At least not in the traditional way that most ADs are supposed to be visionaries for their athletic departments.

From what I understand (talking & listening to smart people for years), his job is to (1) keep the money rolling, and (2) keep academia happy. This is Georgia.

As long as those things continue, the path of least resistance is to let nice guys who run clean programs keep doing their thing. He's a money manager & a liaison to the academic side. At cocktail parties, the people that matter are happy the coffers are full & great guys like Richt & Fox are the faces of UGA athletics. From this perspective, McGarity is actually great at his job.

Football is the only entity with nearly enough juice to be the exception in this paradigm. Richt would absolutely still be here if it was up to McGarity. That was not his decision, as a few elites finally got fed up enough to force his hand.