I know I said it in Friday’s newsletter, but fall and football season will truly be here before we all know it.
Football and recruiting news can even dominate in the spring and summer, but today I wanted to highlight a story my co-worker Mike Griffith put together on Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks and his relationship with all of the programs and coaches at Georgia, not just Kirby Smart.
It’s a long story that gets into how Brooks came up through the college athletics ranks, the successful hires he’s made at Georgia and how he has become a leader in the industry.
“Josh is someone you know will always have your back,” Johnson said. “This is a person who is passionate about his programs, and you see that with the support he provides.”
Let’s dive into it:
How spring success illustrates UGA AD’s emphasis on all sports — not just football
Brooks’ football background includes working as a football team manager under Nick Saban at LSU, to his student assistant stint under Jimbo Fisher and director of ops role under Mark Richt before his ascension to administration.
At a time when Georgia football generates almost 90% of the school’s donation and ticket revenue, having that level of expertise in the sport is of obvious importance.
UGA President Jere Morehead elevated Brooks from executive associate director of athletics into the AD chair in January 2021, making him the youngest athletic director in the Power Five ranks at that time.
Around 5½ years later, Brooks will open the fall semester as the SEC’s seventh-longest-tenured athletic director, while also ranking as the fourth youngest at 46 years old.
Brooks recently showed just how much his wisdom goes beyond his years when he took an unprecedented stand on the national stage.
Brooks triggered national headlines when he declared the Bulldogs would not schedule Texas Tech in any sports in the wake of a case that saw a local judge overrule the NCAA’s lifetime ban on a quarterback who gambled on their own team.
“It was an important moment for a highly respected AD to take that position,” SEC Network host Paul Finebaum told the AJC. “It set the tone and showed a great deal of principle.”
Brooks’ decision to hire Johnson was second-guessed at the time — Johnson was a journeyman assistant who hadn’t been a head coach before.
“Josh has made a lot of great hires, but (Johnson) has got to be at or near the top,” Morehead said last week. “(Johnson) has done a fantastic job, and how do you compare his record to any other record over a three-year span.”
Brooks is optimistic UGA will finish in the top 10 of the Division I Learfield Directors’ Cup standings, which rank programs on their cumulative success.
UGA has 12 top-10 Directors’ Cup finishes in school history, two of them coming under Brooks in the past five years.
Brooks tracks program metrics closely, but as he explained in an exclusive interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week, “While it’s a very important metric to me, it’s not the bottom line.”
Brooks said he values the student experience most, and for him that means hiring elite coaches and providing competitive facilities.
Both of those things require money, and the arrow is pointing up for Georgia athletics in that respect, with the program ranking among the most valuable in the nation.
Per the most recent CNBC collegiate sports program valuations, UGA jumped from seventh nationally in 2024 ($950 million) to being tied for fourth (with Michigan) in 2025 with a $1.16 billion valuation.
Smart’s football program is clearly the cash cow, bringing in $38.9 million of the $42.1 million of UGA’s ticket revenue in the 2025 fiscal year, and $44.1 million of the $52.1 million of contributions.
But Brooks, per his coaches, brings passion and planning into the equation for all the Bulldogs’ sports programs.
Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks watched the UGA football team win the College Football Playoff national championship in January 2023. (Courtesy of Tony Walsh/UGAAA)
Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks speaks at an introductory news conference for new women's basketball coach Ayla Guzzardo in April. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
UGA athletic director Josh Brooks talks with staff after a Georgia tennis match in February 2025. (Courtesy of Tony Walsh/UGAAA)
Realistic expectations
“I’m looking at the trajectory of the programs, but I think you’ve got to be honest about the expectations in each program,” Brooks said. “I know, and each of our coaches know, the different level of support each sport receives relative to their peers.
“Certain sports are more heavily invested in at certain schools than others. Of course we want to beat all of them, but you’ve got to be realistic about it, because we can’t be the top spender in all 21 of our sports.”
UGA has, however, provided full scholarships for all the Bulldogs athletes in the wake of the House vs. NCAA settlement, even as football and basketball NIL costs soar amid a fluid landscape.
Each day, it seems, there are questions about eligibility and transfer rules, along with the uncertainty of name, image licensing clearinghouse action in the first year of the College Sports Commission.
Brooks, as a member of the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee, stays abreast of the changes, the better to serve collegiate athletics, with his knowledge benefiting all his programs.
“As choppy as the waters are, Josh has been able to provide some stability with his strong support staff providing critical continuity that he’s managed,” former UGA athletic director Greg McGarity said.
“I’m proud to see him excel in all areas, from the financial aspect to the academics,” said McGarity, who served as UGA’s athletic director 2010-2020 before moving on to his current role as president and CEO of Gator Bowl Sports.
“I also think Josh’s ability to evaluate people in general, coaches or staff, is outstanding. The right hires are important. Everything is on the right path for Josh and Georgia to have sustained success.”
Smart has played a key role in Brooks’ success, but the two-time national champion coach stressed how Brooks’ athletic director experience and management has been just as important, as well as the nonrevenue programs.
“For the past five years football and collegiate athletics, in general, have been a supervolatile space,” Smart said. “Georgia has been lucky to have a leader like Josh Brooks who has worked in football operations and administration, understands the dynamics of our sport’s business and who has helped us navigate many of the challenges we have faced and continue to face.
“No one has the quick answer, and there are certainly future challenges to come, but it has been reaffirming for our athletic association to have a leader like Josh who is working to navigate this landscape.”
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey weighed in, noting how Brooks has helped lead collegiate athletics as a whole.
