Adams: Bobo's role familiar to Richt

Georgia coach Mark Richt can appreciate assistant coach Mike Bobo’s opportunity as well as his predicament. He knows what it’s like to replace a proven play caller — and then have the proven play caller for your boss.

Richt was a promising young quarterbacks coach at Florida State when head coach Bobby Bowden decided he was ready to relinquish his play-calling duties. He tabbed Richt as his replacement.

This season, Richt finds himself on the other side of a similar transition.

The transition actually began last season when Richt fazed himself out as Georgia’s offensive play-caller. In the regular-season finale against Georgia Tech and the bowl game against Virginia Tech, he abdicated the play-calling duties he had handled since becoming Georgia’s head coach in 2001.

He hasn’t expressed regret over the switch. In fact, he has second-guessed himself for not making the change sooner. That tells you something about the confidence he has in his successor, Mike Bobo, who was quarterbacking the Bulldogs only 10 years ago.

Richt decided the change would enable him to be more involved in other aspects of the game. He also felt it was easier to call the plays from the press box, which he did for many years as Florida’s State’s offensive coordinator.

Don’t get the wrong idea. The change didn’t come without discomfort.

“It was very weird,” Richt said of the two games he spent on the sidelines without the pressure or excitement of calling plays. “When I turned it over, it was tough to give up because I’d been doing it for 15, 16 years. But I did it because I felt it was in the best interest of the team.

“At first, I was leery of that decision, but now that I’ve made it, I’m really excited. It’s a little bit of a revival for me.”

Bowden apparently had a harder time letting go of the offense.

“He was still very involved with it,” Richt said. “He’d be in my ear during the games.”

Richt said he will offer his input in game-week preparation but won’t have as much say-so in the play-calling on game day.

The timing is almost as significant as the promotion for Bobo, who is only 33. He has a tremendously talented young quarterback in Matthew Stafford, who came on strong last year as a freshman. Also, the Bulldogs are deep at running back, and a revamped offensive line was impressive in the spring. Their receiving corps will get a boost with the return of injured starter Sean Bailey.

There’s nothing complicated about Bobo’s approach to offense.

“I want to keep it simple,” Bobo said in a phone interview. “And I want to put players in the best position to succeed. Getting the ball to playmakers is what it’s all about.”

The same approach has worked wonders for Richt, who was never lacking in playmakers at Florida State. He hasn’t been lacking in offensive talent at Georgia, either.

In four of Richt’s six seasons at Georgia, his quarterback made either first- or second-team All-SEC. He also has had three different tight ends and two wide receivers make first- or second-team all-conference. The Bulldogs have had only one All-SEC running back, but that’s misleading since they’ve had so many different ball-carriers sharing the load.

Having a former play caller for your boss can be a problem. Take last year’s Arkansas team, for example. Head coach Houston Nutt basically was ordered to hire offensive whiz Gus Malzahn from Arkansas’ Springdale High school as his offensive coordinator. But Nutt never really gave up the play-calling, and Malzahn took a job with Tulsa after the season.

It should be different with Richt. After all, this was his idea. Moreover, he is one of the most sincere coaches you will ever run across. If he tells his successor he will leave him alone, he will.

“He trusts his assistants and what we do,” Bobo said. “I’m working for one of the best people I know.”

That will make Bobo’s job easier, but not easy. He is replacing one of the league’s top play-callers and filling a prominent role for a program that’s expected to contend for the SEC East championship every season.

If the offense drops off under his command, he will become an easy target for critics. But if Stafford continues to improve and the receivers hold onto the football, Bobo will be hailed as one of the game’s up-and-coming young coaches.

Either way, he will be one of the most scrutinized assistant coaches in the SEC this season.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.