A.J. Green: Proof that Mike Bobo is not the long-term answer at Offensive Coordinator
by Afghan Dawg on Oct 1, 2010 3:15 PM EDT
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I know I've been rather hard on on Mike Bobo as of late, so allow me to preface this critique with the following:
Mike Bobo is a good guy and a great quarterbacks coach.
Now that the obligatory "He's not a bad guy" is out of the way, I will now commence with the meat of the post.
If A.J. Green is the only thing separating us from having 4-0 or 3-1 or 2-2 record, then our offensive staff has done a poor job of coaching our players. Sure, A.J. Green is a phenomenal athlete. He's a Top 10 draft pick, without question. He's a once-in-a-generation kind of receiver. He is also one man. And one man should never define a team.
Our offense has highly-recruited talent other than Green. Talent that most of the 119 FBS Offensive Coordinators would salivate over. Talent that should never be held to under 21 points per game, much less 6 or 12 points. So why do we keep getting told that things will get better once A.J. is back?
For one, I'm sure they will get better...at least a little. Surely to God having a future NFL star at wideout will make things better. But don't be fooled. Things "getting better" is a red-herring to distract us from the truth:
They never should have gotten this bad in the first place.
A.J. Green won't be around forever. In fact, we've probably only got him for another 8 games. What in the hell is Mike Bobo going to do next year? We don't have another A.J. on our team, and we don't have one coming in. A.J. Green is a prime example of my biggest problem with Mike Bobo: He benefits from elite talent bailing him out.
Mike Bobo's play-calling is exactly the same as it was last year, and the year before. The difference is, he doesn't have Knowshon Rockwell Moreno turning sure losses into three-yard gains. And so far, he hasn't had A.J. Green turning 3 and 15 (from our own 20) into 1st and 10 (from their 20). Sure, everyone wants elite talent. And it helps. But there are teams out there that do more with less. Bobo has proved that he can win if surrounded by elite players.
But we need a coordinator who can win without elite players. We need a coordinator who doesn't rely on elite talent to bail him out of poor play-calling or failure to make adjustments. Mike Bobo is a good guy, but he's not that guy. And until we find that guy, we will not legitimately compete for our own division again.
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What in the hell is Mike Bobo going to do next year?
Coach QB’s in the SunBelt?
"I want anything wearing red and black to tear the head off anything that isn't." - Lewis Grizzard
Coaching defensive backs
I was shocked by this. Weren’t our DBs the worst coached area last year? Strange stuff.
by WindyCityDawg on Oct 1, 2010 3:44 PM EDT up reply actions
We'll never know...
because I’m not convinced that Willie ever played the best DBs on our roster during his tenure.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
Before he was given DC responsibilities...
his DBs here were hell on wheels. Sean Jones, Tra Battle, Greg Blue, Thomas Davis, Demario Minter, Tim Jennings, Bruce Thornton, Decory Bryant, etc. He had some great DBs when that was all he was responsible for.
All of those guys were good when they arrived in Athens
I’m not so sure we can credit Two Thumbs with their success. We also had some pretty decent DL and a DC that put fire in the belly of the defense.
Disagree...
Battle was a walk on, so he definitely wasn’t an All American S when he came in that he became on departure. Greg Blue had to learn a ton about coverage and improved dramatically there from start to finish. Sean Jones was great, but was originally a QB. Thomas Davis was a LB who had to learn to play S. Thornton a RB who improved by leaps and bounds under Martinez. Bryant was one of the best in the country before his neck injury. Then there were others like Cap Burnett and Kentrell Curry who played great when Martinez was just a DB coach.
You are absolutely delusional if you think Willie Martinez didn’t have a pretty strong argument for being the best DB coach in the country from 2001-2005. He should get a ton of credit for their success.
I guess my point was the guys were better than average athletes
You may be right but why did our DB’s get progressively worse when he took over as DC?
Was it not ultimately his responsibility?
Absolutely delusional – I think not – delusional – perhaps. :-)
by JRL on Oct 2, 2010 1:47 PM EDT up reply actions
That was one of the big question at the time...
his DBs steadily got worse the longer he was DC. But whether they were good athletes or not, he definitely had a huge hand in making them better DBs here, and we had a secondary as good or better than anyone in the country when he was in charge of only them and not the defense as a whole. Who knows why his unit got worse as his responsibilities grew.
Kind of like why can’t Richt/Bobo adapt an offense to Murray and our current personnel when they did exactly that with a very similar group of players just a few years ago in 2005?
