Georgia fans may spend the early part of the season in a lighter mood, but one topic can still turn the temperature up fast in Athens: Mike Bobo.
That figure looms over the conversation around Georgia’s offense, even with Kirby Smart publicly standing behind him. Bobo, the former Georgia quarterback, has long been a divisive name among fans, despite a résumé that includes winning the Frank Broyles Award and guiding one of the nation’s top offenses under two Georgia head coaches. He was also a finalist for that award last year.
The tension around Bobo has never really gone away. Some fans have never been comfortable with him being in the football offices, much less rising to offensive coordinator. Others have taken the simpler view: if Kirby Smart is fine with it, that’s enough.
Smart made clear Tuesday at SEC Media Days in Tampa that he believes Georgia has the right man calling the offense. Asked directly about Bobo, Smart said:
“I look at things through facts and I look at things I see with my own two eyes. I was blessed to work for the greatest college football coach in the history of all of college football, and I don’t even think it’s arguable.
I don’t think you can even debate it, but I learned from him that you evaluate things from inside out. And I do think that football intuition is one of my strengths.
Knowing that, I know that we’ve got the right offensive coordinator. What you guys want to write and talk about is completely up to you.
I look at the production he’s had, the success he’s had, the team success where he doesn’t worry about stats. He worries about winning football games, and the way he coaches our players day-to-day is unmatched in this country.”
That’s a strong endorsement, but it doesn’t erase the pressure that comes with the job. In Athens, the standard is never just piling up wins. It’s winning the biggest games, the ones that define a season.
Georgia’s offense under Bobo has had its moments, but the last two years have also fed the skepticism. Losses to Notre Dame and Alabama left some fans unconvinced, and other big spots have produced offenses that were good, but not quite great.
The comparison point is unavoidable. Todd Monken helped drive Georgia’s back-to-back title run, and having a player like Brock Bowers certainly mattered. Bobo is being measured against that level of production, whether fair or not.
Last season offered a mixed picture. Georgia gradually wore down Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, but it wasn’t a dazzling performance.
Against Georgia Tech, the offense struggled to move the ball. In the Sugar Bowl, the Bulldogs couldn’t match Ole Miss’ pace.
So the question hanging over this fall is simple enough: can Bobo’s offense be more than merely solid? Smart says he has the right coordinator in place. The fan base, at least part of it, is still waiting to be convinced that good enough will be good enough in Athens.
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