After helping Georgia win two national championships, Todd Monken returns to the NFL.
Monken, who has been Georgia’s offensive coordinator for the past three seasons, was announced Tuesday as the Baltimore Ravens’ new offensive coordinator, replacing Greg Roman.
Monken, who will also serve as the Baltimore quarterbacks coach, has helped transform the UGA offense in recent years. The Bulldogs have moved from a zealous conservative style to a much more varied and innovative approach. In 2019, the year before Monken’s arrival, Georgia averaged 6.08 yards per game (46th in the nation).
In Monken’s three seasons, the Bulldogs improved dramatically, from 6.21 years in 2020 to 6.98 years in 2021 and then to 7.17 years last season. Only Ohio State, Tennessee and USC have been better in game count than Georgia’s 2022 offense. The Bulldogs also averaged 501.1 yards and 40.7 points per game last season.
“We conducted 21 interviews with 14 candidates through a rigorous process involving a wide variety of organizers,” said Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. “Todd’s leadership and coaching skills were evident right from the start. He has a proven track record of developing and teaching offensive systems that enable players to excel at the highest level. We’re excited to get to work and start building an offense that will help us compete for the championship.”
Monken, 57, has played three times in the NFL. From 2007 to 2010, he served as a wide receiver with the Jacksonville Jaguars and then spent three years as an offensive coordinator with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a three-year stint as head coach for the Miss Southern. He was also the head coach of the Cleveland. Browns in 2019 before landing in Georgia.
Monken arrives in Baltimore at a somewhat uncertain time for the franchise as star quarterback Lamar Jackson’s contract status looms. Jackson and the Ravens have been unable to secure a long-term extension, and a franchise tag situation could arise if both parties cannot reach an agreement by the March 7 deadline.
The Ravens went 10-7 during the regular season before losing to the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. Jackson missed the team’s last six games with a knee injury.
Georgia goes with a familiar name to replace Todd Monken
Monken was also reportedly interviewing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so Georgia was preparing for his departure and had already prepared a replacement.
The UGA has announced that Mike Bobo has been named offensive coordinator after serving as an analyst on Kirby Smart’s staff in 2022. Bobo is a former UGA quarterback who worked on Mark Richt’s staff from 2001 to 2014, first as a quarterbacks coach and later as an offensive coordinator.
Bobo served as Colorado State’s head coach for five years, going 28–35 before being fired after the 2019 season. From there, he was offensive coordinator (and later acting head coach after Will Muschamp was fired) at South Carolina in 2020 and offensive coordinator at Auburn in 2021. Now he is back in the chair of the offensive coordinator in Athens.
“Mike has a decade of experience as a successful SEC play caller and over 20 years in the UGA as both a player and coach,” Smart said. “Mike was a great addition to our staff last year as an analyst and we look forward to his extended leadership on the attacking side.”
Bobo and Smart were teammates in Georgia in the 90s when Bobo set several program records as a quarterback. As an assistant at UGA, Bobo coached Matthew Stafford and Aaron Murray to help the Bulldogs win SEC titles in 2002 and 2005.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
