by The torch is in Kirby Smart’s grip, conferring the reign of the Force. The only question that remains is how long he will hold the scepter.
Wise wins like college football’s greatest coach. The Georgia coach motivates and develops like college football’s greatest coach. His recruiting machine is constantly humming and he recently armed the transfer portal.
After years as Overlord Nick Saban’s wingman, the understudy hit the road on their own and methodically ascended the throne.
Georgia became the sport’s first consecutive champion in January since teams from Alabama accomplished the feat in 2011-12. A historic three-peat would cement Saban’s Crimson Tide as a fading object in Smart’s rearview mirror.
But beware of the pothole appearing in front of Georgia, a noose created by the two exits of his star quarterback and offensive architect.
The Baltimore Ravens hired Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken on Tuesday, completing a much-anticipated exit Monken telegraphed ahead of the national championship game when he described himself as a tramp.
Smart, prepared for the move, analyst Mike Bobo quickly promoted to offensive coordinator.
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Smart’s attitude was simple – perhaps too simple. At least unimaginative.
Bobo, the 48-year-old former Georgia quarterback, is an SEC mainstay, an established recruiter and a polished quarterback developer.
But this take is as boring as Smart’s take on Monken was bold.
Bobo’s career peak came a decade ago when he worked for Mark Richt. More recently, he failed to spark South Carolina in his only season as offensive coordinator in 2020, and he was released after one season in that role at Auburn.
Even as Georgia looks to a talented future, other programs have been thrown off course after the combined blow of losing a stellar quarterback and a valued offensive spirit.
Clemson’s offense lost its path after quarterback Trevor Lawrence and coordinator Tony Elliott departed following the 2020 season, the Tigers’ last appearance in the college football playoffs.
The once-in-a-generation exodus of quarterback Joe Burrow and key offensive engineer Joe Brady toppled Ed Orgeron at LSU.
Cam Newton thrived on Gus Malzahn’s offense. Then Newton left, Malzahn left a year later, and Gene Chizik’s tenure, like Orgeron’s, cratered two seasons after winning a national championship.
Monken’s departure is neither surprising nor unique. Ten SEC programs installed new offensive coordinators this offseason. Such appointments are particularly important for a coach trained in defense, like Smart or Saban – or Orgeron or Chizik, for that matter.
Let me be clear: Smart is in no danger of duplicating Chizik’s hiss or falling into an Orgeron-sized chasm. His program is on solid ground. Even before Monken and Bennett showed up, Smart had lifted Georgia close to the elite. Smart is too good a recruiter, developer, and defensive schemer for Georgia to fall into mediocrity.
But enduring the loss of pivots like a Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback and a revitalizing offensive coordinator is rarely as easy as Saban made it seem.
Saban led teams with seven different offensive coordinators and eight quarterbacks to either the BCS championship game or the college football playoff.
Saban’s hired offensive coordinators ranged from former head coaches he brought off the junkyard — Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisian and Bill O’Brien — to Jim McElwain, whose only experience as an FBS coordinator off Alabama was a lone season playing the Offensive orchestrated by Fresno State.
Seldom encourages Saban from within.
Smart’s hiring of Monken reflects a move Saban would make rather than his promotion from Bobo.
This hire is more akin to Smart’s first hire of Jim Chaney, a seasoned veteran whose best days were behind him, or his promotion of James Coley after Chaney retired.
Coley didn’t catch on, and in 2020 Smart needed a staff member to crank Georgia’s mediocre attack and transform the Bulldogs from a hard-hitting player struggling to reach his peak into an unstoppable force that reflects his vast talent pool.
Monken, an Air Raid junior from Mike Gundy’s coaching tree, wasn’t exactly screaming Georgia football. That’s what made Smart’s choice so unabashed.
Monken mixed Georgia’s bullying run game with a more passing approach, especially after Bennett developed and grew into his system.
By 2022, the Georgian offensive was among the best units in the country and among the most balanced. The Bulldogs were the only team to rank in the top 10 nationally in rushing and passing. Good system coupled with oodles of talent helped, but Monken also proved to be a brilliant playcaller, using movement and displacement to manipulate defense and send playmakers into space.
A optimistic view of Bobo’s hiring is that he spent last season as an offensive assistant, so this promotion allows for systemic preservation. Also, Colorado State produced one of its best offenses of all time with Bobo as coach in 2017, and under Richt Bobo was instrumental in developing some of Georgia’s best quarterbacks.
That track record shouldn’t be ignored as Georgia prepares to make veteran substitute Carson Beck the starter.
The pessimistic view of this appointment is the reality that Bobo’s career has been on a downward arc since 2017.
This change of quarterback and coordinator marks Smart’s final test.
How indispensable were Bennett and Monken?
All that remains for Smart to complete his power grab is to prove he can hire like college football’s best coach and weather the transition in key areas of his program.
