Georgia's Quarterbacks Give Mike Bobo Their Stamp of Approval

Quarterbacks Carson Beck and Brock Vandagriff met with the media on Tuesday and expressed their support for new Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.

In the immediate aftermath of the February announcement that Mike Bobo would assume the reins of the Georgia offense following Todd Monken’s decision to return to the NFL coaching ranks, questions and skepticism came flooding in from all corners of the college football world - from both within and outside of the Georgia fanbase.

It was, in many ways, a natural reaction. Monken was, after all, the most accomplished offensive coordinator in Georgia Football history - helping lead the Bulldogs to consecutive national championships. While it was the dominant 2021 Georgia defense that received the lion’s share of the credit for Georgia’s first championship run, Georgia’s newfound offensive prowess - and, as a result, Monken - took more of the spotlight throughout 2022’s encore performance. Under Monken’s expert guidance, the 2022 Georgia offense scored 65 points against TCU in the College Football National Championship game and finished inside the top-five nationally in an array of statistical categories including total offense, yards per play, scoring offense, and yards per pass attempt. Monken also helped transform a 5-foot-11, 190 pound former walk-on quarterback named Stetson Bennett into a Heisman Trophy finalist. Any way you slice it, Todd Monken was going to be a tough act to follow and questions and skepticism were going to greet his successor.

Yet, despite the doubts held by those outside the program, Georgia’s offensive players - including prominent players the likes of TE Brock Bowers, WR Ladd McConkey, and C Sedrick Van Pran - have consistently praised Bobo this spring and expressed excitement at what he has brought to the Georgia offense. Quarterbacks Carson Beck and Brock Vandagriff - the two top candidates to replace Stetson Bennett as Georgia’s starting quarterback - were the most recent Georgia players to give Bobo their respective stamps of approval when they met with the media Tuesday night.

Beck offered his regard for Bobo, saying, “Love the way he’s been coaching recently and I’m excited to keep working with him.” Vandagriff echoed those sentiments in his own interview: “I think it’s been really good, just the way he’s been coaching us. He has a reason for everything he does. His meetings go well.”

New Georgia offensive coordinator coaches up QB Brock Vandagriff during a Georgia spring practice. CREDIT: Tony Walsh/UGAA

According to both Beck and Vandagriff, one particular aspect of Bobo’s coaching that has already manifested itself on the practice field and in the meeting rooms is the intensity and energy infused in Bobo’s approach to coaching. Beck labeled Bobo as “very energetic,” while Vandagriff called his new offensive coordinator “pretty intense.” Beck also explained that Bobo “does a really good job with the offense and rallying guys and getting guys going for practice.” Vandagriff took it a step further, expounding on Bobo’s intense approach to coaching with an anecdote.

“On the first day, he came into the quarterback room and he said ‘I’m going to coach y’all hard and I hope y’all are open to that.’ Heck, he didn’t really give us a choice. He said ‘I’m going to coach y’all hard and that’s the way it’s going to go.’”

Additionally, Beck articulated how Bobo’s own experience playing quarterback at Georgia has benefitted his work with Georgia’s quarterbacks this spring.

“Obviously, you know him, playing the position of quarterback and doing it and being here, he knows what we’re going through. And he connects and relates to us on that level because he’s done it before.”

Questions from outside the Georgia program regarding Mike Bobo and Georgia’s offense post-Todd Monken will likely persist through the early part of the 2023 season, but so far, the top two contenders for Georgia’s starting quarterback position are excited by what they have seen from their new offensive coordinator.