Continuing with this morning’s Monkenfest, Seth Emerson ($$) does a nice job dredging up stats that demonstrate how Georgia’s offensive coordinator has managed to tweak Kirby Smart’s manball tendencies in fashioning a very effective offensive attack.
The year before Monken arrived, Georgia was 49th nationally in scoring and 36th in offensive yards per play. Those respective stats improved to 38th and 34th in 2020, then to ninth and fourth last year.
And it has come with Georgia ever-so-slightly throwing it more. The percentage of passes called in the first three quarters of games (thus accounting for blowouts) has increased each of the past three seasons:
2019 — 49.0 percent
2020 — 50.3 percent
2021 — 52.2 percent
On its face, those percentages are not an earth shattering change. So, what gives?
Stetson Bennett, and JT Daniels when he was in there, combined last season to have the best yards per attempt in the SEC: 9.3… Monken did it without forsaking the run: Georgia was second in the SEC in yards per rush at 5.26…
… Georgia has done it in part because of recruiting but also because of Monken’s feel for play calling: He kept defenses off-balance by throwing more on first downs and rushing more in passing situations.
It’s subtle. At least the stats Seth cites are. I do think he hits the nail on the head when he credits Monken’s play calling skills. But I think Monken also deserves credit for his play design skills. I’ve harped on it before, but when’s the last time you saw a passing play develop where at least one Georgia receiver wasn’t open? (Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the quarterback saw the open receiver, but you get my point.)
The guy is good, peeps. Even if Matt Hayes thinks there are fifteen OCs better…
Get The Picture 
Let us be entertained!
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Kirby wouldn’t support paying a coordinator $2 million if he thought there were 15 guys better.
In Todd we trust.
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If Monken was at Matt’s beloved FU he would have him ranked #1.
#FTMF and their alum media promoter Matt.
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Hayes is full of shit. He has Hugh Freeze ahead of Monken.
The list is crap
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And he digs the long ball.
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Monken is the perfect Ying to Kirby’s Yang. He opens it up just enough to make us an explosive threat at any time but keeps it manball enough to prevent Kirby from developing ulcers or having a stroke.
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It is obviously different because Monken is in the box and not on the field, but I’m glad that we haven’t witnessed a Saban on Kiffin tirade in the recent past.
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Kiffin seems to have the personality that will elicit a tirade just because he says hello.
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Madman Monken takes what the opposing d gives, he silently turns that take, into a difficult dictation situation, where the opposition d is back peddling into a dark sink hole of no return, that places the opposition offense into a catch up situation vs UGA football “D”, a place where UGA football is very successful…GO DAWGS!
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More to the point, so long as our offensive scheme remains similar to the NFL schemes, we’ll keep getting the top players.
Always.
Be.
‘Cruitin.
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Todd’s running a NFL passing attack, which allows Kirby to sell the scheme to kids with NFL ambitions at every position group.
Todd’s fantastic at designing, and then calling, plays that exploit college secondaries, both their scheme holes and personnel deficiencies.
Helps to have a cheat code like Bowers, but we’ve seen OCs miss the mark on other chest code players. Todd’s great at what he does, but he also doesn’t overthink it – which makes it easier for his players to execute. Hard sweet spot to hit for a lot of professional egos in this sport.
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It’s amazing how the slightest changes in the run/pass balance can have profound results in overall offensive performance I.e. (points)
Keep Monken happy and the QB/RB/Receivers cupboards stocked
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Matt Hayes hasn’t been drug tested in a while.
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“I think we get carried away with overall points or overall statistics,” -Monken, 8/11/2022
“I’m paid to score. I’m not paid to win. I’m paid to aid in the support of that, to score. But I’m also paid to be responsible for winning.
“And so there’s a big part of that to where they think Kirby dictates what we do on offense. No, he dictates that we score. He dictates that we be explosive. And we utilize our personnel to do everything in our power to win games at Georgia. And that’s what we should be doing.” – Also Monken, 8/11/2022
(emphasis supplied)
Stats can be so misleading. If you don’t know what matters you are liable to think that yards are more important than points. Thank Dawg, Monken knows what matters. Get a clue, Matt.
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Points matter.
I’m channeling my inner Mr. CFB.
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That Hayes list is total garbage 10 of the coaches listed ahead of Monken are head coaches. Some of the others (looking at you, Josh Gattis) couldn’t hold Todd Monken’s headset for him. Some of the head coaches (looking at you, Ryan Day) on that list aren’t as good offensive coaches as Monken.
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The Wake Forest guy? Phil Longo at UNC?! Look, I’m fine with Monken not being mentioned with the Lincoln Rileys and Ryan Days, whatever – he doesn’t have the gawdy numbers that teams that operate solely to win games 52-49 might have. But Mike Leach?! That guy has won precisely dick in his career. He beat Texas that one time at Texas Tech. That’s his entire resume, unless we’re also including the thrilling victory over the worst LSU team since Nick Saban rebooted the franchise. If your offense’s greatness contributes to your defense’s ineptness… well, I’m glad you’re not wearing a G on your shirt.
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My biggest fear this season is Bobo taints Monken.
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Not going to happen.
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Were you hibernating from 2011 to 2014?
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Bobo is going to learn some valuable lessons as Moken’s QA guy. Just remember Bobo got a lot of points and yards, but Bobo didn’t have a defense like Monken has to make it a run away at half time.
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Great work but would love to see these stats across all the college landscape as well as a breakdown of RBs, TEs & WRs as, with more spread concepts continuing to stretch fields, RBs have become more pass catchers with YAC increases.
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Running up the score is not really in the UGA playbook from what I’ve seen in the garbage time. If the Dawgs have a comfy and decisive lead, they play their second string. Except for Vandy last year. I think the way this is done is a more reasonable approach to scoring. I remember one year when Saban regularly allowed scoring of 45-50+ yds just because he could. I thought that sucked, but that’s just me. Grandiose isn’t the goal. Winning with confidence and decisiveness is. I think Monken and crew are in accord with the policy.
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Kirby seems to be aware that RUTS exposes his starters to injury, that there’s only so much tread on anyone’s tires, that playing his subs keeps everyone engaged and builds experienced depth, and that who gives a damn of we beat, say, UK by a score of 35-10 or 55-10?
People will get hurt at some point because it’s football, but stat padding has little to do with winnng. And despite what Jeriane Johnson or Burton may think, it doesn’t hurt your draft status. If you cab play, they see you.
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It’s like we hired a true professional for OC. I’m not bashing Bobo here. Maybe Coley and Chaney. This guy we have now is good.
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What I gather is that Monken is a real expert who can actually execute a broad offensive game plan that Kirby draws up. Kirby knows how an ideal game should play out, and it’s a lot more complex than we understand—but Monken does understand, and knows the details and coaching points actually to make it happen. Perfect match.
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Ole Matt must still have his COvid mask on…
inhaling carbon dioxide will make you less mentally sharp
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It seems rare these days when a coordinator hire not only meets but exceeds expectations. Perhaps that’s simply PTDD (post traumatic Dawg disorder). Monken has done just that. And I credit Kirby with the foresight to bring him in.
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