There’s an old saying that claims too many cooks in the kitchen can spoil the soup. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken does not subscribe to that line of thinking.
Along with offensive analyst Mike Bobo, wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon and quality control coach Buster Faulkner, the Bulldogs boast four coaches with 34 years of experience serving as offensive coordinators at different programs.
Currently in his third year at Georgia, Monken’s experience also includes a combined four years as an offensive coordinator in the NFL at Tampa Bay (2016-18) and Cleveland (2019).
But although he’s worked at every level and held just about every position a coach can have, Monken welcomes the fact he has other experienced coaches to share ideas.
Take for example Bobo, who served as Mark Richt’s offensive coordinator for eight years before becoming the head coach at Colorado State.
“Well, first of all, he is an unbelievable sounding board, like any other experienced coach that we bring in,” Monken said. “Whether it was last year, defensively with Will Muschamp or with us, Buster Faulkner. Anybody you bring in is a sounding board. You ask them, are we doing everything in our power to be successful?”
For example:
On Thursday, Monken revealed that earlier in the day he walked up to ask an opinion of Bobo, who also served as the offensive coordinator at South Carolina and Auburn before coming back on board with the Bulldogs earlier this year.
“We were working on pressures and how we are going to adjust to them,” Monken said. “I walked right over to him and said, 'Okay, what are we missing? Is there anything that you guys did that was different? Is there any way of how you walked through in the past? Are we utilizing every opportunity to be successful?' ”
Smart said having someone of Bobo’s experience on staff has been invaluable.
“There's a lot of value in the experiences he’s had,” Smart said earlier this year. “He’s been a head coach. He’s been an offensive coordinator in our conference. He knows our conference. The five-hour radius we recruit in, he’s extremely versed. He has a ton of relationship value. As far as his role, that’ll play out as we go along.”
However, it’s Bobo’s knowledge on the field that Monken likes having at his disposal.
“He’s been great, just like with Buster or anybody that has done it as long as he’s done it. In some ways, I’m sure he’s enjoying being back here, but there are other ways where it’s like maybe I wouldn’t do it that way,” Monken said. “But he’s been awesome. He’s been awesome as a sounding board, and I want to continue that in what we do offensively.”