Without much thought or research I guess some of it
can be attributed to the difference in the play of the DL & LB’s.
by JRL on Oct 2, 2010 3:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Possibly...
but those guys were playmakers on their own. Thornton went from a liability with horrible technique when the ball was in the air to a low end NFL player and one of the best in the SEC. Battle went from walk-on to All American. Blue went from a huge coverage liability to All American. Davis was one of the biggest difference makers in the country back there.
It wasn’t like the DL and LBs were the only ones making plays.
I should have said Conference USA
I was thinking he might have an in with Neil Calloway.
"I want anything wearing red and black to tear the head off anything that isn't." - Lewis Grizzard
by RedCrake on Oct 1, 2010 4:22 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Thanks Afghan Dawg
You saved me a bunch of typing – I agree 100%
I'm not defending Bobo
but it seems to me like every team depends on star players stepping up in order to insure success. Just look at the national championship game last year. Colt McCoy going out of the game on their first drive definitely affected the outcome of that game. The last time we beat Florida, Tim Tebow was in the game with an injury and not playing at 100%. Just last week, Alabama might have fallen to Arkansas if they hadn’t had Mark Ingram. I’m not saying that the absence of one star player makes victory impossible, but it definitely changes things. That’s why we consider them star players to begin with. And it’s not just true for this UGA team, it’s true for every team.
Agreed
This is true in almost every sport, at almost every level. Many offenses are designed around a star player, and I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad way to go about things. If offenses weren’t designed around their stars, we’d be wondering why we aren’t (insert airing it out, throwing to, getting the ball in space, handing off to)(insert star player here) more .
It’s a damned if you do damned if you don’t proposition. I agree that Bobo has been slow too adjust. That’s inexcusable and frustrating. That said, I think any coordinator, that loses an a star — here, an athlete that is usually the most talented player on the field, on either side of the ball, for either team — is going to be in a tough spot.
I’m also very confused by this notion of elite talent bailing a coach out. Nearly every team in the SEC has elite talent — certainly the top six do, on both sides of the ball. When Tebow plows people consistently for two years did he bail Urban Meyer out? When Florida pulls out victories because of ridiculous plays by Demps, or Harvin, or Tebow does that qualify as bailing their coach out?
Likewise, when Ingram averages 9.8 yards per carry is that bailing out Saban? No. It’s an elite player playing up to a coach’s expectation. When you are without your best player, you are going to be a worse team. There may be 5 offensive coordinators in the country that seem to be able to plug guys in when an elite player goes down and not miss a beat. I highly doubt any of those coordinators are coming here anytime soon. Moreover, the reason they can do it is because they have somebody behind that elite player (i.e. Richardson behind Ingram) that are ready to carry the torch.
by WindyCityDawg on Oct 1, 2010 5:35 PM EDT up reply actions
The difference is...
These “Top 5 Teams” have decipherable game plans, make adjustments to the situation on the field, and put their 5-Star work horses into positions that maximize their talents.
See below for my complete response.
My God, he's a freshman!
by Afghan Dawg on Oct 2, 2010 6:22 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
WCDawg
This speaks volume’s
Moreover, the reason they can do it is because they have somebody behind that elite player (i.e. Richardson behind Ingram) that are ready to carry the torch.
We seem to have fallen in a rut lately – not having players ready to step up.
When you discuss Fla and Tebow you also need to look at the offensive production when Mullen left.
Listing Demps, Harvin etc etc is frustrating as well – we are being out recruited and that falls on the coaching staff.
Great OC’s maximize and enrich talent. We seem to ride ours and when one is out it’s back the woe is me and the youth excuse.
Possibly a systemic problem
I’m not sure what you’re getting at with production post Mullen. Tebow obviously led the team in passing both years but also led the team in rushing both years. He had 100 more carries than the running back with the 2nd most carries on the team in both ‘08 and ’09 (Harvin in 2008 and Demps in 2009). I think it’s commendable that Addazio maintained Mullen’s success, but undoubtedly that success was due in large part to Tebow’s presence.
My primary objection to the position of Afghan Dawg was the notion that Bobo is the only guy with star players “bailing them out.” Florida’s entire offense was built around ONE GUY. Alabama rides the living crap out of Ingram last year. That doesn’t mean those players are bailing a coach out, it means those coaches are using their best player. The examples are everywhere: Colt McCoy at Texas; Denard Robinson currently at Michigan; Terrell Prior at Ohio State; Sam Bradford at Oklahoma (talk about riding a guy — buddy came far too soon from that injury).
I absolutely agree that our second in line, at most positions, should be prepared to fill in with marginal drop off. However, every few years, at elite Division I schools, there are players that are not replaceable. Those players generally tend to help bring teams national championships. I don’t think relying on them means you’re using them to bail yourself out.
