James Coley, Georgia’s offensive coordinator this past football season who was reassigned last week by Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart, is leaving Athens to become Texas A&M’s tight ends coach under Jimbo Fisher.
TexAgs.com was the first to report Coley’s change in Southeastern Conference locations.
Coley coached Georgia’s receivers during the 2016-17 seasons before moving to quarterbacks coach in 2018, when Jake Fromm ranked fifth nationally in passing efficiency. When Jim Chaney left last January after three seasons as offensive coordinator of the Bulldogs for the same role at Tennessee, Coley was elevated to coordinator, a position he held previously at Florida State (2010-12) and Miami (2013-15).
Georgia averaged 35.4 points per game in 2017 and 37.9 in 2018, but that averaged dipped this past season to 30.8 despite the presence of veterans such as Fromm and running back D’Andre Swift and one of the nation’s most imposing offensive fronts. The Bulldogs struggled at receiver, however, especially when graduate transfer Lawrence Cager was sidelined due to injuries.
“Everybody has talked about the play on the outside and the questions about Jake, but I have to do a better job,” Coley said before Georgia topped Baylor in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s night. “First and foremost, it starts with me, and I’m looking at myself hard and criticizing myself. We do have to put some pieces in place for a quarterback in the pass game. It comes down to players and how do you get your players to reach their full potential, and that’s what we’ve been fighting all season long.