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Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2008 > June > 14
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Georgia’s Perno deserves curtain call
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In seven seasons as Georgia’s football coach, Mark Richt has won two SEC championships, gone to seven bowls, three BCS bowls and finished as high as No. 2 or 3 in the nation (depending on your poll of choice).
In seven seasons as Georgia’s baseball coach, David Perno has won two SEC championships, gone to four NCAA tournaments, three College World Series and finished as high as No. 3 in the nation.
Mark Richt: Athens icon.
David Perno: Athens resident.
Now, I’m not suggesting the “ping” sounds of college baseball should suddenly dominate the sports landscape. I’m guessing Uga has never so much as sniffed a tree by Foley Field, a significant waddle from Sanford Stadium.
But even given baseball’s relative peasant status in college athletics — two words: Omaha, Nebraska — Perno merits something more than a hug from Georgia.
Like maybe some new batting cages.
Stadium renovations.
A raise.
A paperweight.
“Sure, we need all of those things,” he said with a laugh. “I probably need to force things a little more. It’s just not who I am. But no matter what we have, we’ve shown we can be successful. Anybody who was here for our games against Georgia Tech in the regional or the super regional, they saw that we’ve got something special going on.”
Perno played on Georgia’s national title team in 1990. He was an assistant under Ron Polk in 2001, when Georgia went back to Omaha. But when Polk left after that season, the program wasn’t considered a national power. Coaches weren’t falling over themselves for the job. They were barely answering the phone.
“Honestly, I was probably the seventh or eighth choice,” Perno said.
He wasn’t far off. At least three coaches turned it down. Dooley brought in a second-tier group of five candidates. That included Perno, but most figured it was a favor to Dooley’s son, Derek (Perno’s best friend). Dooley, concerned Perno was only 33, had already told him not to get his hopes up.
“He called me in and said, ‘I’ve got to go in a different direction. You’re just too young,’ ” Perno said. “I politely reminded him I was about the same age he was when he got his break. But I remember walking out of his office and he stopped me and said, ‘Just because I’m going in this direction now doesn’t mean things can’t change.’ So he gave me a little bit of hope.”
A few weeks later, on the night of July 20, Perno’s phone rang. It was Dooley.
“His first words to me when he offered me the job were, ‘If I’m going to take a risk, I’m going to take it with you.’ “
Perno’s salary is believed to rank in the bottom third of the SEC. He didn’t break down numbers, but said: “We’re probably middle to bottom tier, after you go through facility, budgets, salaries and in-house resources. We probably have six or seven coaches in our league making over a half-million dollars. But I wouldn’t change places with anybody. If you’re the best in the SEC, you must be doing something right.”
The Dogs just had six players drafted, two in the first round. Their 20-9-1 record in the SEC this season was an all-time school best. The risk paid off.
Asked if somebody at the school just started taking baseball seriously, Perno smiled and said, “Yeah. I did.
“Did I think we would jump on it this early? No. But I always felt we could do this eventually. Being a part of that ‘90 team and knowing Georgia is a great state for amateur baseball, we just needed to have the vision, the direction and the passion to get it done.”
This makes three College World Series in the past five years. If this were football, somebody would be planning a parade route.
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