People have completely valid criticisms of Bobo: his continued run up the middle strategy is utterly useless. His failure to get the tight end the ball is unacceptable. Why we are not running more hot route quick slant plays to tall, fast wide receivers is beyond me. But I sort of think we’re jumping all over him for some things that aren’t entirely within his control.
by WindyCityDawg on Oct 1, 2010 10:35 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't disagree with you in principle...
But my criticisms were directly related to factors that are in Bobo’s control:
(1) As JRL said, Great OC’s maximize and enrich talent. We should get the maximum amount of production based on the talent we do have on the field. Even without A.J. Green, I could make a convincing argument that our talent level should never be held to 6-point and 12-point production totals. Coach Bobo simply is not maximizing the talent of our less than A.J. caliber offensive players. I would love to see how you’d argue otherwise.
(2) The legitimate criticisms of Bobo that you listed (run up the middle, no tight ends, no slants)…all of that is directly related to the first point. Bobo’s game plan (run up the middle, no tight ends, no slants) hasn’t changed. This is what he has been doing for the last 3 + years. The only difference, is he doesn’t have a Knowshon Moreno to run up the middle or (up until today) hasn’t had A.J. Green to run a good slant. But he refuses to adapt. Maximizing lesser talent means changing your gameplan to fit the players you have on the field. I’m not a Donald Rumsfield fan, but one of this quotes comes to mind, “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you want.” Mike Bobo goes to war with Kris Durham and Carlton Thomas, wishing they could produce like A.J. Green and Knowshon Moreno.
What he should be doing is maximizing the talents of the army he has…getting Carlton Thomas open in space; using more double tight end sets, more runs off tackle, more toss sweeps.
As long as Bobo is at the helm, we will not win (or even legitimately compete for) the SEC East again.
My God, he's a freshman!
by Afghan Dawg on Oct 2, 2010 6:19 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
When you put it that way
I totally agree with you. On a related note, can anyone remember specifically why Richt gave up play-calling duties? I seem to recall that it was a change most fans agreed with at the time, but I don’t recall specifics.
It was part of him getting a full time OC and passing the torch so he coul be a better game manager and CEO type.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
There was a great deal of clamoring for Coach Richt to give up calling plays.
What Coach Richt said in an interview was that, after prayerful consideration, he believed he was being disobedient to God by not turning over the play calling duties to Coach Bobo.
Go 'Dawgs!
Points well taken
I actually don’t think we disagree completely. My attempt at “arguing otherwise:”
(1) I completely agree that those point production totals are unacceptable. Where we disagree is where the blame for that lays (lies?). Here is a true apologists position: both point production totals should have at least been 13 and 19 and would have been but for goal line fumbles by Ealey. Generally, I’m not one to blame fumbles on coaches, as I think some of the best backs in both the pros and college have fumble issues regardless of the level or quality of coaching (see Adrian Peterson). Not to mention that the second fumble appeared to be the result of taking a pretty good shot — one of those blackout moments that neither the back nor the coach can’t do anything about.
Further, our production against MSU was not so dismal compared to other opponents that have faced the creepy Bulldogs. We had 387 yards (some of which was in garbage time). Auburn and LSU both had less total yards (264, 348, respectively). Now, certainly we should’ve gotten in the end zone more, both games — that was what was frustrating. But that is in part do to Ealey, a back none of us thought would have these problems. Hell, how many catches has Durham had in space where he got caught from behind — well designed, well executed plays that Durham turned into 30 yard gains but plays AJ would’ve taken to the house.
(2) Durham has 324 yards receiving in four games. At this rate he’d total 900 + yards on the seaons, and I for one believe that’d be a great year for him. I think we’re using the kid as best he can be used. He’s been incredibly productive, and probably one of the few highlights on the year, so I think some of our second level talent IS being utiliized properly.
I don’t disagree that there should be more double tight end sets and off tackle runs. You’re absolutely correct on those points. I sometimes feel like Bobo is working under the Falcons’ theory — short gains on runs between the tackles early are acceptable because they are punishing the defensive line and will pay off late. Unfortunately, the line just isn’t as strong or as punishing as we hoped and C. King, C. Thomas, and Ealey are no Michael Turner, at least in terms of abilitiy to physically punish a D.
He’s gotta change things up. Whether cutting Bobo loose at the end of the season — a season wherein he lost his best player for the first four games he was starting a redshirt freshman quarterback — is the right thing to do, remains to be seen. In my humble opinion.
I'd be happy with demoting him back to his level of competence.
He was (and is) a good quarterbacks coach, just as Willie Martinez was (and is) a good defensive backs coach. Neither was cut out to be a coordinator.
Go 'Dawgs!
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