Tag: coley

Texas AM officially announces hiring of former Georgia OC James Coley

Texas A&M officially announced the hiring of former Georgia football OC James Coley.

On Tuesday, Texas A&M officially announced that the Aggies have hired former Georgia offensive coordinator James Coley.

Coley will join Jimbo Fisher’s staff in College Station as the program’s tight ends coach.

“I have known James since our days at LSU and Florida State,” Fisher said. “He is an outstanding coach and top notch recruiter, but an even better person. His creativity and coaching are great additions to our staff at Texas A&M.”

During his tenure in Athens, Coley graduated from a position coach to a co-offensive coordinator with Jim Chaney to a full-time offensive coordinator. He was demoted following a lackluster 2019 season during which the Dawgs’ defense stole the show.

Prior to the Bulldogs’ Sugar Bowl win against Baylor earlier this month, Coley admitted some of his shortcomings as OC:

“You know what? I’ve got to do a better job. I’m looking at myself hard, criticizing myself, and busting my tail to get those things better.”

Georgia brought in Todd Monken from the Cleveland Browns to be the program’s new offensive coordinator.

From TAMU:

Coley served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Miami (Fla.) from 2013-15.  Prior to joining the Hurricane staff, he worked with Fisher as offensive coordinator and tight ends coach (2010-12) and tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator (2008-09) at Florida State.

At FSU, Coley worked with Fisher to mentor three first round draft picks in quarterbacks Christian Ponder, EJ Manuel, and Jameis Winston.  The Seminole offenses were high-powered, averaging 31.4 points per game in 2010, 30.6 in 2011, and 39.3 in 2012.

Former Georgia football OC James Coley set to join SEC foe

UGA now looks to hire a replacement QB coach to instruct Wake Forest graduate transfer Jamie Newman and freshman enrollee Carson Beck. 

After former Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Todd Monken was hired to perform the same role at the University of Georgia, former Bulldogs’ OC James Coley’s future was up in the air.

Is Coley now a co-offensive coordinator? Will he go back to coaching quarterbacks? Will he coach receivers?

It would appear none of these hypotheticals will come to fruition. James Coley will be the next tight ends coach at Texas A&M.

Bulldog faithful were introduced to Coley during Kirby Smart’s inaugural season as Top Dawg; Coley was hired as wide receivers’ coach in 2016 following Mark Richt’s removal in late 2015.

During his tenure in Athens, Coley graduated from a position coach to a co-offensive coordinator with Jim Chaney to a full-time offensive coordinator. He was demoted following a lackluster 2019 season during which the Dawgs’ defense stole the show.

Prior to the Bulldogs’ Sugar Bowl win against Baylor earlier this month, Coley admitted some of his shortcomings as OC:

“You know what? I’ve got to do a better job. I’m looking at myself hard, criticizing myself, and busting my tail to get those things better.”

So what will Georgia football’s offense look like next year? Without its beloved offensive line coach Pittman and its mildly maligned offensive coordinator Coley, it’s difficult to predict anything aside from “eh, maybe just a little different.”

In terms of points per game against conference opponents, hopefully it’s a lot different.

Georgia will now look to hire a replacement quarterbacks coach to instruct Wake Forest graduate transfer Jamie Newman and freshman enrollee Carson Beck.

Matchup preview: Georgia’s offense against LSU’s defense

The Bulldogs’ offense chose a good time to click again, scoring 52 points in last week’s beatdown of Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

We’ve provided a complete statistical breakdown of the SEC Championship Game as well as a prediction of the matchup between Georgia’s defense and LSU’s offense. Today we explore how the Silver Britches’ offense stacks up against LSU’s defense.

The Bulldogs’ offense chose a good time to click again, scoring 52 points in last week’s beatdown of Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Georgia averaged only 22 points per game in its six previous contests, not having scored over 30 points during the stretch. This followed a 5-0 start during which the offense scored 42.8 points per game.

LSU’s defense has been inconsistent in recent weeks but found their form last week against Texas A&M, yielding just 169 yards to the Aggies after allowing 304 yards against SEC bottom-dweller Arkansas and a whopping 614 yards versus 4-8 Ole Miss the week prior.

Without injured leading wide receiver Lawrence Cager, Georgia’s offense had to get a bit more creative in their regular season closer. We saw more toss sweeps and end-arounds against from the Dawgs against the Yellow Jackets.

Second-leading receiver George Pickens is suspended for the first half of the SEC Championship following a fight with Georgia Tech defensive back Tre Swilling, which will force Georgia to turn even more toward the run against an LSU secondary allowing a mediocre 2657 passing yards on the season, ranked 56th out of 130 FBS teams.

The Tigers’ defense is ranked 28th in rushing defense; their opponents have gained 1494 ground yards this season.

UGA’s tailbacks have eclipsed 2400 yards, more than any of Louisiana State’s previous 2019 opponents. Over half of those yards have been gained by D’Andre Swift, whose minor shoulder injury hasn’t limited his participation in practice but may limit him in terms of carries.

With a receiving corps already struggling to earn separation missing one-and-a-half of its most productive members and a consequently struggling Jake Fromm, who’s completed under 50% of attempted passes in, expect James Coley’s offense to focus on establishing the run to wear down LSU’s defense going into the second half.

At that point, George Pickens will be available and all bets are off.

Kirby Smart addresses Georgia football’s offensive woes

Georgia faithful still wonder how the much longer the Dawgs’ D can bail out the struggling offense.

Georgia’s 2019 defense is a statistical anomaly. The Junkyard Dawgs will enter their final regular season game ranked fifth in total defense, second in rushing defense, seventh in passing efficiency defense, and have only allowed one rushing touchdown.

The Bulldog Nation thoroughly enjoys watching a defense that can guarantee a win requiring only 21 points. Georgia is one of two teams (Clemson being the other) that hasn’t given up more than 20 points thus far this season.

That said, Georgia faithful still wonder how the much longer the Dawgs’ D can bail out the struggling offense.

Head coach Kirby Smart acknowledged the fans’ echoed concerns after the Silver Britches’ lackluster offense.

“There were things [against Texas A&M] that we missed that were there. That’s the frustrating thing.”

He continued: “You get an opportunity on first and ten to make the plays that we had, and you’ve got to make those.”

Smart, obviously aware of the situation, added that “some of that had nothing to to with the calls…it had to do with execution.”

“[The defense] got tired toward the end of the game. We’re going to have to overcome that, because two weeks in a row now, we’ve kind of lost momentum late and struggled on a couple drives.”

Quarterback Jake Fromm has thrown under 50% for three consecutive games. Compared to his career percentage of 65.5%, the current trend is surprising.

“Offensively, we’ve got to improve. There’s no bones about it.” Smart The message this week is that the next step is the most important step.”