If the Georgia Bulldogs were looking to make a bold statement with the hiring of their new offensive coordinator, they accomplished their mission.
Brian Schottenheimer, a veteran NFL coach with a household last name, was hired as the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator by coach Mark Richt on Wednesday. The 41-year-old son of longtime NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer has served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach with the St. Louis Rams the past three seasons and held the same position with the New York Jets from 2006-11. Brian Schottenheimer’s experience working with NFL quarterbacks dates to 2001.
“Talk about the wow factor!” said Tony Eason, the father of Jacob Eason, the No. 1-ranked quarterback prospect in the 2016 class and a Georgia commitment. “Schotty’s got quite the credentials. I mean, just look at who he’s coached in the league: Drew Brees, Mark Sanchez, Brett Favre, Phillip Rivers, Sam Bradford. That’s a pretty impressive list. I would challenge any coordinator in the country to match that.”
Richt had been seeking a new offensive coordinator since Dec. 23, when Mike Bobo left to become the head coach at Colorado State. The Bulldogs still need to replace offensive line coach Will Friend, who left with Bobo.
“I’m excited to have Brian join our coaching staff,” Richt said in a statement released by the school. “His NFL experience will be a perfect fit for how we like to play offensive football here at Georgia. He’ll be excellent in developing our players in both the running and passing games which will benefit them while they are at Georgia and for their future.”
Said Eason: “I think coach Richt just out-did everybody. To bring that experience and wealth of knowledge to share with my son, I don’t think we could ask for anything better. And we haven’t even met the guy yet.”
The only potential drawback would appear to be Schottenheimer’s dearth of college experience. A former Florida quarterback under Steve Spurrier, Schottenheimer was receivers coach at Syracuse in 1999 and coached tight ends at USC in 2000. Otherwise, all of his work has come in the NFL, including with the Redskins and Chiefs under his father and in his coaching debut with the Rams under Dick Vermeil in 1997.
Reached by telephone Wednesday evening, Schottenheimer wasn’t ready to provide a detailed explanation for his decision to leave the pro game for college. As he busily prepared to travel to Athens, he would speak only about how excited he is about the opportunity to join the Bulldogs.
“A lot’s happened the last few days,” the 41-year-old NFL veteran said of joining coach Mark Richt’s staff. “I’m heading that way. I’ll be in there tomorrow or the next day and I’m really excited about it. I’m looking forward to being a Bulldog.”
In a news release prepared by UGA earlier in the day, Schottenheimer said: “This is a great opportunity to become a Georgia Bulldog for both my career and my family. I’m thrilled to be part of an elite program with such national tradition and a great staff already in place. I look forward to working with young men and being a positive and significant influence on their lives as we develop them athletically, academically and socially.”
Schottenheimer is thought to be one of at least four coaches Georgia seriously considered for the position. Former Florida offensive coordinator Kurt Roper, Stanford offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren and Georgia tight ends coach John Lilly, who served as interim coordinator in Bobo’s absence, spoke to Richt about the position.
The Rams’ offenses have struggled under Schottenheimer’s watch the past couple of seasons. But that probably has more to do with the injury issues of quarterback Sam Bradford than Schottenheimer’s leadership. Bradford tore an ACL seven games into the 2013 season and tore it again this past summer to miss the entire 2014 campaign. This past season St. Louis finished in the bottom one-third of the NFL in total offense (28th, 314.7 ypg), passing (23rd, 212.5), rushing (20th, 102.2) and scoring (20.2 ppg).
Schottenheimer was given a vote of confidence by coach Jeff Fisher right before New Year’s and was expected to remain as offensive coordinator, according to a story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“First off, I’m not anticipating any changes on the coaching staff,” Fisher told the Post-Dispatch. “I think Brian is an outstanding play-caller. Outstanding play-caller. He’s very organized. He’s an excellent teacher. So you can’t put the record on his shoulders. That’d be very, very unfair.”
However, before joining the Rams, Schottenheimer had a reputation for producing powerful run-oriented offenses with the New York Jets. From 2008-10 they ranked ninth, first and fourth in the league in rushing, respectively, and ninth, 17th and 13th in scoring.
Schottenheimer is the fourth offensive coordinator hired by an SEC school since the end of the 2014 regular season and his definitely makes the most impact from a name-recognition and attention-grabbing standpoint. Vanderbilt hired former Wisconsin offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig, Florida hired Doug Nussmeier from Michigan and Kentucky hired Shannon Dawson from West Virginia.
A native of Denver, Schottenheimer was a backup quarterback to Danny Wuerffel at Florida from 1994-96. He began his college career at Kansas and graduated from Florida in 1997 with a degree in exercise and sports science.
Schottenheimer and his wife, Gemmi, have a son, Sutton, and a daughter, Savannah.
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