— “We are excited to add Todd to our staff,” Smart said in a statement. “He has a history of establishing explosive offenses at each and every stop in his impressive career in both the National Football League and at major college football programs.”
There’s that “e” word again.
I confess that I’m still wrapping my head around the concept that Kirby Smart has decided on a change to the offensive direction of his program. (No, that’s not meant as a complaint.) I don’t have any idea what’s coming, given both the change at the coordinator position and Fromm’s departure, so I can’t say with any certainty how extensive Smart’s commitment to change on that side of the ball is, at least not yet.
That isn’t to say that I don’t have a few final thoughts on what has already transpired.
The most striking thing is the speed and decisiveness with which Smart has operated. Lest we forget, as late as the 11th, we had a common perception that James Coley would be Georgia’s offensive coordinator for the 2020 season. Just ask Jamie Newman.
A few days later, 2021 five-star QB Brock Vandagriff is chilling with Todd Monken and coming back today with his family in tow. That’s quick, especially by Georgia’s traditional standards. (Just ask Willie Martinez.)
Yes, Smart was also quick to pull the trigger on Matt Luke, but that was a decision forced on him by necessity when Sam Pittman departed for Arkansas. Monken’s arrival was, in effect, engineered by Smart. Consider the timeline:
- January 1: Georgia wins the Sugar Bowl.
- January 4: Scott Fountain departs Athens to join Pittman’s staff.
- January 11: Newman, primarily recruited by Coley, announces his transfer to Georgia.
- January 17: Todd Monken is hired as Smart’s new offensive coordinator.
There are two decisions in there: one, opening up a staff spot and two, choosing Monken to fill it. I don’t know how long it took Smart to settle on the first one, but it appears it took him less than two weeks to bring Monken on board. With the stakes, that’s… well, that’s fast and decisive.
As far as Monken goes, you’d have to think the Georgia job is a perfect move for him. The shorter the time someone has to go through life with “Cleveland Browns’ 2019 offensive coordinator” as the last entry on the resume, the better. Here, he’s walking into a situation with a team loaded with talent, and, best of all, a fairly low bar to clear. All our expectations boil down to something pretty simple — tweak the offense sufficiently to help return Georgia to the college football playoffs. Considering the Dawgs have fallen just short in the past two seasons, that’s not a huge reach.
The question to ponder is what happens should Monken pull that off. A coordinator who’s able to make Georgia’s offense something more than functional and polish Jamie Newman’s game sufficiently to make him an attractive NFL draft option is a coach who’s going to be in demand. And it’s clear that Monken has ambitions to be a head coach again. If Georgia’s return to the playoffs is a when-not-if question, then you would think so is Monken’s future in that regard. How quickly that transpires is what we don’t know.
Which brings us to James Coley. I’d like to think that Smart’s already sat down with him and explained his reasoning for making the change and perhaps even sold him on patience. You know, stick around for Monken’s inevitable departure, pick up a few tips on play design and play calling and return to the OC spot in a better place. But I doubt it. For one thing, Smart hasn’t even announced what Coley’s new role is yet. For another, that sales pitch didn’t work with Justin Fields and I’m not convinced Kirby’s found a more convincing way to push it.
I don’t see any way to sugarcoat this from Coley’s perspective. It has to be both disappointing and embarrassing, especially if there was a certain element of Coley following orders about how to deploy the offense last season. I also don’t think Smart did Coley any favors putting an inexperienced Hartley in the booth as Coley’s wingman. Is it enough to point out that Coley is being paid almost a million dollars a year to take the hit? Maybe so, but human nature being what it is, I’m skeptical how much that mollifies Coley. The question from here is how Smart manages the disappointment.
As for Smart himself, again, I’m more impressed by his willingness to challenge himself in how best to manage his program. I don’t know how Monken works out, but at least we now have evidence that Smart is open-minded about how to achieve success. And as I also pointed out last week, in hiring two former head coaches to round out his staff, he’s also shown that he’s comfortable with himself. (Not to mention that in hiring Luke and Monken, both of whom will have an opportunity to rehabilitate their reputations after being fired from their last positions, Kirby’s following a certain process á la Tuscaloosa.)
That last paragraph, more than anything else in this post, is why I’m optimistic about where the program is headed from here. What about you?
Get The Picture 
I am interested in knowing if and when Kirby told Coley, Newman and Fromm about his decision to replace the OC. As your timeline indicates, this was not a spontaneous decision.
