In terms of protocol, purview and responsibility, Georgia defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt pretty much bulldozed through all of them when he ranted about the Bulldogs’ immediate need for an indoor practice facility after Tuesday’s practice. But head coach Mark Richt, who does have the authority to speak on such matters, gave Pruitt a pass for feeling passionate about it.
“This is what I think: I think our coaches are excited about the indoor facility being on the way,” Richt said Wednesday night after Georgia’s cold outdoor practice. “As far as figuring out when exactly that’s going to happen, that’s another story. But, the reality is, we’re in the process of deciding where it’s going to go.”
The UGA Athletic Association’s board of directors in September appropriated $400,000 to conduct a feasibility study about building an indoor practice facility. However, there is considerable debate about where to put such a structure, which is expected to be 80 yards wide by 140 yards long and at least 60 feet high, and how much money to spend on it. There would also be a bid process for the right to build it.
Richt said he would be meeting with an architectural firm “in the next couple of weeks” for a programming meet to discuss specifics about the proposed building and where it might go. But he left no doubt that the building would become a reality. It will unlikely be completed before 2016, however.
“We’re moving with the project, which is exciting,” Richt said. “As soon as it will be done, it will be done.”
That’s in sharp contrast to what Pruitt said Tuesday night. The first-year defensive coordinator addressed reporters after a practice for the first time since early September because he was miffed the Bulldogs were unable to conduct a full-scale practice due to cold and windy conditions. Georgia tried to conduct a workout in the “Nalley Multipurpose Facility,” but it is not big enough to do much more than walk-throughs.
“We practiced as fast as we could and tackled and ‘thudded,’” Pruitt said. “It’s kind of like when you used to play football in the living room. I told them, ‘don’t run into the coffee table over there that has pointed edges.’”
Where Pruitt went wrong was stating “for recruits” that UGA would have a facility completed before the end of the 2015 season. He said Florida State took just seven months to construct the one it opened last year. However, he failed to mention the planning for that facility began three years earlier.
The important thing, he said, is that Georgia is getting one.
“I know our competitors aren’t going to say anything bad about the coaches or the people here, because it’s a great place,” Pruitt said. “But … what they’ve always said is, ‘how important is football at Georgia is they don’t have an indoor practice facility?’ Well they won’t be able to say that anymore.”
Georgia is one of just two SEC football programs that does not have an indoor practice facility. Florida is the other.
Said Richt: “The thing I want to reiterate is it’s going to happen. It’s a matter of time. We just want to do it right. I’m very excited and thankful for our administration and the board, the president, everybody who is in the middle of allowing us to get this thing done. … Again, for me to know it’s going to happen and know we’re moving forward, you can recruit with that. And I think that’s the point Jeremy was trying to make. He might have gotten a little overzealous on when it’s going to be in the ground and that kind of thing. But I think he was just wanting to let all of our recruits know that it’s on the way.”
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