Georgia Football: Meet Mike Bobo, Offensive Coordinator of the Bulldogs

Every Monday, The SEC Blog will feature an assistant coach in the SEC. This week, we take a look at Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.

Love him or hate him, every Georgia fan seems to have an opinion of offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.

Bobo was a standout quarterback between the hedges from 1994-97. He has served as Georgia's quarterback coach since 2001 and as its offensive coordinator since 2006. He took over play-calling duties from head coach Mark Richt before the regular season finale against Georgia Tech in 2006.

Starting in 2007, Georgia's average rank in the SEC in total offense has been 4.5. Not bad, but not great. Despite the moderate success on the offensive side of the football, Bobo has been the subject of heavy criticism from Dawg Nation.

Detractors point to vanilla play-calling and an affinity for draw plays as proof that Bobo isn't cut out for play-calling in the SEC. There may be something to that, but you don't stumble into 10 straight wins like Georgia did last season. You win 10 straight by emphasizing your strength—which, in Georgia's case, is defense—and limiting mistakes. Sure, quarterback Aaron Murray threw 14 interceptions, which isn't exactly ideal. But he threw 35 touchdowns as well. For a redshirt sophomore—or even a senior—that's solid work.

While Bobo may be polarizing for his work as a play-caller on the field, his success off of it can't be denied. It was well-publicized that Bobo played an integral role in convincing linebacker Josh Harvey-Clemons to officially sign with Georgia 24 hours after he said that he would sign with the Bulldogs on national signing day.

As Georgia's lead recruiter in South Georgia, Bobo has pulled several players from the region, including Harvey-Clemons, Malcolm Mitchell, Ray Drew, Jay Rome and Xzavier Ward. 

At this point in his career, fans have had enough time to develop a strong opinion on Bobo one way or the other. Georgia is a dark horse to win the national championship this season, and Bobo's performance may determine whether or not Georgia is able to reach that top tier of SEC football teams.

Georgia has seen an influx of talent lately. This may be the season where we find out if it's "the X's and the O's" or the "Jimmys and the Joes."

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