Georgia Football: Kirby Smart coming under fire
By Eric Taylor
Georgia football’s season has been strange, is it Kirby Smart’s fault?
After the COVID 19 outbreak, college football shut down all operations. There were no offseason conditioning programs on campuses, and in Georgia football’s case, there were no spring practices to install a new offense.
As if the team wasn’t behind the eight ball enough by all of this, after practices resumed the assumed starting quarterback opted out of the season to pursue his NFL dream taking a majority of those practice snaps with him.
However, this all seems to have been forgotten as some are blaming Kirby Smart for not being better prepared, even if there was nothing he could have done any better.
It is not Smart’s fault that Jamie Newman opted out, it is not Smart’s fault J.T. Daniels’ knee still isn’t right, it is not Smart’s fault that Stetson Bennett is what he is, and it is not Smart’s fault that D’Wan Mathis hasn’t gotten any meaningful snaps until this season because he had brain surgery last year and was recovering most of last season.
The mob has their pitchforks and it’s Smart’s head they want because, according to them, the quarterback conundrum is his fault. He is still being accused of letting Justin Fields leave and not recruiting better at the quarterback position. How could someone even say that? Smart has knocked it out of the park when it comes to recruiting quarterbacks.
Here is a list of the quarterbacks Smart is responsible for bringing to Georgia:
- Jacob Eason 5-star
- Jake Fromm 4-star
- Justin Fields 5-star
- D’Wan Mathis 4-star
- Carson Beck 4-star
- Jamie Newman 4-star
- J.T. Daniels 5-star
- Stetson Bennett 3-star
Yes, Smart started Fromm from 2017 to 2019, but that was because he had the mental part of the game down while Eason and Fields struggled with that part of the game. At the time Georgia football was running a conservative offense that relied on the running game and needed a quarterback that could keep the offense in the right play and wouldn’t put the ball in harm’s way.
The best quarterback for that job was Fromm. Eason realized after Fromm led the team to the National Championship in 2017 that he was not getting the job back, so he transferred to Washington which was closer to home for him. With Eason out and Fields in it was assumed by some that Fields would beat out Fromm because he was the more exciting quarterback.
When that didn’t happen rumors began to swirl about Kirby showing favoritism to Fromm over Fields. This simply wasn’t true. Fields struggled to read defenses and Fromm excelled in that area. However, some fans wouldn’t be deterred from heaping accusations of wrongdoing on Smart, even though they were unjustified. They wanted their quarterback to start and let their imaginations run wild as to why he wasn’t.
Eventually, Fields would transfer to go start for another team and run an offense more suited to his strengths. Fast forward to this season and fans are still blaming Smart for Fields leaving and the quarterback room being in shambles. Even though Smart brought in Beck in 2019 and both Newman and Daniels this year, some don’t believe Smart has the ability to evaluate quarterbacks.
Smart wanted to load up his quarterback room with experienced quarterbacks after Fromm opted for the NFL. However, after Newman opted out of the season and Daniels had a few setbacks with his knee, the only quarterback left on the roster with any experience was Bennett. He and Mathis competed for the starting quarterback job with a month left before the first game of the season.
After a few team scrimmages, Mathis won the job, but he looked every bit like a redshirt-freshman who had never made a college start in his first game. Bennett replaced him and looked like he was the better option, but after just a few games it became apparent that Georgia football had a quarterback problem.
Georgia has been hit by a ton of bad luck at the quarterback position this season. Georgia’s head coach has had to roll with the punches as they have come at him. That is not his fault, this is just a weird season where nothing seems to go right. Smart is doing the best he can with what he has to work with. This was far from the plan Smart had in mind at the beginning of the year.
Speaking of things not going right, Smart has also been blamed for Georgia’s offensive output. Even though Smart hand-picked Todd Monken to run his offense after letting James Coley go, the assumption that he can’t evolve in his approach on offense still circulates through the fanbase. This narrative makes no sense as one of the complaints in the losses to Alabama and Florida this year was that Monken went away from the run in favor of the pass.
Georgia football has always been known for its run-first offense, so how is passing too much running the same ole offense. Also, how can you ask for the offense to evolve and also complain when the offensive coordinator starts passing more? The fans that think that like make themselves look like they won’t be satisfied with anything and will complain either way it goes.
If you want proof of just how different Georgia football’s offense is this year compared to last year all you have to do is look at the concepts Monken is using this year compared to the ones Coley liked to use last year.
Coley:
- Inside Zone Read
- Inside Zone
- Inside Power
- Screens
- Outside Zone
- Smash Variations
- Curl+Seam/ Hoss/ Comebacks
- Rub Variations
- Outside Zone Read
- Shot Variations
Monken:
- Inside Zone Read
- Flood Variations
- Outside Zone
- Inside Zone
- Inside Power
- Shot Variations
- Inside Power Read
- Screens
- All Verts
- Rub Variations
If that isn’t convincing enough how about a run, pass, run-pass option split between the two coordinators?
Coley:
Run
475 / 922 51.52 %
Rpo
138 / 922 14.97 %
Pass
447 / 922 48.48 %
Monken:
Run
196 / 367 53.41 %
Rpo
89 / 367 24.25 %
Pass
171 / 367 46.59 %
These numbers show that the offense has shifted in its approach under Monken. It also proves once and for all that Smart isn’t calling the offense. If Smart was calling the plays or lording over those that call the plays wouldn’t the numbers in both seasons be similar? There is absolutely no evidence that suggests that Smart forces a certain offensive scheme on his coordinators.
Not only has the offensive scheme changed, but it is also working. Georgia football quarterbacks have missed numerous wide-open receivers, some for would-be touchdowns. Monken is doing an excellent job scheming them open, but Georgia’s quarterbacks can’t seem to get them the ball. Either they are overthrowing them, having the ball batted down at the line of scrimmage, or they aren’t even being seen by the quarterback. That is not on the offensive coordinator though.
Smart has done everything within his power to make this season successful. Things outside of his control have derailed it. It is not time to bail on the Smart Train just because of a few bumps in the journey. He still has Georgia football in a very good spot to reach their ultimate goal in the very near future. Especially if things return to normal in 2021.
Georgia is currently sitting at No. 6 in the nation in recruiting for 2021, with one of the top quarterbacks, Brock Vandagriff, in that group. Vandagriff could be the final piece to the puzzle Smart started trying to put together this season. He will have a cast of very dynamic receivers around him and an offensive coordinator that is willing to let him fling it downfield.
It gets frustrating saying “next year”, that is understood, however, we almost didn’t even have a college football season, so chill out, and try to appreciate the one we are having. It’s going to get better. Trust the process.