Todd Monken: What the new Offensive Coordinator Brings To Georgia
A lot was said this season about the Georgia offense, or lack thereof. And for all the pundits wondering if Kirby Smart was paying attention, perhaps you received your answer today, as Smart made quite the adjustment to his coaching staff.
Todd Monken has spent the last three seasons in the NFL as an offensive coordinator after taking his first head coaching job at Southern Miss. During his three seasons as a head coach, he took an (0-12) football team to a (9-5) record prior to departing for the Tampa Bay Bucs job as OC.
Now, he's been brought in as the new offensive coordinator, replacing James Coley who had just one year at the position. Monken becomes yet another former head coach on the UGA staff alongside offensive line coach Matt Luke.
Today, we take a look at exactly what the offense just might look like under Monken.
"Air Raid?"
Yes, the question mark is needed. Look, from his first job as OC at Oklahoma State in 2011 all the way up until his time with Tampa Bay as a sole play-caller, Todd Monken has been a pass-first football coach. The typical term is the "air raid" offense. However, the real question is whether or not Georgia will ever truly be a pass-first team under Smart.
Though, even if Smart doesn't let Monken call 40 pass plays per game, the hire and subsequent handing over of the play calling shows a willingness to change.
Jamie Newman Affect:
The Bulldog Maven spoke to Jamie Newman's quarterback training staff and they mentioned that Monken's system is one that lends itself to quarterbacks who can attack the defense vertically down the field. Well, that just so happens to be a strength of Newman's. Newman also spoke this offseason about the importance of his development in terms of learning a pro system.
Well, what better to learn how an NFL play-caller thinks than to have an NFL play-caller calling the plays?
Chameleon
One thing that stands out when you look at the offenses Monken's been apart of is the fact that they are all drastically different from one another. Sure, there are some formational similarities, but there are very few tendencies and links between the offenses at each destination in his coaching carousel.
So, what does that tell you? It tells you that he's not the type of coach that fits square begs into round holes. He's the type of football coach that surveys the landscape, identifies the strengths and weaknesses of his football team and then adapts from there. That is the sign of great coaching.
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