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DEL.ICIO.USNo drastic change with Bobo calling plays
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
This is good news. Except for a tweak here and there, nothing will change any time soon regarding Georgia’s offensive philosophy in football. Well, not until the Bulldog Nation runs out of Roman numerals for Uga mascots, or Mike Bobo stops doing a wonderful impression of head coach Mark Richt calling plays.
Bobo doesn’t mind evolving into a Richt clone, by the way. “I’m going to go to him for a lot of things and to ask for advice about certain ways to plan against and to attack defenses,” said Bobo, formerly Georgia’s quarterbacks coach. He officially will begin as offensive coordinator and permanent play caller for the Bulldogs tonight in the Georgia Dome against Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Then Bobo said of Richt, only among the nation’s most prolific coaches, “You just got to use his experience.”
Actually, this is great news, but only if you live in the common sense part of the Bulldog Nation. There are those who’d rather spit at a picture of Herschel Walker than have Georgia continue with what critics believe is a flawed offense. “You hear people saying that we’re not scoring in the red zone. We’re turning the ball over. We’re not scoring enough points, because they want us to score on every drive, and they want us to be No. 1 in the country on offense,” said Bobo, the former Bulldogs quarterback, rattling off the list with ease. “We know that, deep down inside, everybody realizes that being [the best offense in the nation] is hard to do. The bottom line is winning games.”
The bottom line has been impressive for Georgia during Richt’s six seasons, which have produced three SEC Eastern Division titles, two conference championships and a 60-17 record for the fifth-best winning percentage (.779) among active coaches.
Much of that happened under Richt’s play calling. And get this: The primary difference between the play calling of Richt and Bobo is that Bobo has more of a drawl when he speaks into the headsets. That’s why Bobo will continue the Richt-like offensive strategies he used as Georgia’s temporary play caller during its 15-12 victory over Georgia Tech to end the regular season. The transition began after Richt decided to relinquish his play-calling duties after 13 consecutive seasons.
Was Richt too predictable at times down the stretch? Yep. Did he have a tendency not to stick with one of his Three Horsemen (Kregg Lumpkin, Danny Ware and Thomas Brown) when one of them was sizzling? Uh-huh. Were those mighty enough reasons to trash Richt’s overall play calling? Please. The guy spent his seven years before coming to Georgia running a Florida State offense that ranked among the nation’s top five in scoring five times. He coached six FSU quarterbacks who eventually reached the NFL, and there also were his two Heisman Trophy winners.
So why all of the Richt bashers (who likely will become Bobo bashers) regarding Georgia’s offense?
Amnesia comes to mind.
Georgia began this season with a question mark behind center after five years of exclamation marks. Remember? While Richt helped David Greene and D.J. Shockley finish as two of the best quarterbacks in SEC history, Richt started three different quarterbacks this season before settling on Matthew Stafford, a gifted freshman, but still a freshman.
The running game lost the efficient Brown to a knee injury in mid-October. Plus, in addition to the Bulldogs producing more turnovers (30) than any Georgia team in 27 years, the receivers kept killing drives with dropped passes, and the offensive line kept losing players.
No wonder only Mississippi State and Ole Miss ranked lower than Georgia in the SEC this season in total offense. “We’ve been really successful under Coach Richt, and he’s still catching some grief, but it never fazes the man,” Bobo said. “He’s very comfortable with what we’re doing and how we are approaching each game, and I’ve learned from him. That’s definitely going to help me in the future.”
A little less vanilla and slightly more tutti-frutti from Georgia’s playbook at crunch time would help Bobo, too.
Permalink | Comments (21) | Post your comment | Categories: Terence Moore, UGA / SEC
Comments
By Buck Cochran in the NW
December 29, 2006 08:23 PM | Link to this
Terence, the difference in MR’s play calling, if put on a chart would go from the top left corner being wide open(starting with FSU) with an almost stright line down to the right corner saying conservative. Richt himself said that as he became a HC longer and longer he became more conservative. I’m not knocking Mark Richt, not for a second, but what HE said is the truth. If CBo is like Richt was before he became the head man we’re going to see that wide open attackum from all side offence. Some p[eople think that when you use the term “wide open” that it means you get away from the basis of good, sounf football. You don’t, you simply use all your weapons in an unpredictable way. For Va. Tech we’ll see some difference in play slection. In ‘07, we’ll see a big difference in our play selection but will still be doing the fundamentals required of sound play. Your last complete sentence said it all except drop the “slightly”.
By Freedawg
December 29, 2006 09:01 PM | Link to this
Now hear this, Mark Richt is the best coach UGA ever had including Dooley. I have been frustrated by some predictable play calling at times but if our back up kicker wasn’t awful we beat Kentucky and Vandy and have another 10 win season at least. Then against UF a fumble at the start of the second half might have cost the Dawgs the game. Mostly execution was the problem for the Dawgs this year. I wouldn’t trade Mark Richt for any other coach, he is a class act and a damn fine football coach. UGA 24 VT 17
By BirdDawg
December 29, 2006 09:22 PM | Link to this
Moore, you ignorant slut…
The reason why Mark Richt was a suspect playcaller as a head coach more so than when he was at FSU is so obvious, I cannot believe even a dumb@$$ like you missed it.
