Smart hires Coley, McGee
New Georgia football coach Kirby Smart announced Sunday that James Coley would be his receivers coach and Dell McGee would be his running backs coach. Smart now has named seven assistants, with Jim Chaney (coordinator) and Sam Pittman having previously been announced to the offensive staff, and Tracy Rocker, Kevin Sherrer and Glen Schumann having been tabbed for the defensive staff.Coley has been Miami’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach the past three seasons after serving as Florida State’s offensive coordinator and tight ends coach from 2010 to ’12.McGee spent the past two seasons as Georgia Southern’s running backs coach and was the interim coach for the Eagles during their 58-27 blowout victory over Bowling Green in the recent GoDaddy Bowl. The former Auburn cornerback coached Carver High School in Columbus, Ga., from 2005 to ’12, winning the Class AAA state championship in ’07.Smart also announced that Marshall Malchow, the director of player personnel at Washington, would head Georgia’s recruiting department.— David Paschall
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Minutes after Georgia held off Penn State 24-17 in Saturday afternoon's TaxSlayer Bowl, Bulldogs senior receiver Malcolm Mitchell was digesting a 40th victory in four seasons.
"Right now, it's just a win," Mitchell said, "but 20 years from now, we'll be able to look back and say we were able to accomplish something few people do."
Mitchell actually has been at Georgia for 50 victories - he redshirted in 2013 after suffering a season-ending injury in the opener - having played a prominent role for the 2011 Bulldogs, who won 10 games and captured the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division. Georgia won the East again in 2012 and nearly knocked off Alabama in the league championship game, but that was the last time Mark Richt's program was viewed on an elite level nationally.
Richt was fired in late November after a 15-year run that yielded a 145-51 record and two SEC titles, and now it's up to successor Kirby Smart to start producing more desired hardware than the Belk Bowl and TaxSlayer Bowl trophies of the past two seasons. Smart is Alabama's defensive coordinator for one more week before heading back to his alma mater, where he inherits 15 starters from this season's final game but plenty of questions as well.
Georgia's most publicized position battle in 2016 will be at quarterback, where Greyson Lambert and Brice Ramsey return. They'll be joined by five-star commitment Jacob Eason, who will be enrolling in several days.
Lambert won 10 of 12 starts this season, with his 83.3-percent win clip matching D.J. Shockley for the highest among quarterbacks in the Richt era.
"I'm definitely taking away more good than bad from this season," Lambert said. "You're really only going to remember the good down the road anyway. I'm happy for these seniors and happy for this team. For the guys coming back, we've got to hit the ground running.
"There is no real offseason, and for me, I've got to keep working and grinding and keep doing what I do. I understand what it takes here, and my job is to get it done."
Lambert threw for 12 touchdowns and only two interceptions this season, but he was replaced by Faton Bauta before the lopsided loss to Florida. That experiment lasted one contest, but Ramsey occasionally entered games throughout the year, including the start of the second quarter of the TaxSlayer Bowl.
"Brice is a guy who has a lot of talent, and so does Greyson," said John Lilly, who finished his time as Georgia tight ends coach by calling the offensive plays against Penn State. "Obviously they've got a guy coming in, and I think it's going to be a heck of a competition."
The questions about Georgia's offense don't end at quarterback.
Sony Michel returns after rushing for 1,161 yards this season, but will fellow tailback Nick Chubb be full strength after knee surgery? Will bowl MVP Terry Godwin replace Mitchell as the go-to receiver? Can the Bulldogs sustain the losses of John Theus, Kolton Houston and Hunter Long up front?
Georgia led the nation in pass defense this season, allowing 156.5 yards per game, and will have its secondary returning intact. The Bulldogs, however, must replace inside linebacker Jake Ganus and outside linebackers Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins, who were three of the top four tacklers for the team this season.
"I think we've got a lot of good, young talent coming back," said outside linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer, who is being retained by Smart. "In the secondary, we have a lot of guys who have played. We lose Jake Ganus, who has been a really good player for us, but I think we have a good nucleus and some good young guys, but obviously we've got to go out and get more of them."
The Bulldogs also have to find a successor to kicker Marshall Morgan, a four-year starter who tallied 407 points.
Odds and ends
Georgia finished plus-4 in turnover margin this season after finishing plus-16 in 2014. Morgan finished 64-of-84 (76.2 percent) in career field-goal attempts. Stacy Searels, the offensive line coach for the Bulldogs from 2007 to '11, has joined Richt's new staff at Miami.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.