The promotion of James Coley last Friday from co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator still left Georgia with a football staff vacancy.
That opening was filled Monday when Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart announced that Todd Hartley would oversee the tight ends for the 2019 season. Hartley inherits the position group that was headed this past season by Jim Chaney, who was Georgia's offensive coordinator for three years before being announced last Wednesday as the offensive coordinator at Tennessee.
Hartley is a 2008 Georgia graduate who spent the past three seasons as tight ends coach and special-teams coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes.
"We expect Todd to be a great fit back at Georgia," Smart said. "He worked with the team while he was in school at UGA until he graduated and then returned to our program later in his career in a separate role, so there is no doubting his allegiance and excitement about returning to join the Bulldogs.
"Todd has proven himself as an excellent position coach and as a top-notch recruiter, and we look forward to his return to Athens."
In late February of last year, Hartley was the nation's No. 1 recruiter on the 247Sports.com rankings.
While working at Miami under Mark Richt, Hartley worked with tight end David Njoku, who had 698 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in the 2016 season. Njoku was the 29th overall pick of the 2017 NFL draft, selected by the Cleveland Browns.
Hartley helped the Hurricanes sign Brevin Jordan, the nation's top tight end prospect in the 2018 class, out of Las Vegas. Jordan caught 32 passes for 287 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman.
"I'm very thankful to Coach Smart for giving me and my family the opportunity to come back home," Hartley said. "I'm honored to be the tight ends coach at my alma mater, a program which has become one that competes for national championships annually."
Hartley was a student assistant working with the offense and special teams before his graduation and then became a offensive quality control assistant at West Virginia for the 2008 season. He returned to Georgia as a defensive graduate assistant for the 2009-10 seasons, and he helped former Bulldogs defensive line coach Rodney Garner prepare for a 44-20 win over Texas A&M in the Independence Bowl after the 2009 season.
Georgia played the Aggies without three defensive assistants who had been fired after the regular season: coordinator Willie Martinez, linebackers coach John Jancek and defensive ends coach Jon Fabris.
Monday's addition of Hartley leaves Georgia with one spot to fill, with that being on defense following last month's departure of Mel Tucker to become the new head coach at Colorado.
G-Day April 20
Georgia's fourth spring football game of the Smart era will be held April 20 inside Sanford Stadium. The first three G-Day contests under Smart have resulted in an average crowd of 80,439.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.