Coley excited for play-calling opportunities
After causing former five-star quarterbacks Jacob Eason and Justin Fields to transfer from Georgia the past two seasons, Bulldogs junior Jake Fromm now has decided to take on the coaching staff.
At least that’s how new offensive coordinator James Coley views it.
“I’m not walking in a meeting room without him not being in there,” Coley said Monday during a news conference. “He’s already watched the film. He’s already sitting there going, ‘What do you have for me? I’ve watched it. Do you have anything new?’
“It challenges you as a coach, because you’ve got to find a way to maximize his potential in the meeting rooms so he can go maximize it on the field, because he does so much work on his own.”
The Bulldogs held their fourth preseason practice Monday afternoon and will work out again today before taking Wednesday off.
Inheriting the most efficient quarterback in program history is a nice place for Coley to start in becoming Kirby Smart’s first offensive coordinator in Athens not named Jim Chaney. After guiding Georgia’s offense the past three seasons, Chaney left in January to become Jeremy Pruitt’s coordinator at Tennessee.
Coley has been at Georgia since Smart’s arrival, coaching receivers during the 2016-17 seasons and overseeing the quarterbacks last year. The 46-year-old Florida State graduate will continue to handle quarterbacks this season while adding the coveted role of play-caller.
This will be Coley’s first season to call plays since 2015, when he was in his third and final year at the University of Miami under Al Golden.
“I’m definitely excited, and I don’t think I ever lost my excitement,” he said. “Every challenge is new, and every coordinator job is new, just like every position job is new. When you get the opportunity you’re excited, but once you jump in, it is what it is.
“It’s what you do.” Georgia’s offense contains not only Fromm but returning 1,000-yard rusher D’Andre Swift and what may be college football’s deepest and most imposing line. The biggest unknown is Fromm’s aerial targets, with tight end Isaac Nauta and receivers Terry Godwin, Mecole Hardman and Riley Ridley now in the NFL.
The top returning receiver from last season, Jeremiah Holloman, was dismissed from the team earlier this summer, but Georgia signed two of the nation’s top five prep receivers, George Pickens and Dominick Blaylock, and also landed Miami graduate transfer Lawrence Cager.
“In the pro-style game, you coordinate to your players,” Coley said. “It’s the players and not the plays, and Coach Smart is all about the players and not plays. He definitely preaches that to us, and sometimes you forget, or else you get caught up in a scheme you may find intriguing.
“The biggest thing is whether your players are touching the ball within the scheme. The philosophy at Georgia has to do with who is touching the ball, and you definitely have to play towards your strength.”
That Fromm will be touching the ball for a third consecutive season should make Coley’s return to calling plays quite smooth.
“Jake is a constant grinder, and it’s part of his greatness,” Coley said. “It’s always inspiring when it really matters to that person.”
Cox likely leaving
Sophomore outside linebacker Brenton Cox, a five-star member of the 2018 signing class, has entered the NCAA transfer portal and is expected to leave the program. New Bulldogs defensive coordinator Dan Lanning was asked about Cox in a Monday news conference and responded by saying that question would be better for Smart.
The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder from the Atlanta suburb of Stockbridge tallied 20 tackles in 13 games last season and started against Texas in the Sugar Bowl. He was arrested this past April on misdemeanor marijuana possession charges.