Everyone is smarter than the offensive coordinator. At least, if you read for UGA football forums over the past year, you may have become convinced that Georgia’s offensive coordinator, Jim Chaney is not only a poor play-caller but visually impaired. After all, he called a lot of plays that did not work, and apparently could not see the plays on his call sheet that every complaining fan had on the tip of his/her tongue. Surely, Coach Smart would realize his mistake and dump Chaney at the end of 2017, thought many. But Chaney remained and has continued to be praised by Smart, what can that mean?
During his press conference last before Saturday’s Fan Day practice, Chaney addressed the basic philosophy of offense that he and Kirby share. In other words, if you want to get to the bottom of Georgia’s offensive direction, Kirby Smart charts the course. When asked (at the 14:25 mark below), “How much of Kirby’s philosophy determines what you do?”, Chaney interrupted quickly to say, “Every bit of it!”
Chaney went on to say:
Just because you grow up coaching on defense doesn’t mean you don’t have the developed philosophy of offense. I would never go anywhere and work if physicality wasn’t the cornerstone of your program, that’s what I personally believe in. At age 55, that will probably never change. Balance, you’ve got to have that. You have to win situational offense. All these things, we’ve never had a debate. If I want to do something that’s a little crazy, then I’ll go ahead and ask him. But I’m too old to be fighting over little teeny things. Because we believe in the foundation of what we’re doing here, and we’re collectively 100 percent behind that. Physicality, balance, get your good players the ball and win situational offense. Don’t turn the damn thing over. All those things are the cornerstone of who we are, and there’s never a debate on that. We both feel very strongly about that.
Yes, the options available to the offense will expand with the growth of Jacob Eason but the philosophy will remain constant. If one needs a primer for what Georgia will run in 2017 and beyond, just look to Tuscaloosa.