It would be a great carrot to get Fromm to stay or Newman to come to say “We’re going to do what LSU did last year.” Did Kirby let Fromm leave and Newman enroll without telling them, even when Coley was Newman’s main recruiter?
The AJC article today lists Fromm as the “loser” in the Monken hire and Newman the winner. It assumes that Fromm did not know that Monken was coming and says it was “cruel” to hire Monken after Fromm made his decision. Clickbait or not, if Kirby had planned this all along and didn’t tell any of those 3, it does seem a big cold blooded. If he did tell them, then Coley sure is a team player and Fromm’s decision to leave in light of the second half of last year and how he could’ve raised his stock seems odd.
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RE: Fromm, the loser.
Since Riley hasn’t spoken with either Smart or Fromm, yeah, I’m gonna have to go with click-bait here, myself.
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I ask again, could Fromm come back if he changes his mind before the draft. Also, any chance that he would come back, if possible?
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No idea, especially as to the latter question.
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I still don’t think Coley played much of a role in Jake’s decision, so bringing in Monken wouldn’t change it either. Fromm is who he is as a QB – smart, good decisions, good leader. But also only average (by NFL standards) arm strength, not super mobile, nothing about his physical measurables are bad but none are great either. And you know how the NFL falls in love with measurables leading up to the draft, and the guys that don’t have them tend to skip maybe lower than expected.
In other words, no matter what he did if he came back for another year, he’s probably gonna be drafted around the same spot regardless, this year or next. There’s really nothing to gain by coming back another year unless he simply wanted another year of college life. But I think his decision showed that’s not what he wants. Here’s hoping he lands with the right team and has a great career.
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Didn’t Fromm hire Sexton as an agent? I think that disqualifies him from coming back, right?
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Almost positive you can’t change your mind once you declare for the draft. I believe there is some way you officially declare that involves paperwork rather than just releasing a statement saying your gone.
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I believe you can change your mind if you haven’t hired an agent. Dont know if Fromm has one yet.
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He hired Jimmy Sexton, the agent slut of the SEC.
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I’m shocked at his willingness to change; to evolve. His opening press conference, the very first time we heard from Kirby as our head coach, painted the picture of a man wedded to football’s past; someone who learned nothing while working for Saban those last few years. Then his keeping of Chaney after 2016, then his promotion of Coley, all pointed to a stubbornness that would not serve him well.
Having been burned for pretty much ever rooting for Georgia sports, I wasn’t going to simply “believe” Kirby would be willing to change. I’ve entered the “show me” portion of fandom, and I honestly felt Kirby would rather lose with manball than win any other way.
I’ve never been happier in my entire life to be wrong. And I say that knowing Monken could flame out as badly as Matt Canada did at LSU in 2018. For me, it’s not the result that’s important, it’s the face that Kirby was willing to change. Now comes the part where we find out in about 9 months how much he has changed. Will he put conditions on Monken’s offense, or will he allow Monken to actually run his offense? When he’s up 10 points on Bama in the fourth quarter, will he allow Monken to keep throwing the ball to win, or will be make Monken run up the middle with 12 minutes still left in the game?
The question about if Kirby would be willing to open up the offense has been answered. The question on is Kirby is still a game time play not to lose coach has not. I hope the first question takes care of the second question, but like I said: Show me.
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Georgia was 12th in yards per play in 2017 and 7th in 2018. Chaney served him well enough.
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Good enough to win a national title? Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
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Yeah, it’s a real shame Chaney didn’t have something better dialed up on 2nd and 26.
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It’s a real shame Chaney couldn’t think of anything better to do than run Nick Chubb directly at Payne for less than 1 yard per carry for the entire fouth quarter after spending three quarters successfully avoiding the strength of Bama’s defense, giving up a double digit lead in the process.
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Oh… you mean Georgia had a lead in that game? Against that Alabama D? With Chaney as the OC? Unpossible!
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Did we win? Or did we give up that lead after going three and out after three and out, tiring out the defense because Chaney couldn’t think of anything better to do than run straight at Payne for less than one yard per carry when Kirby told him to clock the ball? And then did the exact same thing in the very next game against Bama?
Kirby and Chaney are the chicken and the egg. We know Kirby told him to clock the ball way too early, but Chaney was the one who couldn’t come up with anything better than running straight at the strength of Bama’s defense. BOTH TIMES.
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You can argue this ’til you’re blue in the face for all I care. Georgia had ‘Bama on the ropes in overtime until a blown coverage when Alabama’s offense was backed up outside of field goal range.
