CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There has been a different sound emanating from Georgia’s football practices for Tuesday night’s Belk Bowl against Louisville.
Removing offensive coordinator Mike Bobo will do that.
Bobo was often the most vocal member of Georgia’s staff on the practice fields in Athens, and it was no different earlier this month when the Bulldogs were going through on-campus workouts. Bobo was introduced last week as the new head coach at Colorado State, leaving a Georgia program he had been a part of as a player, graduate assistant or full-time assistant for 21 of the past 22 seasons.
“Bobo has been around here a while,” senior defensive back Damian Swann said, “and we know what kind of energy he brings and what kind of coach he is. Colorado State is getting a tremendous coach, and I wish him nothing but the best, but it’s been a different feeling.”
Georgia held its final Belk Bowl practice Sunday afternoon, working out for 75 minutes.
Bobo was the last remaining member of the inaugural staff Mark Richt assembled before the 2001 season. Richt said that 90 percent of the offensive game plan was put in before the Bulldogs arrived in Charlotte on Christmas Eve, and he tabbed tight ends coach John Lilly to assume play-calling chores.
“It’s obviously different not having Mike around at practice after having him here for so long,” Richt said, “but we have a very capable coaching staff who knows that it’s time for us to make sure we take care of business in this game.”
Fifth-year senior quarterback Hutson Mason also expressed how different things seem without Bobo, but Richt said Mason’s experience has been a huge plus in this situation. Mason has completed 178 of 262 passes for 2,019 yards this season with 20 touchdowns and only four interceptions.
“Hutson really understands everything well,” Richt said. “We’ve wanted to know his input all year long but even more so in this one as far as whittling down the game plan and knowing exactly what we want to call.”
This is not the first occasion in which Richt has coached a bowl game without a full complement of assistants. Running backs coach Tony Pierce resigned for personal reasons early in the 2002 season, which resulted in Bobo shifting from quarterbacks coach to the running backs and Richt overseeing the quarterbacks the rest of the way.
Several days after the 2009 regular season, Richt fired defensive coordinator Willie Martinez, linebackers coach John Jancek and defensive ends coach Jon Fabris. That left Georgia to prepare for the Independence Bowl against Texas A&M with defensive line coach Rodney Garner and graduate assistants on that side of the ball.
“In that year, we truly had graduate assistant coaches along with Coach Garner coaching that game, and those guys really did a super job,” Richt said. “I was in there a lot with them, and my goal was to help them keep it as simple as we could possibly keep it.
“It turned out that we played pretty well that day, but that was a lot more of a skeleton crew back then.”
Georgia defeated Texas A&M, 44-20, despite allowing 471 yards on 92 plays.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.