Although some of the personnel is different, offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s expectations aren’t changing

He wants the Bulldogs to be explosive, perhaps even more so than they were a season ago.

“It’s fair (question) in the fact that I do like to throw it. I think people that I don't like to throw it. I’m paid to score. I'm not paid to win,” Monken said Thursday. “But I’m also paid for being responsible to winning.

"So, there’s a big part of that where they think that Kirby dictates what we do on offense. He dictates that we be smart. He dictates that we be explosive and that we utilize our personnel and do everything in our power to win games for the University of Georgia. That’s what we should be doing.”

Seven practices into fall camp, Georgia’s offense is already in the mode of fine-tuning what Monken hopes to see come kickoff against Oregon, now less than a month away.

Last year, the Bulldogs finished third in the SEC in scoring offense behind Alabama and Tennessee, averaging 38.4 points per game.

Will that number go up this fall?

Monken no doubt hopes so, although he disagreed with the notion that his offense will need to be extraordinary with the defense losing so many stars from last year.

His main concern is putting his offense, led by quarterback Stetson Bennett, in the best position to make plays.

Monken also made clear his philosophy of how to go about making Georgia’s offense one of the most explosive and feared in the SEC.

“Believe me, when I’m thinking game plan-wise, I’m thinking about how we can be explosive, how we can run the ball to help us be explosive. It all fits together,” Monken said. “You can’t control the game if you can’t run the ball comfortably; you can’t. You cannot control the game. You can have a bunch of statistics and that might make you feel better. But if you can’t run the ball comfortably, you can’t win the game, and that’s from a guy who likes to throw it and whose background is wideouts and quarterbacks.”

Running backs coach and Run Game Coordinator Dell McGee cited Monken’s uncanny ability to put his players in the right fits for them to be successful as one of his bigger strengths.

“I think he does a great job of identifying the personnel, what fits certain plays and trying to use the dynamics of each individual player to maximize their abilities on Saturdays,” McGee said. “I would say his NFL system fits us. He didn’t come in to try and change every single thing. He’s also open to ideas. He wants us to give a lot of input. and when you talk about adding someone like Mike Bobo, a 20-year-plus coordinator, Buster Faulkner, who is an 11-plus coordinator, and Bryan McClendon, who has been an offensive coordinator as well, you have a lot of knowledge and experience, and he leans on that, too.”

Monken said he’ll lean on that experience when it comes to making sure Georgia’s offense reaches its full potential.

As long as it's explosive, he and Smart will be happy.

"Two years ago, against Mississippi State here, we couldn’t run it," he said. "That was on me. We threw for 400 yards, thank God, and we won the game. Against Cincinnati, we turned the ball over and didn’t run it nearly enough. Luckily, we could throw it,” Monken said. “I think the biggest thing is, are you able if you’re not having success at one of the other, you’re not just one-dimensional, where OK, if you get behind, you’re having trouble passing it, or if you’re a running team and when you have to run it you can’t. You have to do whatever you can to win the game.”