I’m not saying Chaney is a titan, but he did enough in that game for UGA to win.
The idea that Smart was going to fire anybody off his staff after one season is silly. So is ignoring the legitimate improvement in the offense the next two seasons. But feel free to carry on.
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By the way, if “Did we win” is your gold standard by which we should evaluate Georgia’s coaches, I presume that means you argue for Smart’s ouster.
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My litmus test for Kirby is and always will be: Be able to admit and learn from your mistakes. He hasn’t done a good job of that the previous couple of years. He’s done so, as far as we know, this year. Time will tell if his play not to lose tendencies still are at play regarding in-game decisions, but hiring Monken shows a willingness to learn.
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And what have you learned from being admittedly full of shit? Its your litmus test after all.
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You have a real reading comprehension issue, don’t you. If you didn’t, you’d know I already said what I learned, silly puppet man.
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I can’t remember if it happened in the r 4th quarter for sure but, Chaney did call a pass play late deflected off the helmet of a Bama D-lineman that ended up getting intercepted, FWIW. Now after that, yes, it was way too much Chubb up the middle.
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It was the third quarter, because it happened almost immediately after Tua came in and threw and INT.
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Chubb had three carries in the 4th quarter of that game.
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“Having been burned for pretty much ever rooting for Georgia sports”
Then don’t!!
Sounds to me like you should just switch teams, find another one. You could do it every year and not deal with a loser…..be a winner. Have a new champion every year to claim as your very own.
Especially ,gotta a chuckle out of this one:
“My litmus test for Kirby is and always will be: Be able to admit and learn from your mistakes”.
Sounds like you will only be happy when Kirby thinks like you and wins a MNC. Or, maybe not….
Or, it could be that you are not a dawg at all…or, maybe just a chronic complainer that thinks he is one. Or wants some to think he is.
Either way, always a fun read from you. Keep on posting!!
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Oh Greg, so much to unpack here.
First of all, I know you’re hurt, personally, that Kirby rejected your ridiculous notion that execution, not scheme, was the problem.
Secondly, I’m not a sunshine-pumping Disney Dawg who just goes along with everything Kirby or the Dawgs do. It’s not my nature. If it’s yours and that is the kind of fan you want to be, then by all means, you be the fan you want to be. And that’s okay. For you. Not for me. For you. Does that make sense?
Thirdly, you have to stop putting your words into my mouth. I never said I’d only be happy if and when Kirby wins a national title, which you still refer to mythical which seems like a pretty weird hang-up to still have, but I digress. What makes me happy is if any team I follow puts their best effort on the field to try to win the game. That includes having the best coaches available to teach the best schemes and then having the best philosophy when making in game decisions. Chaney and Coley were not the best coaches available to call the offense. The pro style manball b.s. wasn’t near close to being the best scheme. The best plays weren’t being called, especially when they purposefully ignored the middle of the field. And then playing not to lose is NEVER going to be the best philosophy. When you play not to lose you’re never playing to win.
That last is what makes me happy, Greg: Play to win. Don’t be scared to play to win. If you lose and you left everything out there on the field as a coaching staff, how can anyone be unhappy about that? In the same vein, how can anyone be happy with how we lost to Bama in 2017 and 2018? The Senator seems happy that we got to overtime. I maintain we never should’ve taken it to overtime, because had we played to win, we most likely hold into that fourth quarter lead and win the game. Even if we lost. Even then, I would’ve been happy about our effort. As it was, Kirby and Chaney let the entire team down by playing not to lose. They clocked the ball way too soon. It’s the opposite of what the Falcons did in the Super Bowl. They stopped trying to score points when the game was still very much in doubt against an explosive offense that had momentum we gave them by playing not to lose.
As for my Dawg bonafides, well Greg, it’s a good thing I don’t give a damn what you think, because I’ve given more than just money to Georgia. I’ve given sweat and tears and much metaphorical blood. I earned my degree, and it wasn’t easy. I’m a Dawg until the day I die, and if there’s a heaven above, I’ll be barking with God.
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In the meantime you’ll no doubt keep showing us that you have absolutely no idea of what you’re talking about.
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And you’ll continue to bring absolutely nothing to the table. Nothing at all. Unless you count ad hominem attacks as something. The rest of us don’t, even though we know you do. 🤷🏻♂️
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I can do both substance and ad hominem, stupid.
What I don’t do is keep being an idiot and then say “I’m so happy I was proved an idiot!” You have an unique talent for shameless stupidity.
