ATHENS — A lot has changed at Georgia since Mike Bobo last called plays for the Bulldogs. You can start with those two national championship trophies in the Butts-Mehre trophy case, sure, but it extends into the locker room and the coaches’ offices.
As Bobo embraces his new responsibilities as offensive coordinator, the most notable difference in being in this position nine years ago in Athens is the personnel in his meeting room.
Bobo coached many great players for the Bulldogs and during his subsequent stops at Colorado State, South Carolina and Auburn. But the virtual smorgasbord of talent that sits before Bobo is what’s different this time around. Having served the Bulldogs in an analyst role all last season, that’s not necessarily a shock to Bobo’s coaching system at this point. But the management-of-resources portion of the job of coordinator certainly more challenging, and a welcomed one for Bobo.
“They’ve done a great job of recruiting around here,” Bobo remarked Thursday during his first press conference as Kirby Smart’s offensive coordinator. “There’s always been good players at the University of Georgia, but I think (Smart) has done a great job of building that in at all the positions — ones, twos and threes.”
That starts, of course, at the quarterback position. Bobo has the ultimate charge of determining which of three will be the main man as the Bulldogs attempt to pull off the college football’s ultimate rarity, the three-peat. And he’ll get around to that.
More pressing, though, is exactly what Georgia will look like on offense and how it will operate philosophically. Somewhat lost in the focus on the transition from Todd Monken to Bobo as coordinator is the rather notable personnel changes that also occurred.
“I think you might see some changes in our identity, in who we are offensively and what we’re going to do,” Bobo said. “We don’t have a guy who could extend plays as well, possibly. … Stetson had elite quickness and an ability to get out of trouble. We don’t have a 6-7, 285-pound tight end. So, I think you’ll see some different things there. So, it might’ve been a little bit different anyway no matter who’s standing up here.”
Obviously, Bobo is referring to quarterback Stetson Bennett and tight end Darnell Washington, both of whom have secured NFL roster spots. Had Monken decided to return rather than join the Baltimore Ravens’ staff, he’d be having to contemplate the same changes Bobo is.
Junior Brock Bowers certainly allays a lot of concerns at tight end, but will the Bulldogs rely as much on “12″ personnel as they did when he was paired with Washington, who was impossible to match physically.
Eventually, Bobo settle on Bennett’s heir apparent among Carson Beck, Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton, but the skill-set adjustment also extends to other areas. The Bulldogs currently are dealing with depth issues because of injuries in the backfield. There already was going to be a transition from the pass-catching ability and unique versatility of graduate Kenny McIntosh. There has been some turnover in the receiver ranks, as well, though most of it appears positive. Starting new tackles on each side of the line probably shouldn’t be glossed over either.
At the end of it all, Georgia stands to look quite different on offense. And that really has less to do with Bobo than it does the cyclical nature of college football.
Ultimately, though, it will be the players on Woodruff Practice Fields who determine what the Bulldogs look like on offense. That still is being determined. Georgia completed its eighth practice of preseason camp Thursday and will conduct its first game-simulation scrimmage at Sanford Stadium on Saturday.
“We’ve got to figure out what pieces fit us best offensively, and that’s part of what fall camp is about,” Bobo said. “Day 1, in the first meeting we talked about competition to our players. … Not necessarily going against the defense; there’s competition between position groups. There’s competition between the tight ends and the receivers. … Those are things we’ve figured out throughout camp.”
One of the practices that Bobo said he adapted from Monken was the weekly routine of dividing up the game plan between the various offensive coaches and having them give a presentation. Georgia has a well-seasoned staff, with receivers coach Bryan McClendon, tight ends coach Todd Hartley, line coach Stacy Searels and running backs coach Dell McGee all having served in some sort of coordinating role in their careers.
The input extends to the analysts as well. Monken often credited Bobo for plays or formations the Bulldogs employed last year’s 15-0 season. Bobo also has two veteran coaches at his disposal in support roles this season in analysts Darryl Dickey and Brandon Streeter.
“Ultimately, it’s up to the coordinator what he wants to keep, take out or tweaks,” McGee said Thursday. “Coach Bobo is doing the exact same thing, so nothing has really changed with that.”
Such a conglomeration is something that the 49-year-old Bobo never has had at his disposal during a coaching career that spans two decades.
And that, as much as anything, is what excites Bobo about this latest chapter in his journey. Contrary to the narrative many believe, Bobo’s arrival in Athens did not mean an inevitable promotion to run the offense for his lifelong buddy and Georgia teammate.
“I had other opportunities, but I wanted to go somewhere I could continue to learn as a coach,” Bobo said. “I always wanted to be under the coach (Nick) Saban tree and learn how they practice, how they organize and how they went about things. … I didn’t come here last year to become the offensive coordinator. I came here to learn and grow as a coach.”
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