Another spring of change for Georgia football

John Theus scoffed at the notion that Georgia’s offensive players might struggle to deal with the changes that have besieged their group since last season. Speaking specifically of the transition in line coaches from Will Friend to Rob Sale, the senior offensive tackle laughed.

“They’re both country boys with bald heads, so it’s pretty much all the same,” he quipped.

All kidding aside, the Bulldogs are in the throes of mass changes on offense as they prepare for spring practice, which gets underway March 17. Among the alterations:

• Georgia is making the transition from offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo to Brian Schottenheimer;
• Running backs coach Bryan McClendon moved outside to replace Tony Ball as wide receivers coach;
• Former Bulldog Thomas Brown came in from Wisconsin to coach running backs;
• And Sale came from McNeese State to replace Friend, who followed Bobo to Colorado State.

That’s not to mention the significant personnel changes that are taking place on the field. Georgia must find a quarterback replacement for Hutson Mason from among Faton Bauta, Jacob Park and Brice Ramsey and a center to succeed Rimington Award finalist David Andrews and identify reliable receiving threats along the lines of graduated wideouts Michael Bennett and Chris Conley.

That makes for a lot of modifications, but Georgia coach Mark Richt doesn’t see all the changes as particularly problematic.

“Well, it’s a little bit of a melting pot of people’s ideas,” Richt said as he addressed reporters Wednesday. “The ideas that (Schottenheimer’s) brought in and things that we’ve done in the past, I’m not going to sit here and say it’s 100 percent the same verbiage that we had a year ago. But the things that we’re doing married up very well.”

It should help that Georgia welcomes back a mostly veteran offensive unit. The Bulldogs return seven starters on offense, including four-fifths of the offensive line. In addition to Theus, Kolton Houston returns at right tackle and Brandon Kublanow and Greg Pyke are back at guard.

“We’ve gotten into it and really the offense is essentially staying the same,” Theus said. “There will be some changes here and there, but the main thing is just some terminology changes. Once we grasp that, I think we’ll be all right. The good thing about offensive line is we’re mostly guys who study and work hard, and I don’t think it will be too much of a challenge for us.”

They also have an extremely deep and talented tailback corps around which to build. In addition to Nick Chubb, who rushed for more than 1,500 yards as a freshman last year, Georgia returns a healthy Keith Marshall, Sony Michel and Brendan Douglas. Richt also said that A.J. Turman, who missed all of last season with a toe injury, will compete at the position this spring.

Asked if he was going to let Chubb be tackled to ground during spring drills, Richt smiled and said, “if they can.”

Of course, the most notable competition of the spring will be between the quarterbacks. Ramsey, a sophomore, has the most experience. He played in eight games last season and completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 33 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions. Nevertheless, Richt said Ramsey will open the spring even with Bauta and Park.

“I’d say it’s more 1A, B and C,” he said. “Really it’s a matter of giving all of those guys an opportunity to get reps and try to make it as equal as possible. I’m sure we’ll be rotating who’s No. 1 on any given day. … All the quarterbacks will get reps with the 1s and the 2s. Whether or not we have enough for 3s, I don’t know yet.”

The defense has not been immune to change. There is expected to be a healthy competition for playing time on the defensive front. John Atkins, Sterling Bailey, Josh Dawson and Chris Mayes return and will have to fend off several young players, including early enrollee Michael Barnett.

And the Bulldogs must replace two extremely productive inside linebackers in Amarlo Herrera and Ramik Wilson. They had 225 tackles between them last season. Juniors Reggie Carter and Tim Kimbrough are the heirs apparent. But the Bulldogs have brought in two mid-year transfers in Jake Ganus and Chuks Amaechi and signed high-profile recruiting prospect Roquan Smith to much fanfare last month.

“That’s definitely going to be an area of a great deal of emphasis,” senior outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins said. “Those guys are the key to the defense’s success. Middle linebackers are run-stoppers and they make calls, and you have to have guys knowing what they’re suppose to do.”

Meanwhile, Georgia revamped its strength-and-conditioning program, starting with naming a new director from Alabama in Mark Hocke. So it will be the second consecutive spring that Richt has had to deal with significant personnel change on his staff. Last year, the Bulldogs brought in coordinator Jeremy Pruitt and a whole new defensive staff.