You were whining for months saying that Kirby was incapable of doing what he’s done and now you can’t just offer a well-deserved mea culpa. Instead, you say “i always hoped i was wrong!”
We were ahead of you all along.
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Yeah… no you can’t and no you don’t.But you keep thinking Butch. It’s what you do best.
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Also silly puppet man, saying, “I’ve never been happier to be wrong” is saying you were wrong. Obtuse. Pedantic. It’s literally the same old thing, all the time with you. There’s nothing you can’t use semantics to use to try to make it seem like you actually know something when you know nothing.
Who hurt you as a child, Derek?
Who keeps pulling your string?
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The “like” got a second retort out of you didn’t it?
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Zing – boom – bang
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“the very first time we heard from Kirby as our head coach, painted the picture of a man wedded to football’s past; someone who learned nothing while working for Saban those last few years.”
Yeah he sure learned nothing from Saban, besides consistently bringing in the best recruits UGA has ever gotten, rebuilding our o-line, getting us to one play towards a national championship in year 2(!) and making 3 SEC championship appearances all as a first-time head coach. If you’re not happy with that, make consider another team to watch. I guarantee you Florida, TA&M, and Tennessee fans, to name a few, would happily trade places with us given their recently new coaching hires haven’t yielded nearly as much success.
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It didn’t seem that he learned of Saban’s willingness to admit he was wrong and evolve; to be willing to adapt and change in order to win.
Jimmys and Joes can win you a division. They can’t win you a national title. You need great coaches and sound schemes to be able to deploy those Jimmys and Joes to be able to do that, and oh yeah, not be afraid to play to win.
That’s what I meant, but I think you knew that.
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Saban himself has made bad hires. And he’s never explicitly admitted he was wrong, ever. For the record, Chaney was not a bad hire in the least. Coley did not perform as expected so after one year Smart has moved fast and made changes. This idea that Smart hates offense and doesn’t want to score points is a fallacy.
It’s almost like you’re angry Smart actually made the change you’ve been whining about incessantly because it destroys your argument that he’s too stubborn to make changes to fix the offense. In any case, your cynicism is unfounded and exhausting.
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Seriously, WTF?
Your reading comprehension is as poor as Derek’s. I’m extremely happy this change was made.
It seems like YOU are guilty of doing what you accuse me of doing, which is you’re upset that I’m happy that Kirby finally did do the thing I wanted him to do because it tacitly means I was right? I dunno man… I’d suggest taking a nice siesta and reevaluating your last response because it was nonsensical.
Peace.
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The military comparison seems appropriate here. General Eisenhower started out reluctant to relieve men of command and quickly learned to change. He didn’t lead men in combat, but his delegation skills and choices of subordinates made him great. In some ways I think George Marshall is the greatest American of the 20th century because of those traits and because of his organizational skills.
It’ll be interesting to see how things play out with Coley. Assistant coaches change jobs; it’s what they do. My guess is that he’ll simmer on the back burner for a year then make a lateral move to a similar hybrid position and try to get back on the ladder. [I know that sentence should be taken out and shot for too many metaphors, but you get the idea ;-)]
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“Similar hybrid position” is an interesting point, considering the only time Coley was considered for an OC role anywhere else while here was at TAMU under Jimbo — where he’d be OC but not call plays.
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I’m optimistic about Monken. I also have this lingering “Please don’t let this be Schitty Part 2” in my mind.
On Coley, he is the South Florida recruiting link. Kirby doesn’t let him go without a fight. Otherwise, why retain him 2 years when he had Chaney?
On Smart, a 3rd coordinator in 3 years isn’t a good look. Monken is likely an upgrade but for how long? He acted decisively … that’s good. The question now is whether he’s going to allow Monken to do his job.
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Cool. Now do Alabama. 😉
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Saban has multiple national championships and playoff appearances. Other than with Junior’s antics during the playoffs before he moved to Boca, they jumped to better jobs after a successful season.
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Cool. Now do Nussmeier. Then Applewhite.
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Nussmeier left for the Washington job after a national championship in 2012. Applewhite was in 2007.
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No. Nussmeier took a parallel position at Michigan to be on Brady Hoke’s last staff.
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I misread the wiki page. Thanks.
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Alright, do Jim Lee Howell!
He was only smart enough to have two coordinators named Lombardi and Laundry. But alas, they left. Not a good look I suppose?
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Those guys also went on to be pretty good head coaches.
My only point is that a revolving door at the coordinator position opposite the head coaches’ side of the ball is typically not something looked at as positive.
