Todd Monken 'in his bag' after collecting one from Georgia in offseason

Some have compared the work of Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken so far in the 2022 season to that of Picasso. That “some” would be On3’s National College Football Columnist Jesse Simonton who named Monken his “Cash the Check Coordinator of the Week” following the Bulldogs’ 48-7 win over South Carolina on Saturday. But to me, the better comparison between Monken and an artist might be to Memphis rapper Key Glock, the artist behind the song ‘Ambition For Cash.’

The song goes like this – cleaned up just a little bit of course. “Yeah, I’m in my bag … Yeah, I just made a bag … yeah a bag, a big bag.”

So far this season, Todd Monken is in his bag. Simonton even said so himself. He’s dialing up plays that you would see on the playground at recess or in the backyard at your family’s Turkey Bowl. Only thing is, they are working against College Football defenses. It’s not just a bunch of Uncle Ricos out there.

Picasso wasn’t painting masterpieces as fast as Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken continues to draw up perfect game plans in 2022. As previously mentioned, the Bulldogs rolled past South Carolina with ease, with eight scoring drives on their first nine possessions. As the kids love to say these days, Monken was in his bag Saturday, flummoxing the Gamecocks’ defense with misdirection, screens and play-action deep shots. When South Carolina’s starting safety when down with an injury, Monken ‘said no mercy,’ ESPN analyst Todd Blackledge remarked on the broadcast. The very next play, he attacked USC’s freshman safety with a shot to tight end Brock Bowers, who broke through the seam and ran 40 yards for a 78-yard touchdown. Todd Monken has more than earned his money in 2022.

Jesse Simonton – On3 National College Football Columnist

Tight end reverses, flea flickers, and just about anything else you can think of, Monken has done it so far this season. And maybe no game better displays that than this past Saturday’s against the Gamecocks. Afterwards, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart praised the attitude behind Monken’s play calling.

“Great. I mean, he was aggressive. He did a good job calling it. He puts together a good plan,” Smart said. “He’ll tell you himself: he’s got a great offensive staff. I mean, he’s got guys that are in the room that have coached in the SEC, that understand the SEC. You know, the addition of (Stacy) Searels, B-Mac (Bryan McClendon), (Mike) Bobo, I mean, those guys come up with game plan things. They know these teams. They know the personnel of these teams. So, it really helps when you have a good game plan and you actually have people that can execute it because they have experience. It’s hard to defend a quarterback that can check things, make throws, has weapons and then can run on top of it. So, we’ve got to keep getting better and we’ve got to execute at a high level, but the biggest thing for them and for our offense is about getting points.”

Through three games, Georgia’s offense ranks No. 6 in the country in terms of total offense averaging 532.3 yards per game, No. 3 for passing offense (376.7 passing yards per game) and in the top 20 nationally for points per game with 43.3. All those figures are also good for top three in the SEC as well, and it’s been done without starting quarterback Stetson Bennett having taken a single fourth quarter snap this season.

Bennett is having fun out there he said after the game. Throwing for 284 yards and two touchdowns while adding a third on the ground, the Blackshear, Ga. native became the first College Football player to have 250 or more passing yards and a rushing touchdown in each of the first three games of the season since Patrick Mahomes did so in 2016. Since 2004, Tim Tebow and Johnny Manziel are the only other SEC quarterbacks to have that stat line in three or more consecutive games. Both Tebow and Manziel won the Heisman Trophy the season they did so, so nobody is questioning why Bennett would be having fun in this offense.

“It’s fun,” Bennett said. “That’s what happens in anything you do when you make your boss – or your offensive coordinator in this case – comfortable. Little things that they take, then you start opening stuff up.”

“We’ve got good players, and they know what we’re doing. It’s tough to play defense because they’ve got to react and we know what we’re doing,” he added. “When you’ve got players like this and a coach like Monken, you just the ball in good players’ hands.”

One of Bennett’s top targets agrees. Brock Bowers also had three scores on Saturday, being on the receiving end of both of Bennett’s two touchdowns while adding a third on the ground. Yes, a tight end scored a rushing touchdown, and it’s not the first time he’s done that in his career.

“It’s awesome. Every week, Monken puts in something new,” Bowers said. “He mixes in new stuff, stuff we ran last week. It’s always fun.”

So, it’s easy to see why the “Yeah, I’m in my bag” lyric might remind me on Monken. And after receiving a raise to $2 million during the offseason, it’s clear that Monken could walk around Athens saying, “Yeah, I just made a bag … yeah a bag, a big bag.” And if he keeps it up, he might just earn himself an even bigger bag.

On Sunday night, ESPN senior College Football writer Pete Thamel included Monken’s name on his initial list of potential candidates for the Arizona State head coaching job that just opened up.

Monken’s been a college head coach before. He’s worked as a coordinator in the NFL as well too. There’s a chance that he doesn’t want to go that route again and would rather stay at Georgia where things certainly are clicking on all cylinders and his job is secure. That remains to be seen. But if the Bulldogs’ offense keeps looking like this, his name definitely isn’t going to stop coming up on coaching search lists.

And while comparing the work of Monken as an offensive coordinator to the artist Picasso might be a little bit of a stretch, it’s not one at all to say that Georgia’s offense this season has been a thing of beauty. So for as long as he’s in Athens, Georgia fans should be thanking Todd Monken and admiring the work that he’s done so far in 2022. He’s certainly in his bag after making a bag this offseason.