What Was Said: Mike Bobo talks Georgia offense, expectations for 2024

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo took time to speak with the media on Thursday, and as is usually the case with the 25-year veteran, it was an interesting interview. Bobo, who also acts as UGA’s quarterbacks coach, shared insight on the development of Carson Beck and others at the position. He also told reporters about how he tries to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of offensive football, areas he believes the Bulldogs will be strong in 2024 and more.

A full transcript of Bobo’s 20 minutes with the media can be found below. DawgsHQ also has video of the interview on our YouTube channel – where you can find all four of the press conferences with Georgia assistant coaches this week.

Bobo on who he goes to or what he goes to to study offense and be innovative…

“That’s a good question. We’ve all got friends in this business that we talk to on a regular basis that are coaching and trying to stay fresh and new with how you do things. Football’s football. You know, we’re really running very similar plays that we ran 27 years ago when I started coaching. It might be just out of different formations and different personnel and using different guys.

Then I rely on coaches that have coached me that have a lot of experience — Coach Richt and Coach Donnan. Coach Donnan, who I played for and then worked for, and then Coach Richt, who I worked for for a long time, have got a lot of experience, so you lean on guys with experience. My own dad will be at practice today and was a coach a long time. I ask his opinion about how things looked and what we’re doing. I tell the players all the time: ‘You’ve never arrived. You’re always learning.’ And that goes for us as coaches, too. We’re always trying to find new ways to do things — not necessarily new, but ways to do things better where we can be efficient on offense.”

Bobo on if he’s surprised by some of the ways he’s adapted as a coach…

“Me and Coach T-Rob (Travaris Robinson) were talking about it earlier about back in the day the game may have been a little bit simpler. It was a little more physical, but you’ve got to adapt. The game is played in space nowadays. I don’t want to adapt so much that we lose our physicality as an offense and what this program’s built on and what Coach Smart’s built it on. It’s toughness and physical on offense. You know, you want to be innovative and play the game in space and try to be explosive. You’ve got to be explosive on offense nowadays, but at the same time you don’t want to lose your physicality as an offensive unit. That’s something we pride ourselves on. It’s a staple of what Coach Smart’s had here since he’s been here at the University of Georgia.”

Bobo n the biggest difference he sees from Carson Beck right now compared to this time last year…

“I see a guy that’s trying to have a sense of urgency every day about everything he does and not taking anything for granted. He wrote a bunch of things on our board in our meeting room of what we needed to do as a quarterback, and number one was be where your feet are. You hear that a lot, but here’s a guy that, you know, had a good season, his first season [as a starter]. There’s a lot of noise outside this building about the future, but he can’t control that. What he can control is being where his feet are every day. 

In the meeting that we’re going to go to here in less than an hour, it’s going to be an install, but it’s not going to be a new install for him. It’s going to be a lot of things that he’s heard over the four or five years that he’s been here, but he’s going to be locked in, being where his feet are, paying attention. There might be one little nugget today that is a little bit different than last year or something that’s going to help him be better at whatever play we’re installing. 

So I think he’s got a really, really good mindset of focusing every day and controlling what he can control and getting better because last year’s last year, tomorrow’s tomorrow. The most important thing is today, and that’s a hard thing to do. That’s a hard thing to do for me and I’m 50, but we’ve got a head coach that’s going to stress that daily of the most important thing is our meeting here in a minute with the players, how we go out there in walk-through, how we go out there and do stretch, how we do everything on a day-to-day basis. He’s doing a good job of that.”

Bobo on his backup center, son Drew Bobo, starter Jared Wilson‘s status and more…,

“He’s hell on wheels … Jared has missed some things, but he’s gotten to do as much as possible. That’s a very important position on the offensive line and in the offensive unit. They communicate really to everybody what goes on up front. Jared still being able to do that with a large majority of what we’re doing. We’re just being careful with Jared, but it also gives guys more opportunities to work at center and make those calls. 

