Kirby Smart made two new additions to his offensive staff this past week. With running backs coach Dell McGee leaving to become the head coach at Georgia State, Georgia announced the hiring of Georgia Tech running backs coach Josh Crawford.
Before Crawford of hired, it was announced that James Coley would be making his way back to the Bulldogs, this time as the wide receivers coach. Coley was the co-offensive coordinator in 2018 and then was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2019. After the 2019 season, a season where the Bulldogs struggled offensively, Coley was relieved of his coordinator duties and was made an assistant coach.
After his demotion, Coley took a job at Texas A&M as the tight ends coach. Earlier this year, however, Coley made the move to South Carolina to be Shane Beamer's new wide receivers coach and assistant coach. Well, that lasts all of five minutes, and Coley is back with the Bulldogs.
There are mixed feelings about both coaches joining the staff, but no decision will ever please everyone. The upside to Crawford joining the staff is his ability to move up the coaching chain so quickly. Bulldog fans are happy to have Coley back for his recruiting skills, especially in South Florida.
So here are some of the reactions on X (formally known as Twitter) on the hiring of Crawford and Coley.
Fun facts about UGA's RB coach Josh Crawford:
— Jon Tweets Sports (@jontweetssports) February 26, 2024
💪 played RB at Morehouse
🐶 master's degree at UGA
🍑 coached offense in high profile Georgia HS for 10 yrs (3x state champ)
🚀 helped lead WKU to 14K yards & 144 TDs (!!) in 2 yrs
🧠 promoted to co-OC in his 2nd yr as a D1 coach https://t.co/ZZHOcTXF5q
Georgia in-state recruiting with Josh Crawford 📈 pic.twitter.com/QzgsjKe69M
— 704 Dawg (@FSFRecruits) February 26, 2024
Have to be honest, I had never heard Josh Crawford’s name before last week, but his resume screams of exactly the type of coach we need in that role to replace Dell McGee.
— GloryUGA (@glory_uga) February 26, 2024
A lot of similarities bw he & Dell as long-time, successful GA high school coaches.
In fact. Crawford has… https://t.co/gcNor2MprP
UGA snags Josh Crawford from GT as its new RB coach. Excellent young coach with a lot of juice on the recruiting trail
— Graham Coffey (@GrahamCoffeyDC) February 26, 2024
Crawford is a Morehouse grad who held titles as Co-OC/WR coach at WKU in 2021-2022. He spent 11 years at some of GA’s best high-school program from 2010-2020
James Coley and Josh Crawford are two homerun hires!
— UGA Football Recruiting (@FSFJasonDC) February 26, 2024
Welcome back to UGA Coach James Coley! Get the WR’s “coached up!”@680TheFan pic.twitter.com/xbqiKaA5dy
— buck belue (@buckbelue8) February 24, 2024
James Coley's Top Recruit Commits: pic.twitter.com/BXUijKd6UB
— The Bulldawg Report (@ReportBulldawg) February 24, 2024
James Coley was the LAST UGA COACH TO SECURE A FIVE STAR RECEIVER AT GEORGIA:
— 🚫 LEE Ring (@HBTFD1) February 24, 2024
George Pickens🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Players James Coley recruited to Georgia:
Tyson Campbell
Isaiah Wilson
Georgia Pickens (The last Five star WR we landed)
Dom Blaylock
Tyrique Stevenson
James Cook
Kearis… pic.twitter.com/IKZLhBl2be
🚨BREAKING 🚨- Georgia is hiring former Bulldogs offensive coordinator James Coley as its new wide receivers coach.
— Radi Nabulsi (@RadiNabulsi) February 24, 2024
This is a huge hire and reopens Miami and South Florida to the Bulldogs as Coley is one of the nation's best recruiters and coaches.https://t.co/bYz9QEr8IL
Welcome back James Coley. pic.twitter.com/3nOo4PvXOx
— James Dukes (@uga_Dukes12) February 24, 2024
Of course, not every coach will work out with different programs, but Kirby Smart is growing a pretty impressive coaching tree and these two coaches are the two newest additions.