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Chaney left to become the highest paid assistant at his position. In my book, that qualifies as jumping to a better job after a successful season.
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I thought about that, but I still say Chaney stays if Kirby matches.
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But he di’int. 😉
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The question I have never had answered is why didn’t he. Especially after seeing Coley this year. Did he believe that Chaney was the problem and Coley was the solution? Did Coley push that narrative. Probably never will have an answer but it is an interesting ask.
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Chaney was old, and getting older…
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Brian is doing ok in the NFL. Something tells me having Russell Wilson instead of Greyson Lambert makes a bit of a difference.
As far as Coley is concerned its not like he’s a hot item out there. At best he’s looking at a parallel (post-demotion) move to a lesser destination.
If I’m Coley I would be hoping that Monken does well, doesn’t stay long, and when he leaves Coley has a stocked roster to work with.
This experiment has to go well for Coley to do well. I hope he knows that.
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Color me unimpressed that he was able to coach Russell Wilson.
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He’s the OC not QB coach. They finished 1st in the NFC in yards per game.
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Man, you’re incredibly obtuse and pedantic. It’s obvious ee was referring to the fact that few QBs in the NFL make chicken salad out of chicken shit quite like Russell Wilson.
He makes Schotty’s plays look good, not the other way around.
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What OC has led a conference in yards per game with a terrible qb, stupid?
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Obtuse. Pedantic. Ad Hominem.
It’s like you have a pull string on your back, silly puppet man.
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Wrong. Unapologetic. Deflecting. Disconnected from facts and reality.
Unable to answer simple questions.
Proving the premise about yourself correct time and time again.
What was it? “Kirby is too stubborn to replace Coley.” Yeah that was it.
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Maybe not “terrible” but Monken had Tampa Bay putting up league-leading numbers with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jameis “one season away from becoming the NFL’s first 30/30 QB” Winston…
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Tampa Bay never led the NFC in offense under Monken. The year they led the NFC in passing offense they were 6th in the NFC in total offense.
Seattle did lead the NFC in total offense in 2019. Besides Russell the NFC also has Brees and Rodgers.
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He also inherited Wilson in Seattle. After the South Carolina game, it seemed Schitty quit coaching Lambert. I don’t remember but didn’t he prefer the kid from Marietta over Trevor Lawrence?
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If he had coached Lambert after that game he wouldn’t have missed Malcolm 2 yards clear of the nearest defender on the first play vs. Alabama.
Why is it that fans think they can know more about offensive football than:
Pete Carroll and objective statistical measures?
The facts are in. It wasn’t Brian. The problem was Greyson.
For the shitty sucks crowd to be right Carroll is a fool and his offensive roster is so good they overcome schotty to be he most productive offense in the nfc.
I’m leaning against the fans on this one.
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Yep, the kid was the problem.
The guy who’d never had any success as an offensive coordinator before he had a borderline HOF QB? Not the problem. 🤷🏻♂️
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And greyson was lighting it up pre-Schotty!
If you’re smarter at football than pete carrolll you are wasting your talents here, stupid.
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Have you thought about the fact that Schottenheimer brought his offense to Georgia when he had a 20-hour week to install game plans, etc.? Maybe his offense is more appropriate in the NFL where the players are full-time employees.
The bottom line is that Schottenheimer wasn’t a good fit at Georgia if you look at the full body of work and maybe has caught lightning in a bottle at Seattle where he has an excellent QB. Both can be true.
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Once you eliminate the “Schotty can’t coach offensive football” premise and consider other possibilities, there are admittedly many. The only one I’m attacking is the idea among the UGA fans that Schotty is a bad football coach,
Greyson Lambert was a bad QB. As was Faton. As was Brice. That we know without question.
Had Schotty showed up before Murray’s sophomore year, who knows what would have happened?
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The fans of every stop Schotty had before Seattle would like to have a word with you, not that you’d listen.
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Jets offensive rankings with Schotty at OC: 18th, 25th, 9th, 17th, 13th, and 21st.
Since Schotty: 28th, 29th, 28th, 11th, 30th, 24th, 23rd, 31st.
Facts would like you to quit ignoring them and for you to stop relying on the facts you find in your small intestine.
Facts would like you to wash your hands.
Facts knows where they’ve been.
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And now do the Rams, Derek.
And to try to absolve Schotty of the Jets offensive woes just so you can try to look like you’re correct is the height of won’t admit you’re wrong. Schotty has never been a good OC anywhere he’s been. Now that he has a borderline HOF QB whose improvisational skills make up for Schotty’s poor efforts, you want to credit Schotty? LOL. Okay.