“Josh has been a resource for me. In fact, I think the respect for him and his knowledge is why he’s become a lot more involved nationally, working on the (NCAA) football oversight committee,” Sankey said. “I greatly appreciate how he’s led. You know, he’s really led in a seamless way and has things (at Georgia) going well.”
Four of UGA’s head coaches took time recently to share stories of their hiring process with Brooks, providing more insight into how the Georgia athletic director operates behind the scenes.
Tony Baldwin: Softball
Georgia knew what they had in Tony Baldwin, a celebrated hitting coach who had been on staff with National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame coach Lu Harris-Champer since 2015.
But when a change occurred in the athletic director’s office in 2021, what was once a given — a promotion to head coach — was suddenly in doubt for Baldwin.
“From our 2018 World Series on, every year I was getting head coaching opportunities, but my family loved Athens and I didn’t want to leave,” Baldwin said. “Then there was one coaching opening that presented a great opportunity, and Greg McGarity brought me in and I felt gave me some assurances.
“But then there was a change, and I swallowed hard,” he said. “I kept the faith, though, as Josh had been so supportive of the program through our (2021) run through the World Series.”
Baldwin knew that Brooks, as he had done in all of his coaching searches, would cast a wide net and consider all options.
“So there was still some, ‘Is this going to happen?’” Baldwin said. “I remember when I was out recruiting and Josh called and offered me the job, and I said to him, ‘Just one second.’”
Baldwin said he placed his hand over the phone and yelled with joy.
“Josh said, ‘Does that mean you’re going to take the job?’” Baldwin said with a laugh. “I said, ‘Heck yeah.’”
An SEC coach from a rival school phoned Brooks, too, and said, “If you don’t hire Tony, we will.”
Brooks has been rewarded with a head coach who has brought consistency, having made NCAA Super Regionals four consecutive years, a play or two away from returning to the Women’s College World Series.
Caryl Smith Gilbert: Men’s and women’s track and field
Caryl Smith Gilbert was in high demand after building USC track and field into a powerhouse program from 2014 to 2021, winning multiple national coach of the year honors, including her final season with the Trojans when her women’s team won a second national title under her direction.
Brooks, one year into his tenure and with a burning desire to put Georgia track at the top, asked for and was granted permission by USC to talk to their elite coach.
“Josh started talking about how much he loved track, and I was like ‘Yeah, yeah,’ Smith Gilbert said, sharing the skepticism she held at the time.
“But then he started talking about things that only a person who loves track would know and talk about. … There’s no AD that gives two cents about track, so if you can find that, that’s a luxury. He knew track, and that intrigued me.”
Suddenly, Brooks’ top candidate had reason to have interest in the potential Georgia track might offer.
“The thing that stuck me the most was everyone at Georgia was aware of what it takes in recruiting — it was ‘for recruiting we do this, and for recruiting we do that,’” Smith Gilbert recalled of her interviews with Brooks and UGA staff in 2021.
“That (recruiting) was a major question for me, because I was coming out of winning a national championship. Could I recruit to Georgia and win the national championship? Based on what Georgia was telling me, I knew it was possible.”
At the time, Smith Gilbert didn’t know a state-of-the-art track facility would be in UGA’s future, but she knew the program had gotten close to winning a national title in 2018 before the Trojans beat UGA in the mile relay to come from one point behind the Bulldogs to win the women’s national title.
Brooks reminded Smith Gilbert of that meet and that event, further impressing her with his depth of knowledge of the program.
“Josh is just so easy to talk to. He understands things, he doesn’t get rattled,” Smith Gilbert said. “He doesn’t put pressure on you, he tells you what he wants and then he leaves you alone to do your job.”
Smith Gilbert led the UGA women’s track and field team to yet another national championship June 14 at the NCAA outdoor track and field championship in Eugene, Oregon, while the Bulldogs’ men’s team recorded a runner-up finish.
Keidane McAlpine had 15 years of head coaching experience — including eight at USC, where the Trojans captured the 2016 national championship — when the UGA soccer job opened in 2021.
He was ready for a change and already had Georgia on his mind.
“I had been through three ADs and two school presidents at USC, so I’d seen a fair share of distractions,” said McAlpine, who coached the Trojans to a 14-3-3 record and second-place finish in the Pac-12 in his final season in Los Angeles.
“The timing was right for me, as the last time the Georgia job had come open (2015), I had just gotten to USC, but I kept Georgia in the back of my mind.”
McAlpine shared why the Bulldogs’ job quickly went to the front of his mind after visiting with another former national championship USC coach — track and field’s Smith Gilbert, who had plenty to say about the UGA culture and its athletic director.
“I knew Caryl was always about being the best, and my conversations from her about Georgia, I heard about Josh and who he is, and that he’s very transparent,” McAlpine said.
“The more I thought about it, the more it made sense, and then Josh was great in sharing his vision about how he supports all sports having success and transitioning this soccer program.”
Brooks and McAlpine agreed the first goal was for Georgia women’s soccer to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years, and McAlpine wasted no time making that happen with a 12-5-3 first-year record.
“When I first took the job, he said, ‘Do you really think you can get us to the NCAA Tournament in Year 1?’” McAlpine recalled.
“The program wasn’t far away from where it could be when I took over. There was the academic profile, with what President Morehead had established, and then the player pool in the state of Georgia was quality.”
McAlpine has led UGA to the NCAA Tournament — what he refers to as the “ground floor goal” — each of his four years leading the program.
Read women’s tennis coach Drake Bernstein’s story and a breakdown of coaching salaries here.
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