We lost a four-year starter in Sed Van Pran that’s made the calls 100 times and was confident making those calls and communicating, so everything we do from walk-through to practice is an opportunity for those centers if Jared’s not getting work to make those calls and communicate with those other guys. It’s probably more important this year because we’ve got so many young linemen that might not be able to hear the call and know what they got, and a lot of times that center’s got to pass everything down the line and make the call front side and back side for those guys. It’s a little bit uncomfortable for guys like Drew, but the only way they’re going to get comfortable is to keep doing it and putting them under those pressure situations.”

Bobo on if the new college football video game was a good indicator for how good Georgia’s offense will be…

“I don’t know. The only video game I ever played was Tecmo Bowl and Super Tecmo Bowl. A couple of times I sat down with my sons Jake and Drew, and they were playing when we had some time off over the summer. It’s amazing, you know, the plays, the concepts, the defense. There’s a lot of good things in there. My son’s trying to battling for the quarterback job at Prince, and sitting down and seeing what the defense does and making decisions. 

I’d go with Tecmo and Super Tecmo Bowl. I always played with the Oilers. Warren Moon was hell, and Chris Dishman on defense, he could pick off about anything on Tecmo Bowl.”

Bobo on utilizing Arian Smith‘s unique skillset…

“Well, on a daily basis I get to spend a lot of time with Arian. He’s definitely a big special teams player for us, and that’s been a big role for him, but a lot of times he’s repped so many things in special teams I get to have him during those special teams periods and really work on techniques of running certain routes. We’re not running full speed all the time, but talking about routes and body control, working on the deep ball, adjusting to the deep ball with our eyes — not necessarily running, you know, a full-speed post or a full-speed go. 

Anytime you’ve got a guy like Arian or anybody that’s got track speed when they’re on the field, sometimes you might not see the impact they have on a play because we might not have gone to them, but I guarantee you that defense knows when No. 11’s on the field because of the speed and the ability to make not just a 20-yard explosive. He’s a guy on our team that can have a 70-yard explosive at any time.

And the thing with Arian is that we’re trying to be consistent every day. He’s a track guy that played track I believe his first two years, was injured a lot before I got here, knock on wood, and is trying to be consistent in being an overall receiver. He’s a really good kid and works extremely hard, and we’re excited he’s back this year.”

Bobo on challenging Carson Beck to be a little more excitable when good things happen…

“First of all, I want Carson to be himself, OK? Carson can’t be Coach Bobo, he can’t be Coach Smart, but the nature of the position and what you play, you’re the leader of the offense and a lot of times the leader of the team. His actions and his body language speak volumes to guys. It could be getting on somebody’s ass or it could be encouraging somebody. I just want him to be him. He has a great trait that he has such an even temperament, whether we score a touchdown or we go three and out or he happens to throw a pick or something, his temperament doesn’t change. That allows him to stay calm in the moment, and one of our core DNA traits is composure. 

I think he has great composure, but also his position and his job is to enhance the play of others, you know? He’s going into his second year. Last year he was a first-year starter, and we’re trying to get him off on solid ground. As the season went on, he gained confidence, confidence, confidence, and he has confidence. There’s things he’s got to work on, but he’s a confident young man. He’s got to instill that confidence in the players that are around him, and it could be a word to them, it could be putting an arm around them. Just knowing the impact that he has on guys because these young guys that are coming in or the first guy that walks on that field for the first time, they’re looking at a guy in Carson Beck that has done it. He’s done it in SEC games, done it on a big stage, and they’re going to look for him for how to act and how to respond. What he says and what he does goes a long way in building belief in our football team.”

Bobo on tight ends evolving and what that can be attributed to…

“I think it’s a little bit more how they’re being used in today’s game. You see more tight, Orson Charles, he didn’t even know how to get in a stance when he got here. Aron White was a receiver in high school. A lot of these kids, whether it’s 20 years ago or now, these guys are big receivers in high school. Their frame’s going to allow them to put on weight and be a tight end. Again, the game is space. They’re probably playing in space more, using tight ends. The last guy we had, we handed him the ball on jet sweeps, put him in the backfield, put him out, threw screens to him, and obviously using him downfield vertically and running option routes and stuff like that. 