Facts don’t care about your fee fees, silly little puppet man.
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You said “every” stupid.
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The Jets fans, the team you cited, hated him, because his offenses sucked.
The Rams fans hated him, because his offenses sucked.
We hated him, because his offenses sucked.
Seattle fans hate him, because they know he sucks and Russell Wilson is bailing his ass out on almost every single passing play.
You’re not going to win this. You’re not going to find ANYONE who thinks you’re right about this. Stop pulling your own string, silly puppet man. LOL.
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*Here comes Derek finding 1 fan who agrees with him.
As like being 1/1024th American Indian, it’s distinction without being a difference, and still makes him wrong.
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I don’t judge anyone based on fans.
Fans are stupid.
Fans in Cleveland wanted rid of Belichick.
Fans, like you, are dumb.
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Coley will always have a job as Jimbo’s eyes in the sky. It’s the job Jimbo offered him that made Kirby give him a pay bump and promotion to Co-OC and QB Coach. People thinking this past season did anything to damage Coley’s standing with Jimbo, to paraphrase you Derek, don’t know what they’re talking about. Jimbo has TAMU’s money to burn and affection for Coley’s South Florida ties.
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Coley’s South Florida recruiting ties … that’s job security right there.
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100% agree with all your thoughts on Coley. Not saying I expect it to happen, and I certainly hope it doesn’t, but I wouldn’t be surprised either if we hear he has found something else in the next few weeks.
Also agree Monken, if successful, is likely a 2 year solution at best. Will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
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My takeaways from the way things have shaken/are shaking out….
1) Kirby’s roster management is $$$ — with players AND staff
2) Kirby isn’t as stubborn as we think he is
3) HOWEVER, he HATES to deviate from a plan he has in place. When he’s locked in on a game plan — for a single game or even a whole season — he’s going to trust that plan. He’s not given to making decisions based on knee-jerk reactions.
4) I think they haven’t announced a role for Coley because Coley is probably considering other opportunities. Kirby probably gave him some time to think about what he wants to do and he’s probably using the time to see if he can land a good OC spot somewhere.
5) That being said, I think Smart’s pitch to Coley is basically what you surmise: Stick around and soak up what you can from Monken before he leaves and there’s the possibility you’ll be right back calling plays in one or two years — and maybe have a Natty under your belt.
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The pitch to learn from Monken sounds great but you can’t teach or learn intuition. You either have a keen sense of what’s going on (what the defense is giving you) or you don’t.
I hope Coley sticks around and gets over the bruising of his ego. He is an important part of the staff.
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It took Bobo several seasons to hone his skills as an OC, and that was with CMR guiding him. So I’d argue intuition or god given talent doesn’t mean Coley can’t improve.
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Except this isn’t his first time ever calling plays. Three strikes and you’re out!
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Coley’s sweet, newly renovated home in 5Pts should keep he and his family happy for the time being.
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*should make it easier to sell should he decide to leave.
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I have no idea why assistant coaches buy homes in the places they work given how frequently they move. Buy a house in the mountains, at the beach or on a lake and rent the best thing you can find wherever you happen to be working at the time.
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Paying rent is a losing game. As a student at UGA I was advised by a Captain to purchase a home at any assignment that was considered permanent duty. He’s a very wealthy man now and it’s not from an LTC retirement.
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Doesn’t the government buy your home after every move if it doesn’t sell when you get moved? If you have insurance from a downside risk, I would agree with you.
If you don’t have downside assurance and are only in a place for a year or 2 somewhere like Hattiesburg, Mississippi, buying seems like a terrible idea.
I don’t know how coaching contracts work. If the relocation also includes assurance that you won’t be sitting on a house in another state for a year and a half making mortgage payments, I would buy every time as well.
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I don’t know how it works for officers, but for enlisted men I can tell you no, absolutely not, the government does not purchase off-base house for you.
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So, if I heard you right, if an enlisted man purchases an off-base home and is then ordered to move, the enlisted man doesn’t have a guaranteed sales price as part of the relo. I would never buy in that case unless I knew I could easily sell and at least recover my equity.
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I only had one friend who bought a house at our first duty station, and that’s because he planned to move back there after his first four years were up. Everyone else who was married lived on base housing, while the rest of us were in the barracks.
