National media outlet calls for Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart to make a major change ahead of the 2025 season
From 2021 to 2023, the Georgia Bulldogs finished each season with a top 10 scoring offense in the nation. In 2022 and 2023, Georgia finished with the No. 5 scoring offense in college football. This past season, Georgia finished with the No. 38 scoring offense in the nation. The Bulldogs had three games in 2024 […]
From 2021 to 2023, the Georgia Bulldogs finished each season with a top 10 scoring offense in the nation.
In 2022 and 2023, Georgia finished with the No. 5 scoring offense in college football.
This past season, Georgia finished with the No. 38 scoring offense in the nation. The Bulldogs had three games in 2024 where they failed to score at least 20 points. From 2021 to 2023, Georgia had only two games where they failed to sore at least 20 points (a 10-3 win against Clemson in 2021 and a 16-6 win against Kentucky in 2022).
As a result of Georgia's offense trending the wrong way in 2024, CBS Sports college football analyst John Talty suggested that head coach Kirby Smart should move offensive coordinator Mike Bobo to an off-field role to make room for a new play-caller in Athens.
Bobo, who was teammates with Smart at Georgia in the late 90s, took over as the Bulldogs' offensive coordinator in 2023 after Todd Monken left for the same position with the Baltimore Ravens.
From CBS Sports: Bobo, Georgia's offensive coordinator, is one of Georgia coach Kirby Smart's closest friends and long the source of fan criticism. The former Georgia quarterback, who served as Mark Richt's OC from 2007-14, returned to Athens as an offensive analyst on Smart's 2022 staff before getting the promotion to OC when Todd Monken left to run the Baltimore Ravens' offense.
Bobo isn't quite as bad as the most vitriolic fan takes would suggest but he doesn't possess anywhere near the creativity or play-calling ability as his predecessor. With recent rule changes allowing off-field coaches to still coach, Smart would be well-served to move Bobo to a less prominent role and bring in a more inventive play-caller at the offensive coordinator spot.
With Georgia's talent advantage slipping, as was very evident against Notre Dame, coaching will be even more paramount and Bobo seems incapable of evolving out of a caretaker role into the innovator the program now needs. Bobo deserves criticism for the offense line's struggles Thursday, too, which felt like coaching and developmental issues.
Bobo has a long history with Georgia (he was previously an assistant in Athens from 2001 to 2014), but Smart may have some support from some former Bulldogs players if he chooses to make a change.
"I said it too many times this year, and I said it in this game (UGA's loss to Notre Dame), like, bro, what's going on? What are we calling," said former Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno this week while discussing the offense. "Why are we playing like this? So all last night after that game I was disappointed. I can't believe we lost that [game]. And wake up this morning and felt the same way. But just a lot of mistakes all the way through. Some from players, but mostly from the people up top."
Bobo was the offensive coordinator at Georgia for the final two seasons of Moreno's career in Athens (2007 and 2008).
We'll see if Smart decides to make a change in the coming days/weeks. There's no doubt, however, that plenty of Georgia fans (and some former UGA players) are hoping that a change is made.