I think they’ve become valuable because of matchups they can create. Your running backs and your tight ends create matchups with linebackers and safeties, that gives you an advantage some. Now, I think football’s evolving more and more where tight ends are getting more and more entering the core. You look at the game at the next level, see them playing 12, 13 personnel, tight ends with hands in the dirt. They’re running counters and powers, not just cutting off on the backside. Our offense is a little bit more where we’re going to ask the guy to do everything where some offenses nowadays that just totally spread guys. Here at the tight end position, you’re going to learn how to play in the core, you’re going to learn how to move, to be an H-back so to speak. You’re going to learn when we split you out and how to run routes. We try to do it all and have a big volume of offense. All positions for us offensively, it takes a lot of learning. We put a lot on them. But that position in particular, because it’s the run game and the pass game that they’re heavily involved in, it takes a guy that’s extremely bright.”

Bobo on Georgia’s backup quarterbacks…

“The quarterback position, how Jaden (Rashada) came about, Coach is on record that we wanted four scholarship quarterbacks. We were looking for a fourth scholarship quarterback. Because of the portal, we were able to get Jaden. We’d loved to have gotten Jaden in here before spring. It didn’t work out that way, but he was able to get here early May and start trying to learn the playbook. He’s in the process of learning it now. All those guys are doing an outstanding job every day of coming in and controlling what they can control. 

Carson made a great statement in our first meeting, tried to set the tone. He said, ‘I want to say something to you guys. You need to take this camp like you’re getting ready to play Clemson the first game. I didn’t do that when I was young. I wasn’t taking advantage of every opportunity to get ready to be the starter.’ That’s an easy thing to say rather than do. I’ve been saying it for 27 years coaching quarterbacks. You’re getting ready to play. Your opportunity’s every practice. But then Carson to step up and say that in a meeting and stop me mid-meeting and say that to those young quarterbacks, hey guys, you’re getting ready to play Clemson in that first game. That’s how you should approach it. Those guys have done a great job of that this camp, I don’t even know what practice we’re on, I think seven. They’re doing a great job of preparing every day and going out there and learning from their mistakes and learning from the things that they do well.”

Bobo on Georgia’s transfer receivers…

“Colbie Young, London (Humphreys), and Michael Jack (Jackson) have done a nice job. All three were here in the spring, so that helps the transition where you’re able to go through the spring and 30-plus days of a practice and then a walkthrough, a practice then a walkthrough. Then all summer. These guys are now at the place in their job where they can actually compete. In spring, they’re just trying to figure out how to line up. I’m running this route, they’re running how it looks in the playbook. Now they’re able to line up faster and they’re able to be coached more on technique on what we’re trying to do on each particular play.”

Bobo on Ben Yurosek and what he saw from him on film…

“You saw Ben make plays on the perimeter. You saw Ben make plays downfield. What I’ve seen of him now, I’ve seen those things. I see him, another guy that didn’t go through spring practice and got here in May, but he didn’t go through spring practice. He’s a little bit behind, but he’s very intelligent. He’s done a great job of continuing to get in the playbook. We’re asking him to do things that maybe he didn’t do at Stanford. I’ve seen him accept that, accept that challenge. 

He’s not worried about getting uncomfortable. If he doesn’t do something well, he’s going to work at it. You don’t see him making the same mistake twice, which is a good thing. Any time you add depth to your program is a good thing. Here’s a guy that’s played a lot of football. He’s here trying to figure out how we do it the Georgia way now and done a nice job so far.”