I imagine there are levers in place used to help when relocating and wanting to sell. Real estate agents the like who know the drill, and can advise, and likely would be looking to sell to military already in place or someone incoming, or perhaps would advise a short sell with some kind of equity protection in place.
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You’re never guaranteed to make money selling your house. However you will have most of the money you would’ve paid in rent. Over 20 plus years subsisting on yankee Army salary that is a substantial amount.
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Ok. Whether you are an officer or enlisted you get paid off base living allowance. That money is based on your rank and time in service. If you buy a house it’s completely on you. Has nothing to do with the government whatsoever.
If you are younger enlisted you’re not gonna be able to afford it, and any offbase housing decisions will come with discussions with your chain of command.
Everybody’s spit balling in speculating something that’s fairly known and easy.
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I was active, bought 4 homes and lost every time. It’s not that simple
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I’m fascinated by this. If I’m Jeremy Pruitt’s wife (and thank christ I’m not) I don’t even fully unpack from move to move. I do like the idea of buying a lake/beach house and just renting.
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I think one of the perks of a 7-figure salary job is you can pay people to pack and unpack for you.
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If I were heer, I would cook him asparagus every damn nite…
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Like others have said already, I am most pleased with the Monken hire because it showed Kirby is willing to change. Monken my not work out but at least Kirby seems willing to alter the plan on offense to change with the times.
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How old is Monken? I ask because Faulkner is taking a demotion to come here but maybe as a coach in waiting in a couple years?
Now I’m really interested to see if Coley sticks around. Hell, if he even stays at all.
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I believe Monken is 53-years old.
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A friend with inside info told me the Monken hire was a done deal several days before it was announced.
How that affect Fromm,Newman, Coley, or anyone else is above my pay grade.
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Several days is nebulous, but if we are to take it as “about three days,” that would mean Fromm wouldn’t have known because Kirby wouldn’t have had anything concrete to tell him, right?
The girlfriend theory begins to pull more weight regardless. 😉
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Kirby adding former HC’s. Comfortable in his own skin and in charge, or too may egos running the ship adrift? A fine line for a relatively young man to manage.
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Wasn’t Coley named “Assistant Head Coach” when they hired Monken? I Seem to recall we did the same with Pittman or Chaney…maybe this is just window dressing tho?
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Not sure how all these moves affects Coley’s fee fees. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him move.
However, I’m not convinced all the problems were Coley. I thought he opened up the offense in the latter part of the season, but execution wasn’t there. Since he was the QB coach, I do put Fromm’s regression on him. And not sure how it works, but I’d think the OC would be the one to push Hankton to work on the receivers. So, play calling from Coley I thought was okay. Coaching was subpar, given the execution from the players.
I’m glad to see Kirby making the changes just because it signals his willingness to change. I’m excited to see what may happen next season, especially with a defense that should be all-world.
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Coleys contract is the same.
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meh, we’ll find out in 6 months….
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To quote from the famous Butch Cassidy: We seem to be a little short on brotherly love around here.
As usual Schtick Dreck ruined the thread with his very first comment, but Ole Corch up there is giving him a run for his money.
You’re both definitely the smartest, wittiest, best informed guys I’ve come across in the last 5 minutes!
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I definitely have no allusions to believe I’m smarter than anyone else here. Even Mr. Ad Hominem the silly puppet man.
All I want to see on the field when I watch the Dawgs play are the players put in the best position to succeed via coaching and scheme, and a head coach who is not afraid to play to win.
If I see that, win or lose, I’m happy.
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Coley is still a very valuable assistant, if for no other reason than as a recruiter. As WR coach he was poor in 2016, but excellent in 2017 (Wims, Hardman and Ridley excelled). Hartley and Hankton are expendable and can be easily replaced – you can’t say that about Coley.
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Out of curiosity I looked up recruiter rankings – Coley is so far down the list I broke the little wheel on my mouse scrolling down.
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Hartley and Hankton are both way above Coley so what does that mean?
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It means Coley missed on almost every target in 2020, which was a worry, but that Hankton and Hartley nailed it this year bringing in the best WR class in all of CFB and the No. 1 TE, respectively.
Last year Coley’s ranking was much higher.
I think bringing in Monken by Kirby has the added effect of trying to make Hankton especially a better coach, as he’s an ace recruiter. As said before, sometimes it’s difficult for guys who played in the NFL to coach the kind of skills that came naturally for them. Monken made his bones as a WR coach. I imagine Hankton will be his pet project at Kirby’s request.
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This Coley south Florida bit is way, way, way, overblown. Kirby went down and offered the entire IMG Academy 3 years ago.
