What Was Said: Georgia OC Todd Monken's best zingers from breakout session with media

ATLANTA, Ga. — Todd Monken had his time at the podium on Wednesday. The Georgia offensive coordinator spent about 20 minutes sharing the stage with Stetson Bennett and Sedrick Van Pran before moving to a breakout room.

There he held court for 26 minutes and left those asking the questions wanting more. Monken was highly entertaining and below, we share his best zingers from that long meeting with reporters.

***WARNING: Monken uses quite a bit of colorful language***

When did you know that Stetson Bennett should be the guy?

Monken: “Oh, I don’t know. Shit, there’s plays in the game, I’m not sure he’s the guy. There’s times I call some shit I don’t know if I’m the guy so it’s just like … The one thing I’ll say about Stetson is he’s a battler. He’s not unlike any other quarterback. He makes mistakes, but he’s pretty good at putting it in the back of his mind and finding ways to continue to battle and make plays.”

On why Monken has stayed at Georgia despite presumed opportunities…

Monken: “Well, first off, no one wants my old ass so that’s usually why that’s the case. I’m joking in general. First of all, I have a great job. I said that many times. I fell into this job and the culture was already set. I landed here with good players, the culture was already set. My job was just to try to do the best I could to make it better the best way I could. Fight my ass off to help make it better. Hopefully I’ve done that. When you have a good job and they pay me a lot of money. We all know that. You have to be careful. The grass isn’t always greener and money isn’t everything. Now I value getting paid. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t do this for nothing, but the reality is you have to be careful because your happiness is in winning. It’s about winning. It’s the fight song in the locker room. That’s what it’s about.

“Anybody that says, hey I’m at school A and boy the city is great, I love it. It’s great for my family and we’re 4-8 and I’m happy as hell. That’s not me. I’d rather be winning in Alaska than losing in San Diego. The reality is this is what it’s about. This is about winning, this is the fight song in the locker room. It’s about feeling of self-worth. Money becomes a big part of that, I get it, but you take a job for money, you’re still sitting in that chair and you’re not happy. I don’t control what’s out there in the media. I don’t control what gets put out. The majority of what gets put out there I have not been involved with. I don’t get it. That’s OK. It’s fine. People think I am, but that’s fine.”

On Georgia blasting Oregon in the opener….

Monken: “Sometimes shit just works. I mean, I wish I had a better answer than that. Sometimes stuff doesn’t work and you’re grasping and trying different stuff; sometimes shit just works. You know, it may be a busted protection and the guy just scrambles around and makes a play.”

On his relationship with Kirby Smart…

Monken: “You’re gonna have to ask him. I say that jokingly. I think it’s great. Let’s not kid ourselves about what we do. I’m paid to score points and run the offense and that relationship only goes so far. And I don’t want it any different. He’s my boss. My job is to work my ass off and for us to be as good as we can on offense. The moment I don’t see it that way (is) the moment I’m wrong. This is a business. This isn’t… I’ve done organizations where ‘this is a family.’ This isn’t a family. You’re going to fire me if we suck, so don’t say it’s a family. This is the way it is. This is what we choose to do. This is a business and I get it that way and my job is to do the best job I can for Kirby Smart and our players. That’s hard. It’s a hard job. It’s hard to win a lot and that’s part of it.”

What has it been like working for Kirby Smart…

Monken: “It’s been great. It’s been everything he said it would be when he hired me. He said, ‘I’ll let you do what you want to do. Yeah, I’m the head coach and there’s certain things I believe in but I want someone who can come in and run it and I don’t have to worry about it.”

Was that a phone call or meeting?

Monken: “I was a meeting. I didn’t know if I believed it at the time. I didn’t know if it was a sales pitch to get me to come but he has done exactly that. The things that he said he needed and that he wanted, he’s done all of that and hopefully I’ve held up my end of the bargain.”

On whether or not he has faced Ohio State offensive coordinator Jim Knowles before…

Monken: “Well, my son’s a student coach at Oklahoma State (Knowles’ last stop). Now, he didn’t give me shit. It’s sad.”

On working with Mike Bobo…

Monken: “Well it’s interesting because when Kirby came to me he talked about Mike Bobo joining the staff, which I knew he was going to join the staff whether I agreed to it or not. It didn’t matter. So he made it seem like it was my choice, but it really wasn’t. At the end of the day it’s been awesome. It’s been awesome. And Mike Bobo’s heart is at Georgia. Will Muschamp’s heart is at Georgia. I’m a vagabond. I love it at Georgia. But I’m not born (here), that’s not who I am, and that’s okay. It doesn’t mean I don’t give everything I can to the University of Georgia. But their heart is here.

“But Mike, you talk about those roles that a Buster Faulkner plays, or a Mike Bobo plays, or those guys play, you talk about invaluable, and you end up having to check your ego. Because they both have done it. Anybody who gets in there who’s been a coordinator, to them there’s probably plenty of times where they’re like: I don’t want to do shit that way, that’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard in my life. And yet to check their ego, and sit there and do anything I’ve asked them. Mike Bobo has drawn cards for us. He’s drawn cards like a 22-year-old. Who’s said I’m going to embrace this role of doing red zone. I can’t take everything the guys say as a suggestion, and yet the lack of ego, and just wanting to do things has been unbelievable. And we wouldn’t be where we’re at without all of those people that support us, be it our younger coaches, be it our GA’s, be it our analysts, that add value to where we’re at. Because when you’re playing good teams and you’re playing in the league we’re at, all you’re trying to do is find small percentages, just like in the NFL, where can we gain one percent here or there, where can we be better in terms of our gamepan by one percent. Can we prepare ourselves a certain way, the people we surround ourselves with, can we prepare our bodies better. Because just trying to gain little advantages here or there, and to have guys like that that check their ego and have to put up with my ass every day, and the way I am, and to add an extreme amount of value to our staff, I’m fired up that Mike’s here and I hope he’s here for an extreme amount of time.”