Bobo on his impressions of the running back room so far…

“Well we have more depth than we had last year at this time. We were dealing with a couple injuries in camp. We’ve got more depth at that position, which has allowed us, one, we’re not wearing down our guys. We’re able to space out the reps, which you’ve got to always be careful of. You see a group of guys that pay attention to Coach Crawford. They don’t mind being coached hard. They’re picking it up day by day. You see guys that do a good job in the run game and have traits in the passing game, which is what you look for in a running back. All those guys have done a nice job and continue to work. I’m pleased with that group.”

Bobo on Dillon Bell and his growth while focusing exclusively on wide receiver…

“Really, you don’t really get into your personnel and moving guys around until really you’re through camp. Right now, we’re still installing. We’re on day seven of our install. It’s human nature, you want to start moving guys around to try to maybe win the drill or put your guys… But at the end of the day, we’re trying to teach offense. Dillon has almost 100 percent been working at the receiver position. Coach Coley has really done a nice job teaching him the finer points of route running and execution, those little things, playing with pad level, working your releases off press, and just becoming a complete receiver. 

Dillon did a great job for us last year making contested catches, which is awesome. We’re now working on trying to create more space and how to create more space. A lot of times, he is our X receiver. He’s in the boundary. When you’re in the boundary in this league, you’re not going to get any off coverage. You’re going to get press. How do you handle press, how do I beat press? Really working on the finer points of winning one-on-one battles.”

Bobo on what he feels the offense will be good at and an area he thinks needs improvement…

“Not necessarily scheme or identity yet. I think we’re still forming our identity as an offense. One thing I feel really good about, us as an offense, I think we have connection as an offense. I think that’s important. We’ve been connected when practices or drills have gone good or they’ve gone bad. We’ve addressed it and nobody’s flinched in that room when they’ve been challenged to respond, whether it’s during practice or in the meeting the next day. There hasn’t been any pointing fingers. 

I think that’s always good because you want connection in that room. It’s going to take everybody in that room. That’s something, obviously, another DNA of ours, Coach Smart’s, is connection. It’s one thing to say it, it’s another thing to live it. The leadership in that room has done that. I think our offensive line, you’ve got so many guys coming back that have played so much ball and have been through so many camps. They’re leading the way of showing these guys, not necessarily the linemen but the whole team, how to come to practice every day ready to go. 

There’s a ton of things that we’ve got to continue to improve on. We’re not near ready to play and that’s okay. That’s part of camp. We’re still trying to form our identity. That will shape out even more after we have the first scrimmage. Coaches are kind of back and guys are out playing ball. Then we’ll go through the second scrimmage. We’re going to have a big volume of offense. We’re going to install it. Then we’re going to shrink it down and figure out what we do best. Maybe we’re not as good at this as we were last year. So not being able to take it out, we’re going to put it to the side and continue to work on that. We’re still trying to figure that out as an offense, what we do really well and what we’ve got to work on. Right now, in my mind and those players’ minds, we’ve got a lot to work on every day. There’s nothing we do well.”

Bobo on what Carson Beck can improve on and what he’s focused on…

“One, he does a great job of processing, getting the ball out quickly. I don’t remember what his completion percentage was, it was extremely high last year. 

One area that we addressed in the spring and the beginning of fall camp is the deep ball. Not necessarily the deep ball, it doesn’t always need to be a perfectly thrown ball where you hit the guy in stride. Sometimes we want it to be that way as a quarterback. But it’s a lot just giving the guy a chance. Not throwing the ball so far where you don’t have a chance or throwing it out of bounds. Give the guy a chance to make a play. He’s done a better job of that. Every time we complete a deep ball, he’s looking at me or looking at Coach Gummy because he knows that’s what he’s focused on, giving those guys a chance. 

Sometimes when you struggle hitting something or doing something as a quarterback, you start to aim. You’re thinking about it too much. Take your drop, read your progression, throw the ball, and play football, not get in your head of well, I can’t hit it, I’m trying to aim it or throw the perfect ball. Throw it and give the guy a chance.”