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I still don’t understand this narrative that emerged that Smart was somehow against having a good offense. He has pretty consistently talked about explosive plays on offense, and he had two fairly explosive offenses in ’17 and ’18.
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Anyone watching the SF/GB game yesterday heard an explanation of how the best offensive coach in the business creates such an explosive running game. He attacks the edges with zone blocking schemes. Heavy hog lineman (Pittman), ideal for running up the middle, need not apply. Luke has already stated a preference for lighter, more mobile lineman and his first game saw the Dawgs attack Baylor Shannahan style. Fromm regressed this year because of a fear-based, safety first, unaggressive, slow offense. He would be lights out under Monken, but since NFL scouts understand why Fromm regressed, his draft status is still intact. Whether he knew of the changes of not, he’s a winner either way.
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Senator, nice post! You’re much better at analyzing situations like this than waxing on about Pay for Play and NCAA ineptness.
Regarding Coley, there may be something else at work – Coley’s wife. The Coley family (kids) are young and the spousal unit may have told him to eat his pride, because she’s tired of packing up the furniture.
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I, of course, am only one person and speak only for myself, but….
One biggest reasons I read this blog every day is because the Senator covers so much more than just UGA football — I love his updates and analysis on the ongoing, ever-evolving discussion around pay-for-play and NCAA ineptness.
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That’s because secretly, you’re a SJW, like me. 😉
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Explosive is the new havoc rate. I wonder what next years phrase will be
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I think this will all work out fine, if not immediately. Biggest problem to me is Monken is a very short term guy, which means more disruption coming next winter, and that will be working against us both in recruiting, and a distraction around the SECCG time. But you want a hot, respected property? You got it. Now how do you make the aggravation of a short-term tactic really pay off, and minimize the chance you have to repeat it often?
You fill that offensive staff with sharp minds and pick this guy’s brains,study his patterns against certain defensive alignment/schemes, and delve into the logic of his approaches. You cannot restart every year or two, it’s not the way to success, but in this case we can to go outside the shop for help. That was the only realistic option at this point from Kirby, plus, he had to make a very visible change (even if it isn’t total overhaul, and few of us think it is.)
So now let’s bring in enough of the concepts we learn, reach agreement on the most vital ones, tweak everything a few times, and be ready to incorporate what we have “borrowed” when the “Quickie Expert” rides off to a job we know there has been interest in recently. If Matt Rhule jumped ship from a HC with what he had going, you simply cannot doubt CTM isn’t anxious to erase the stain of having to serve as an OC with no ability to call plays when an offense was stinking it up last year. One, perhaps two year, max for Monken is my guess. And who’s to say Kirby doesn’t have a silent deal with Coley to keep those young kids in place in the new home for another year before letting him drive run the train with the new bells and whistles?
Makes to no sense to me that we set ourselves up to be window shopping again in just 12 months. There will be electrodes tapping into those brain waves and attached to Monken’s head whenever he is in his office, staff rooms, meeting rooms, and especially in the box during games. We will be ready to stand on our own, if need be, when he flies off into the sunset. Not only will everyone who apologized to Kirby earlier this week, next year they will have to thank him for keeping Coley and beg forgiveness for the mean things said about him in 2019. (I wasn’t in the first group, but I am guilty on several occasions for bad words regarding young James.) Well, things may not reach this level of strange twists, but some young lad on staff may seize the opportunity; I just know I don’t like a one and done, but I feel one is coming so I am looking for a silver lining.
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If Coley had been a first time OC or had not been on staff, I might have given him more rope. If the offense didn’t nose dive throughout the season, I would have given him more of a chance. I don’t think he can or ever will be a dynamic Offensive Coordinator. Could he be a Jim McElwain? Absolutely. Dynamic offenses — not really.
I am ok if Monken is a one and done guy if he improves the offense and leaves the program in better shape than before. Saban retreads coaches and I would be just fine with UGA following the same example.
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Yeah, that was a glass half full look for hom to work through things and not move the family, and UGA gain some stability. I also don’t think he could gain all that much in a few months, but it was a nice dream. I do have more of an issue withe the 1 and done than you though. We are close to Bama in talent but can’t shake off some of the waves they can at this point. But KS will put up a fight to keep things in the road. Will be looking at some of the analysts moves though, like the on we just saw. Kirby will not leave us vulnerable, he is “country boy smart” and I have dealt with that animal all my life. It just makes things harder, and may delay us a year or two to get where we need to be more regularly.
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