On paper Georgia football has the better coaching staff overall
Georgia football and Alabama have two of the best staffs in college football, but when you break it down by position, the Dawgs have the edge.
We’re not putting down the work either staff did this year to get to the national championship, but when you line them up position coach by position coach, it’s clear the Tide has the edge in some, but Georgia thrives in most.
Saban has been able to continue hiring staff that produces national titles, and that is mind-boggling. It’s hard enough to win championships, so the fact that Saban can do this proves how good he is.
Georgia football has a staff of passionate guys ready to prove everyone in their path wrong.
The Dawgs have a staff full of younger guys who are already to prove themselves. Alabama’s staff has some younger guys on it too, but the way head coach Kirby Smart puts his staff together is so impressive.
Here we will look at the main position coaches and provide which team has the edge or if it’s a push. Let the debate begin.
Offensive coordinator: Push
Bill O’Brien and Todd Monken are pretty similar when it comes to play-calling and how creative they can be with game plans. These two can utilize playmakers and have them all year. Monken has transformed the Dawgs’ offense into something that can essentially score at will through the air while supplementing the rush attack.
O’Brien has also done a great job putting together game plans that play into Bryce Young and those talented wide receivers’ abilities. Plus, what he and Saban did for the SEC Championship game turned a Georgia lean into a push.
It’s also a push because Monken had a depleted offense due to injuries all season long, so the fact he still got this much production out of them is enough to make these two equal.
Defensive coordinator: Georgia football
Dan Lanning has done with this defense this year leaps and bounds more than what Alabama has done. It doesn’t matter how good Will Anderson is, and the Dawgs have a whole defense full of playmakers.
We need to mention the Butkus Award winner, the Bednarik and Outland winner and multiple All-American players. Lanning’s unit held teams to 9.64 points while Alabama’s Pete Golding’s unit gave up 19.21 points.
Georgia has the best defense in the country regardless of what happened in the SEC Championship game, and it’s not close.
Wide receiver coach: Alabama
We love Cortez Hankton here in Athens, but what Holmon Wiggins has done with the group of receivers at Alabama is something all teams fear. They are just so talented it isn’t funny, and they can expose secondaries.
This group is why Alabama has won a good chunk of their games and definitely why they beat the Dawgs in the SEC Championship game, including excellent quarterback play by Young.
It could be a push when Georgia gets guys like Jameson Williams, John Metchie III, Jahleel Billingsley, and the many others putting up those kinds of numbers. Still, for now, Alabama takes this category.
Tight end coach: Georgia
We will keep this section short and sweet. What Todd Hartley has done with Brock Bowers in that youngsters’ first year is all we need to say when it comes to who has done a better job with their tight ends. Bowers is the biggest playmaker for Georgia, and no one can figure out how to stop him. Who got him — Hartley got him.
Offensive line coach: Georgia
It’s pretty impressive when a team only allows 11 sacks all season long. That stat is why Matt Luke edges out Doug Marrone at the offensive line coach. Luke has done a great job making sure his unit gets better all year long, and even with Alabama, they only gave up three sacks to a team that has 52 on the year.
Plus, Georgia’s pass protection has been much better. Young has gotten sacked 37 times this year, and the Alabama unit’s one good game was against Georgia, so the Dawgs have another edge at this position.
Defensive line coach: Georgia
Tray Scott is one of Georgia football’s secret weapons on its coaching staff. The way he developed Jordan Davis into what he is today is incredible. We all knew that young man would be a force, but not quite like this. Georgia’s front seven is one of the most dominant in college football.
Georgia is absolutely shutting it down up front and getting the push most of the time. The Dawgs give up 82.4 rushing yards a game, but what is more impressive, they only give up 2.7 yards a rush. The holes they open up for the linebackers to fly through are just as impressive.
Alabama has Phidarian Mathis up front too, but Davis, Jalen Carter, DeVonte Wyatt, and company are just the overall better group.
Linebacker coach: Georgia
Between Lanning and Glenn Schumann, it doesn’t matter how good Golding and Sal Sunseri have done with their units. Nakobe Dean is the best linebacker in the country and dons the Red and Black every week.
Sure Anderson is just as talented, so some could call for a push at this position, but Schumann is the next Kirby Smart, and there isn’t much to debate about that. The way this duo has developed this group of linebackers and continued to recruit them should be plenty of reasons they get the edge.
Secondary coach: Georgia
The Dawgs have the edge here because of how much Jahmile Addae has improved this unit. Sure Smart has some say so back here because the secondary has been his area since he played football, but Addae has done a phenomenal job getting the most out of a depleted group.
Alabama’s Charles Kelly and Jay Valai do a great job too, but the Dawgs have the push here, and it isn’t up for much debate. The SEC Championship game performance doesn’t tell us anything about this unit outside, proving that Georgia is extremely thin at depth.
Kelee Ringo and Lewis Cine are two of the best out there, and even without jaw-dropping stats, they are more of a force than people want to give them credit for, and Addae is the reason for that. He has bought into Smart’s culture, and it’s a match made in heaven.
Special teams coach: Georgia
Georgia and Alabama both have decent special teams units this season. However, the Dawgs have the edge when you break down how productive they have been. Will Muschamp has done a great job with the Dawgs, and Drew Svoboda has finally got the Alabama kicking situation under control.
The Dawgs have the edge at punter with Jake Camarda as he is another secret weapon and likely the best punter in college. He just doesn’t have to do it a ton.
Georgia also has the edge at field goal kicking because Jack Podlesny has made 80% of his field goals while Will Reichard has completed 78.26%.
Return-wise, Georgia averages 9.64 on punts and 18.25 on kickoff returns, while Alabama averages 8.30 on punts and 24 on kickoffs. Even though the Tide averages more on kickoffs, Georgia has better stats everywhere else, so it’s easy enough to give it to the Dawgs.
Head coach: Alabama
Saban is the best head coach in college football, and there is no argument here. Anyone who tries to argue this doesn’t get football at all. So there isn’t much to debate here. Smart is on his way to becoming one of the elite coaches, but he has one more hump to get over, and Saban stands in his way.
Georgia football has the edge in most of these coaching positions, but the Tide has one of the most well-matched to the Dawgs. By now, we all know these two teams are equally matched, so Monday should be an absolute showdown.