation of trust not only among his staff but also among the student-athletes, fan base and University community, McGarity had a clear agenda in mind for the athletic department. But he said there is still work to do.

“We’ve just kinda scratched the surface on what we really wanna do,” McGarity said. “I think that our staff really went to work hard. We focused on really talking about accountability, integrity and honesty and transparency in everything we did and I think our staff became really probably closer as a result of all the tough times we’d experienced.”

After what McGarity called “a tough fall” for the football, volleyball and soccer teams, he said the winter and spring sports began to pick up and had some “fantastic finishes.”

He said the spirit and energy of his staff created an environment in which everyone felt they could thrive.

“I think that there’s no question we can all get better — everybody. Every employee feels like they can get better in everything they do,” McGarity said. “That’s the part of kind of setting the foundation on what we’re all about, which is doing the right thing every day and trying to out work people and try to do the best job we possibly can to move the institution forward. But it’s been a lot of fun.”

Outside of the responsibilities as athletic director, McGarity calls himself simple.

He spends most of his free time at his home with his wife Sheryl and enjoys working in his yard. After 19 years away from his home town and the community he grew comfortable in, he said he has slipped right back in where he was when he left.

“But I think the neat part about it is getting back into the Athens community has been really, really easy,” McGarity said. “I think everybody’s welcomed us with open arms and blending back into the community has been very, very easy.”

In the blur of the year, McGarity said the first time it hit him that he had landed his dream job was when he found himself standing in Sanford Stadium before kickoff of the first home football game last season. The Red Coat Marching Band filled its usual section and began playing a tune McGarity had not heard in Georgia’s stadium in nearly 19 years — the alma mater.

“That was the first ‘aha!’ moment that you realize that, ‘Hey, this really did happen,’” McGarity said. “It’s one thing that took just a few seconds to get used to, but once you were around your staff and your team and things, it kinda brought it back to, ‘Hey, we’re back at the University of Georgia and it’s really fortunate to be back.’”