After three productive seasons under offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Georgia’s offense enters a new era under Mike Bobo.
Head coach Kirby Smart said he isn’t heavily involved in the offensive process like other head coaches. Smart mentioned some “important advice” he learned from Monken before he was hired in 2019.
“He (Monken) said ‘I just want to be clear, are you suggesting it or are you demanding it? That’s my only issue that I’ve had with a defensive coach,’” Smart said at SEC media days. “And I thought that was good advice. I sat through a lot of head coach meetings under my last boss (Nick Saban) where we didn’t know if it was being suggested or demanded. I thought that was good by Todd.”
As one of the most prominent defensive minds in college football, Smart says he is more involved with relaying the vulnerabilities of the defense to the offensive staff.
“I’m more involved in what the defense does and telling the offensive staff what hurts that. … I don’t get much into design of plays. I don’t go over and say ‘We better run this.’ ”
Smart acknowledged he has been more hands on with the offense at times in the past.
“I’ve done both in my career; I’ve said, ‘I want to do this because it makes our team better and I want this play in, whether you want it in or not,’ ” Smart said. “But I’ve also done it where ‘Go take a look at this because it’s giving us problems. I think you could look at it and that’s as a suggestion.’ “
The relationship between Smart and Bobo dates to their playing days at Georgia in the late 1990s. The trust between the pair is evident in Bobo’s transition from offensive analyst to coordinator after Bobo’s first season back in Athens.
“Coach Bobo and the offensive staff bring me a sheet every day that says this is who is getting the 1′s percentage, this is who is getting the 2′s and who is getting the 3′s. … Again, I don’t get involved in the scheme part; I get involved in who is repping, where we are repping them, how many reps they get. What is the plan if he’s not there? What is our plan if they do this, not designing plays.”
Bobo has work to do to help the Bulldogs replace two-time national champion quarterback Stetson Bennett, but junior Carson Beck has shown the talent and resolve that you want under center.
Weapons such as All-American tight end Brock Bowers and wide receivers Ladd McConkey, Arian Smith, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, Dillon Bell, Dominic Lovett and Rara Thomas should help smooth the transition for the expected first-year starter.
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