As the HC, you are involved in everything with the team. All three aspects. Offense, defense, and special teams.
It was painfully obvious with the offense that Coach Richt was being pulled into too many directions and couldn’t hone the offense like he did at FSU.
Moore, he even has said as much!
It’s not just sticking with the stronger runner. It’s sticking with the running game overall.
Yeah, we didn’t score much against Tech. But we did something in that game we haven’t done since Musa left. And that was stick with the run no matter what to wear down the opposing defense. That’s the kind of playcalling we want between the hedges, and this is the clarity that Bobo can bring.
Coach Richt has always been too quick to abandon the run, and this team, over the last 6 years has had way too many 3 and outs.
We don’t want the No. 1 offense… we want a consistant offense. And having a coach who can concentrate on the offense alone and call the plays alone, will help with this offense’s consistancy.
Moore, if you were a real sports journalist and knew had to do research, or at least delegated that research to someone smarter than you, you would have picked up on this little fact:
Bobby Bowden didn’t win a Nat’l Title until the year after he made Mark Richt his OC and playcaller.
You’ll also would have dug up that Mark Richt left FSU for two years as the QB coach to be the OC with ECU because Bobby wouldn’t let go of his ego and let someone other than himself call the plays.
And when Richt came back, the Seminoles went out and won the Nat’l Championship the next season.
Because Bowden stopped calling the plays and became what a HC should be… a TEAM manager.
There are very few HC’s who can win big calling their own plays. And the ones that have, like Spurrier, just focus on the offense, and let a defacto second head coach run the defense, like Spurrier did with Stoops.
The guys on those Florida teams on the defensive side of the ball will tell you that they never heard anything from Darth Visor. Bob Stoops was their head coach.
Mark Richt has his fingers in the whole pie here at Georgia… Spurrier has his finger in one piece.
That’s why Spurrier can do it and Richt can’t.
Bowden couldn’t either.
And all of the impressive offensive teams have someone other the the HC calling the plays. And that goes for all-time, too.
We’re talking Nebraska, the Switzer teams at Oklahoma which had Donnan calling the plays, the Miami teams of the 80’s.
Moore, yet again, all flash and no substance.
Why should I expect anything different from you?
By Reggie
December 29, 2006 09:45 PM | Link to this
I just hope we can get some beef on both sides of the line that will stay academically eligible, as injury free as possible and stays the hell out of trouble. We were lucky to get through this season with what we had and those guys did a terrific job. I hope the redshirts, JUCO’s and incoming freshmen know what lies ahead and are prepared to rise to the occasion. It won’t matter who’s calling the plays if we don’t have the horses up front and fresh horses on the sideline. That said, I think Bobo will do a good job. He didn’t have all the physical tools as a player but he had smarts and good instincts and I believe that will serve him well. It better, those Cowboys looked pretty good against that ‘Bama defense!
By gomdawg
December 29, 2006 10:23 PM | Link to this
CMR you are the best coach that Georgia has every had . I think you did the right thing putting BOBO at OC.The future of Georgia looks great , good luck DAWGS in the bowl game. We are behind ya’ll 100 % .
By azdawg
December 29, 2006 10:54 PM | Link to this
I never read Terrance’s columns anymore but instead go straight to the comments which usually have some merit. Atleast his writing produces something worth reading….indirectly.
I can eat 50 eggs.
By RODAWG
December 29, 2006 11:04 PM | Link to this
AJC PLEASE GET BIRDDAWG TO DO A REGULAR COLUMN FOR US DAWG FANS.HIS KNOWLEDGE OF DAWG BALL IS DEEP & DEFINITIVE. WATCHING MUSA SET UP BILLY BENNETT IN TUSCALOOSA WAS SWEET INDEED.BOBO CALLING PLAYS & RICHT DIRECTING THE TOTAL PACKAGE WILL SEAL THE DEAL.
By BirdDawg
December 29, 2006 11:13 PM | Link to this
azdawg…
You know something, everytime I read a Moore blog or column, or even worse, a Carter Strickland blog or column, Cool Hand Luke often comes to mind.
What we have here… is… failure to communicate.
These two writers for this rag more than any others.
By chuck
December 30, 2006 08:26 AM | Link to this
Georgia has won the majority of their games during Richt’s tenure on defense and superb special teams. If Bobo calls the offense the way Richt does, you can expect more of the same.
