The Curious Case of Mr. Fox

Fire him or extend him.  There can be no middle ground.

Mark Fox is currently under contract through the 2016 season.  In order to effectively recruit (hold that thought), it is common wisdom that a coach needs to be under contract for at least 3 more years.  More is better.

Anything less, and it is hard to look a recruit in the eyes and ask him to give you 4 years.  It also sets the table for anyone out there doing negative recruiting.  "Sign at UGA if you want, but you won't be playing for Mark Fox in two years."

Coming into this season, it seemed fairly cut and dry:  NCAA tournament or bust.  It's funny how quickly black and white can blend to gray.

Greg McGarity still has a decision to make.  If he believes Fox has had enough time to get this program turned around, he has to fire him and start over, because the turnaround is not complete.  If, however, he sees enough progress to keep Fox around, he has to extend Fox's contract enough to help his recruiting efforts while controlling the salary and buyout.

Over the next few days, we'll look at some of these decision points - wins/losses, recruiting, attendance, etc.  In the mean time, Mark Fox has to put all this out of his mind.  He has a tournament (or two?) to prepare for.