The offense will still play ‘Kirby Ball’:
While Coley’s promotion could lead to some changes in the offense, one fact remains. UGA will play the kind of offense that Kirby Smart wants to play. As a defensive-minded head coach, Smart will defer play calling to Chaney. He will also encourage Coley and the other offensive coaches to present innovative game plans. But at the end of the day, Smart is going to set the tone.
He wants to run the football. Yes, he might have two incredibly talented future NFL caliber QB’s right now. He might also have more receiving weapons that UGA have seen in a very long time. But Smart has seen what wins titles at Alabama and he’s not going to change his blueprint.
We saw the offense open up a bit last season. The introduction of the ‘WildDawg’ is something that could well grow in 2018 with Justin Fields in town and Mecole Hardman now more comfortable on offense. However, Georgia is building a team that is physically dominant at the point of attack on offense. They are going to continue to run over teams until they get stopped.
With an inexperienced defense in 2018 to start the year, Smart will want his offense to control the clock. This isn’t a team that is built to score quickly and runs their defense back out. UGA will want to see plenty of 7-8 minute scoring drives followed by a quick defensive 3-and-out. They did that all last year and will look to do it again in 2018.
Next: What UGA's running game should look like this year
Coley’s promotion and the personnel changes will likely lead to an offense that has a lot more options than it did last season. But fans should expect those to be used sparingly as the coaches hold back some looks for later in the season. Until we’ve seen someone stop UGA’s running game, don’t expect them to turn away from it.