By columbiadawg
December 30, 2006 09:24 AM | Link to this
The old saying is that SPEED never goes into a slump…neither does TALENT…and if Urban Myer’s ablility to take a team that RON ZOOK did a MASTERFUL job recruiting to the TITLE game doesn’t prove that…(BTW-have you noticed Zook’s recruiting class at ILLI-FREAKIN-NOIS is bout Top 10 now?!). Guys…TERENCE…my 9 year old could be running his Playstation 2 playbook at Florida and they’d be in the National Championship game…Urban Myer’s offense doesn’t even FIT the TYPE of talent that Zook recruited. The bottom line is it is SUPERIOR TALENT. Sure, a talented 20 year old may go out and get into a little skirt-chasing fun the night before a big game and go into a one-game funk (EASY to do in L.A.-sorry Trojan fans), but that talent doesn’t DISAPPEAR. For WHATEVER reason, the CITY OF GAINESVILLE is an awesome recruitier…not Spurrier in and of himself…if that were the case, Zook wouldn’t have had so much success recruiting, and oh look, here’s ANOTHER coach out-recruiting us when it’s all said and done. Don’t get me wrong: i’m not one of you dumb asses who think we should win the SEC every year and a National Title every other (you know who you are), I’m just saying our coaching staff’s NUMBER 1 priority needs to be “how do we get those 5 Star Blue Chippers to fall in love with Athens, not just the 4 Stars.” That’s the difference between the SEC East being a 3 way horse race or a 2 way (Florida/Tenessee) every year. It’s not like the Georgia offense is HORRIBLE like Tenn’s was before Cutcliffe saved Fat Phillip’s enormous butt. We’ll be FINE. But if we wanna be GREAT, stop worrying about whether Bobo’s gonna call plays and start worrying about how to get 2 Matthew Staffords every year, not one every OTHER year.
By 77DAWG
December 30, 2006 11:25 AM | Link to this
For all dogs, we should be happy with CMR. This kind of coach will not come around too often. ONLY weak point he has is he just too damn nice to show a little more firepower to ward people around him. Until then we will be happy with SEC shamps for now. Every times I look at recruiting news, I see the btg nose Urban in every prime prospects. What he got that we don’t have? Beside, all of those boys are Georgians. I am sickening to see Bailey list UF before us, Berry is more happy with UT than his own state. What happening with King, why he is only in the prospect status and not commited? Our recruiting is sliding down fast. Now what # 7 or 8 not SECOND to FLORIDA any more? BUT we still love you CMR
By Dawg4Life
December 30, 2006 11:31 AM | Link to this
I am impressed that a kid who played QB not too long ago is now going to be the OC. I would rather be in his shoes than say a DJ Shockley or D. Greene. If he does great, because of his age; he will be gone coaching another team in five to six years. He is the soul reason why Stafford is a Dawg and not a Trojan, or with someone else. While he stays with us, watch our recruiting go up along with our offensive numbers.
By DawgDunIt
December 30, 2006 12:40 PM | Link to this
Maybve he just had better talent in Tallahassee, especially up front.
By Greg
December 30, 2006 12:45 PM | Link to this
I’ll bet that VaTech coaches have been studying the first quarter of last year’s Sugar Bowl game against West Virginia. Thankfully the Hokies don’t have a Patrick White or Steve Slaton!
By Buck Cochran in the NW
December 30, 2006 03:07 PM | Link to this
77Dawg, I’m a little worried why we’re losing some of the top talent to out of state andthe “BUGS”. Dawg4life, agree with you but have to correct one thing. Stafford came to Ga. because of MR. His parents both graduated from FSU and he met Richt at an early age. Bobo, A thought, is it possible that MR is grooming a guy to take his place in 5 yrs? He’s already been asked if there’s something else he’d like to do in life and he said that he MAY,MAY be called to move on. Since I read his comments I’ve kept his words in mind as I watch him reshuffle the team.
By epros dawg
December 30, 2006 07:00 PM | Link to this
our NFL alums should make it their top priority to return to athens in the offseason to work out with the players. our receivers and db’s would learn a lot from champ bailey, hines ward, and other UGA/NFL players. Plus, the publicity would do wonders for future recruiting. miami, florida state, and florida’s NFL alums take pride in returning. our players get paid and don’t come back. what messages are we sending to our talented high school recruits? Thanks to Michael Irvin, miami advertises the “U” every Sunday during the NFL preview show. what have our guys done? reggie brown mentions his high school instead of UGA during his introduction. ridiculous!!! we need our NFL guys to have more PRIDE. we are missing that swagger needed to take us over the hump. i’m tired of losing our talent to other programs. how many florida recruits did we land this year? exactly! Those guys keep their players. go dawgs!
By Kenny
December 30, 2006 09:39 PM | Link to this
21-3 Only halfway over. Go Hokies
By BirdDawg
December 30, 2006 10:18 PM | Link to this
Hey, us Falcon fans should appreciate this:
The Jokies have now 3 PERSONAL FOULS against them.
Seems like MeAngelo Hall taught his fellow Virginia Tech Jokie DELINQUENTS well.
Way to play a clean, sportsman like game, Jokies.
But then, after watching three years of MeAngelo Hall, should I have expected any different?
By BirdDawg
December 30, 2006 10:37 PM | Link to this
Make that 4 Personal Fouls for the Jokies
AND OH MY GOD… WAS THAT DAVID FREAKING GREENE DOING THAT PLAY FAKE!!?
By BirdDawg
December 30, 2006 11:00 PM | Link to this
DAWGS 31 JOKIES 21
See what happens when you play like a bunch of undisciplined delinquents?
By Kenny
December 30, 2006 11:40 PM | Link to this
congratulations Dawgs, that was an awesome comeback.