I get the Bobo bashing and think we can get better options, but what about Schumann? We know Bobo can create high performance offenses (see 2023, 2014, 2012) IF he has quality enough pieces around the QB to make it hum (each of those years had talent at WR, RB, OL). We know we don't have that this year - whether from poor recruiting or injuries.
What about Schumann though? I know this is his first solo year calling the defense, but we've heard how much he is a rising star and how some fans fretted him getting poached to be head coach. However, his side of the ball has significantly regressed under his solo tutelage while having an abundance of talent at most every position. Take yesterday: defense brings the hammer on the first Ole Miss drive, which is still part of the scripted series - which should be some a team's best performance, especially with a guy like Kiffin. Yet, Dart goes out and a freshman QB comes and the defense is just lost. This isn't going from one type QB to another - Dart and Simmons are similar style QBs. This has to be playcalling, right? And how many times this season has the offense finally gotten itself together (not yesterday) and then the defense just lets the other team march down the field? That feels like the old Grantham/Martinez days.
And my major concern about Buster's name being thrown about. I agree he, on a small sample size, seems to be a better playcaller / offensive designer than Bobo, but what about recruiting? This is a genuine question - not questioning him? When is the last time Buster brought in a top notch QB (not saying Bobo ever did... I've always thought the top tier QBs we signed during those days were more because of Richt)? In the 9 seasons of Kirby's tenure, we've had:
- Fromm (ok college QB)
- Fields (the one top-rated QB who was misused and transferred)
- Mathis
- JT Daniels (transfer and just ok college QB)
- Stetson (major misevaluation by everyone including our staff which told him he would never be QB at Georgia - we lucked into this one due to his desire to play for the Dawgs)
- Carson (good if he has top notch talent around him; mediocre to poor without that)
And I want to be clear, I know we've had high-ranked QB recruits by recruiting services. However, either we've been poor at development or the rating service mis-evaluated (where I lean, but also concerning that our staff also mis-evaluated). However, outside of Stetson, what QB have we had in the last 9 years, when the game was on the line and we needed to score for a win or start a comeback, that you thought, "we are still in this!". Stetson - yes. Anyone else? At least from 2001 until 2012, we had Greene, Shockley, Stafford, Murray.
Finally, I know we harp on Bobo and a few of us harp on Schumann, but could both be hindered by their position coaches? If the position coaches don't have their units performing, how can your gameplay as a coordinator work? Think about your profession life - if the managers of the teams beneath you underperform, there is very little you can do to be successful in the next tier up in the chain.
Bobo is dealing with a line coach who underwhelmed in his previous stint in Georgia (was Searls fired first time around, I can't remember); a WR coach who underwhelmed and seemed to be told "leave for another gig or get fired". As for the other two position coaches, he has a RB coach who is coaching RBs for the first time (he was WR coach at Tech and WKU - would we be better off if he was our QR coach?), but is considered a rising star; a TE coach who's well regarded. Schumann seems to be a little better off, but has had to deal with lots of change on his staff and we all know hiring is far from an exact science - I know when I've hired for my teams over the years, some people I thought were for-sure rockstars were far from that and some who I thought were going to be good, but not great, ended up being rockstars.
This all to say - should Kirby start with some of the position coaches? Or should he it be a larger shakeup with coordinators and the position coaches, even if in first season, who have underwhelmed? My major complaint about Richt is that he seemed to stay way too loyal to assistants over the years instead of shaking up staff like Saban used to do.
