Georgia Football: A suggested recipe of success for Jim Chaney
How should the Georgia Football team approach its offense this season under Jim Chaney?
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The Georgia football team has had as much turnover in the offensive coordinator position as any program in the country over the last few years. The senior class is in the midst of its 3rd offensive coordinator in 4 seasons: Jim Chaney. Chaney’s first season with the Bulldogs…could have gone better.
To be fair, some of the criticism Chaney received for his first year in Athens was warranted. All too many times Chaney would leave Georgia fans scratching their heads with some of his questionable play calling and overall vanilla offensive style.
Despite the criticism, Chaney probably did as well as he could have given the circumstances. He had a true freshman quarterback, a less than average offensive line, and Nick Chubb never appeared to be 100% all of last season.
So to some fans, Chaney gets a pass for the offense’s performance in 2016. But with all the hype and pressure surrounding the Georgia program going into the 2017 season, it’s easy to imagine that Chaney’s seat might be starting to feel a little warm.
What can he do in 2017?
There is an easy way for Jim Chaney to bring the Georgia offense back to prominence: have your best two players on the field AT THE SAME TIME as much as possible. Those two players are none other than Nick Chubb and Sony Michel.
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Chubb currently ranks second on Georgia’s career rushing list behind some guy named Herschel Walker. He appears to be fully healthy and back to his pre-injury form heading into the 2017 season. Michel has often looked equally as impressive if sometimes not more so than Chubb. He provides a scary combination of size and speed that has always been the perfect complement to Chubb’s game.
These two players are simply too good to not be on the field at the same time. If the rumors are true that Georgia’s offense will be in a lot more shotgun and spread sets in 2017, then that makes Chaney’s decision to play Chubb and Michel at the same time even easier.
Run the damn ball!
Unfortunately, injuries to Michel in 2014 and 2016 and Chubb in 2015 have limited the amount of games where the two backs have both been healthy at the same time. Imagine the insomnia that SEC defensive coordinators would be overtaken with if they had to see those two monster tailbacks on the field at the same time most of the game.
Chubb can still be the featured back and is more than capable of getting his yards from shotgun handoffs. Michel, can line up on the other side of the quarterback or as a receiver in the slot at the same time. Having as many weapons on the field as possible will set up Jacob Eason with the best chance to succeed in 2017.
Georgia fans far and wide are elated that Chubb and Michel decided to return for their senior seasons. The coaching staff is blessed to have two of college football’s best running backs. Let’s also not forget Georgia also has 3 other very capable running backs. Brian Herrien, Elijah Holyfield, and D’Andre Swift are all impressive talents.
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One can only think Georgia’s offense will flourish if it can find a way to have #27 and #1 on the field at the same time in 2017.