This article originally appeared with The Red & Black on July 10, 2015 and can be found here.

The University of Georgia had another solid year in athletics and finished in 14th place of the Director’s Cup, which ranks schools for the performance of each team they field. Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity was pleased with his school’s latest finish.

“I thought a top-20 finish was very respectable,” McGarity said. “We’d love to be closer to the top 10. We were very fortunate to have teams that made deep runs into the national championships. It’s good to be in the company of some of the elite institutions in the country.”

Now approaching his sixth year as the school’s athletic director, McGarity has helped Georgia stay consistent in the Cup’s final standings. Georgia finished 20th in his first year in 2010-2011 and has yet to fall past that mark. The school ranked 10th in 2012-2013, it’s only top 10 finish so far in his tenure.

Georgia placed second among Southeastern Conference teams in an academic year that saw plenty of accomplishments for all the school’s sports. The women’s swimming and diving team captured a runner-up finish in the NCAA Championships, while the women’s track and field team delivered a fifth-place finish. The men’s golf team and the women’s tennis team made it to the semifinals of their respective tournaments.

Although it’s easy to focus on spring sports since their results are more recent, McGarity understands the school’s weakness is its fall teams.

The football team’s 10-3 record stands as the highlight of an otherwise mediocre session for Georgia. The women’s volleyball team posted a 14-17 record, its third sub-.500 record in four seasons under head coach Lizzy Stemke.  The women’s and men’s cross country teams were unable to advance to the NCAA Championships, while the women’s soccer squad made the tournament but lost in the first round. Head soccer coach Steve Holeman was dismissed two days after the University of Central Florida’s 2-1 win over the Bulldogs.

Georgia registered 94 points in the fall to leave it 329.5 points behind Stanford, the Director’s Cup winner. Only two top 25 schools had fewer points than Georgia: LSU and Oklahoma, which both had 75. In the end, Georgia was 2.50 points behind Oregon and only 1.25 points ahead of LSU, showing how every point is crucial in the final standings.

“What we need to do is be consistent performers on an annual basis,” McGarity said. “If you’re consistent, you may not win [the championship], but you’re going to be close. You can’t win it unless you’re in it.”

Holeman’s ouster displayed how McGarity handles change to build steadiness in a program. The school also relieved cross country coach Wayne Norton after 25 years and found a replacement for longtime women’s basketball head coach Andy Landers, who retired after 36 seasons. In making each new hire, McGarity worked to find coaches who could put each team on the cusp of championships. The upcoming years will determine if his choices were correct.

With the start of another year quickly approaching, Georgia’s fall teams will soon be back in action. It may be best for the weak spot to rest in the fall; it will be apparent early on if the school has improved enough to compete for the Cup. A mediocre start would probably result in another mid-teens finish. Either way, McGarity seems confident the school will move up in the standings.

“We’re in a race with a number of outstanding institutions that focus on their total program,” McGarity said. “There’s 25 schools that are probably saying, ‘We expect to be in the top 10 next year.’ We’re one of those.”