New Georgia OC Brian Schottenheimer Is a High Risk, High Reward Hire

In a surprisingly bold move, Georgia hired Brian Schottenheimer as its offensive coordinator on Wednesday afternoon according to GeorgiaDogs.com.

While there are pros and cons to any personnel move, this one was made at great risk in hopes for even greater reward. 

Schottenheimer, whose father coached in the NFL for several decades, has spent the last nine years serving as an offensive coordinator for the New York Jets and the St. Louis Rams. Now, Schottenheimer has been lured to Athens to take over the same role.

Somewhat obviously, the hire is indicative of Georgia's commitment to contending for national championships. After all, Schottenheimer brings a strong football pedigree and NFL coaching experience that should lend itself quite nicely to recruiting the most talented offensive weapons in the country. He fits the "big name hire" qualifications perfectly.

But the future success of Schottenheimer as a collegiate coordinator is unknown primarily because the true measure of his success at the professional level is debatable.

On one hand, Schottenheimer was approaching a full decade of continuous employment as an offensive coordinator at the game's highest level. In and of itself, that presents some semblance of an endorsement. The NFL is certainly not known as an environment defined by patience and prolonged second chances. Accordingly, multi-year stints with two franchises seem to be a testament to Schottenheimer's offensive mind.

On the other hand, his offenses were never great.  Schottenheimer's units ranked among the league's top 10 in points scored just once. Outside of that 2008 season, the results were largely mediocre.

Year	Team	Regular Season Points Scored	Scoring Offense Rank
2006	Jets	316	18
2007	Jets	268	25
2008	Jets	405	9
2009	Jets	348	17
2010	Jets	367	13
2011	Jets	377	13
2012	Rams	299	25
2013	Rams	348	21
2014	Rams	324	21

Those numbers certainly aren't great, but they're a far cry from atrocious. His offenses finished an average of 18th in a 32-team league, and given the turnover rate of high-level NFL assistants, it's fair to say Schottenheimer was—at worst—an average offensive coordinator at the professional level.  

And it's worth noting that after he left New York, the Jets offense fell from 13th in the league in scoring to 28th. Conversely, in his first year with the Rams, St. Louis rose from dead-last in points scored to 25th.

Sure, hiring an average NFL offensive coordinator should theoretically be deemed a fantastic hire for a college program. But that's not necessarily the case. Hiring Schottenheimer is still fraught with risks. If he does come up short, two narratives will come to the forefront thanks to revisionist history.

First and foremost, fans will point to former defensive coordinator Todd Grantham who was hired away from the NFL and spent four tumultuous years at Georgia before moving on to Louisville. Most Bulldog fans label Grantham's tenure in Athens as a failure. If Schottenheimer doesn't succeed, his hire will be viewed as the repetition of a previous mistake.

Secondly and more generally, fans will bemoan Georgia for going after a flashy name rather than a proven college coordinator. Mike Bloomgren of Stanford was on the table. Kurt Roper, who worked miracles at Duke and actually improved Florida's offense, was an available option  John Lilly, a dedicated and loyal member of Georgia's coaching staff, performed well in one game calling plays.

But if Schottenheimer works out well, the results could be staggering.  

Just last week Rams coach Jeff Fisher gave Schottenheimer a vote of confidence and in doing so praised his play-calling and his ability to teach players, per Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. If he can truly do those two things while bringing in elite offensive talent, the sky is the limit for an already potent Georgia offense.

Combine that upward trajectory with a defense that is poised for further improvement over the coming years under Jeremy Pruitt and a host of returning talent, and great things—Championship-like things—could be on the table.

Nell Redmond/Associated Press

According to Seth Emerson of Macon's Telegraph, Georgia head coach Mark Richt expressed excitement over the hire of Schottenheimer and singled out his NFL experience as a point of differentiation. Meanwhile Schottenheimer echoed that excitement saying, "This is a great opportunity to become a Georgia Bulldog for both my career and my family."

Such phrasing is unique coming from a man who just took—at least in theory—a demotion from the NFL level to college football, but it may also be indicative of Schottenheimer's willingness to match Georgia in taking a risk. In other words, he's betting on the Bulldogs just as boldly as they're betting on him.  

Either both gambles hit or both lose, there is no hedge. Will the parlay pay off?

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained firsthand and all stats courtesy of Sports-Reference.com.