Everything Georgia Offensive Coordinator Mike Bobo Said In Fall Camp Press Conference

Georgia offensive coordinator, Mike Bobo met with the media on Wednesday. Here's everthing he said.

On problems with slow starts a year ago and how they are going to improve:

There's no doubt. You know, anytime you start a football game, you want to start fast. You know, we always talk about starting fast at the beginning of each half, and the last, the last two minutes, end of the half as well. And you know, you go, you go through it, and a lot of times on it was execution, execution issues. And then sometimes it could be quite frank, it was a little bit being conservative in other situations. And then the other side of the teams we played were pretty good on defense, and, you know, stopped us early in games. But that's been, been a big point of emphasis of ours, there are several of them, but starting fast is one of them. But sometimes starting fast, you know, does not necessarily, you know, mean you know your Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, or you know, touchdown, field goal touchdown. Sometimes starting fast is, you know, you get a couple field first downs, and you change the field position. You know, when you go three-and-out to start games, that's something we definitely got to improve on.

Does the offensive line have a chip on their shoulder?

Well, that's something you'd have to ask them if they have a chip on a shoulder. But I think, you know, we need to play better as a whole offense, and you know, offensive line that starts with them, and we have some youth up front, but there are some guys that are coming back that haven't had experience, and there were injuries, and offensive line is about cohesion and playing together, and we did not play together well enough last year to be efficient in all areas. And that's the main thing that we've been working on. We've got to be one unit up front. I think all offensive lines have a little bit of chip on their shoulder because who they are, how close they are as a group. And I think this group is doing a good job, even though they're young, practicing hard and focusing on day by day

What Did you Learn About Gunner last year?

I thought gunner was, you know, was ready for the moment in the SEC championship game. It's a hard spot to be in. It's something you talk about with your guys all the time. You're one play away, but quarterbacks a different position than any other position. You know those other positions. They might not be the starter, but they might get in at a rotation, they might get to play on special teams. So they felt, you know what it's like to be in a game, and the quarterbacks a little bit different. But I thought Gunner last year took a step during practice of approaching every practice like it was a game, and preparing like he was a starter. And those just aren't words. Gunner would have probably prepared as hard as anybody on our football team, and he didn't know if he was going to play a snap, so he was ready as far as a preparation standpoint. I know there were certain things he knows, and he wishes he could have done better, and he's been working on those things and all season and through fall camp, so he can be a more efficient player at that position.

What Do You Want the Identity to Be Offensively?

well, I mean, I think that's the great thing about fall camp, it is where you're trying to try to form your identity of your football team. Now it's a lot different than it was, you know, five to 10 years ago, because 90% of your class is coming in, came in in spring practice, and went through spring and summer is different. And now that we can meet with them and do certain things with them, so you have a better feel of what you are offensively going into fall camp. But you know, fall camp is a little bit different that it's, you know, you're practicing every day, it's longer hours, it's a little more taxing. So it's what can your guys handle, mentally and physically? And we're trying to figure that out. But you want to put guys in a position where they could be explosive. I think we've got to be more explosive on offense. But I think your identity, you know, everything starts with the run game. You know, at any level, you've got to be able to run the ball and stop the run, and that's been an emphasis of ours since we got back from the Sugar Bowl and started meeting as a staff and meeting with our players. How can we improve in that area? And I'm not just talking about numbers, I'm talking about being efficient. And a run game is not going to just help you offensively. It's going to help your quarterback, it's going to help your defense. It will help all areas. And you know, you know, hopefully our identity will be, we will be efficient in the run game, and everything will run through that.

Nate Frazier's Offseason Growth:

Well, I want to give Nate and his coach, Coach Crawford, you know, a lot of credit, because this he was one of the few guys that did not come in mid year. Last year, he got here in June, and Nate is a tireless worker. He's always in coach Crawford's office or in the bullpen with some of our quality control control guys, you know, trying to catch up. You know, running back, not as complex as some of the other positions, except for pass protection, but this guy dove in. He worked extremely hard, you know, early in the year it was, you know, we're trying to get him on the field and get him some touches. And didn't put him in a lot of situations that would involve pass protection by the end of the year, you know, we weren't afraid to, you know, to have him in there on third down. So I think he's growing as a complete back. I guess the next step is, you know, stop trying to look for the home run all the time. You know, that's something we gotta get better with all the facts I said, we gotta learn to get the dirty yards and every place not going to be a home run. You know, while these backs, you know, in high school, they're the best player on the field, and they can bounce anything and turn an average play into an explosive play by bouncing it out running. You know, this League's different than you know, working on his steps, working on his vision, and keying the right can the right defender up front and pressing the hole and hidden. That's something I think in the first six practices, you've seen an improvement of Nate being willing to stick it in there and get to 30 yards.

On Conversations With Gunner About Protecting Himself

Yeah, it's one thing to say not to do that, and it's another flip side, it's hard to practice that because our quarterbacks are live in practice situations and plays. There's loose plays all the time for the quarterback, and he's a guy that can extend plays and make plays by extending them and throwing ball downfield and running with the football. So, whether we're in a walk-through or practice, even though he's not getting hit, we're constantly talking about, What would you do in this situation. I'm sliding here. You know, it started down. I'm going to get to first down, because his makeup and his mentality sometimes is, I'm going to go get everything. And there's a time and place for that, and it's one thing to say, it's hard thing to practice, because he's not getting hit. So we're constantly talking about those things, looking at the film, and situations where he's pulled it down, he's extended it, or maybe he's running, you know, what are you going to do here? And we're talking about it, and, you know, we'll have to live through some of that. Because, you know, he's, you know, he's got the mentality of a guy that's going to go get it, but he's not, you know, 230, 235 pounds, so he's got to protect himself when he does decide to pull the ball down and run the ball in and, you know, at the same time you're going, there going to be some instances where we've got, you know, quarterback runs designed for him, but there's going to be a balance, because any any play that's called, he could turn it into a quarterback run. So as a play caller, you got to be mindful of that, and it's something we're working

How Will Transfers Help The Offense:

First of all, right now, I think we've got great competition at all the skill spots, at tight end and running back, at receiver. You know, we brought a lot of guys in. You mentioned the portal guys, but the freshmen at those positions to have provided unbelievable competition, and that's what Coach Warren has built this program around. It's competition, building depth. And I like those guys, a lot of them are young, but they're willing and they're eager. You got to figure out, you know, where we're going to put these guys, to get them in the right spot, and figure out ways that, you know, sometimes, you know, in the past, we've kind of let the offense run through the quarterback and he takes, you know, the guy that the defense gives us on, maybe a passing concept. We're going to have to figure out ways to get some of these guys that you mentioned, you know, generate touches for those guys

Colbie Young's Camp:

Extremely impressed with Colby. You know Colby? Who. One. He's great. He's grateful to be here, and his opportunity to be in Georgia and pass that rule, and he got to come back for an extra year, and was dealing with a nagging injury in the spring, but wanted to go through spring and fought through all 15 practices. And you know, since he's been back every day, he doesn't, he didn't take a playoff and he's a guy that we brought in out of the portal. But you know, he is probably the leader in that room. He sets this, he sets the standard of how to work. And I'm not just talking about whether it's route running or catching calls, it's blocking. It is effort, and that's contagious, because we've got some talented receivers in that room, and some of them are young, and they need to know what it means, you know, to wear the Georgia uniform, and he represents that every day, and we brought Noah (Thomas) in. And that's competition, you know, for him, and he hasn't shied away from it. And Noah, you know, through six practices, is starting to slow down for him. In the spring, was probably a stroll, if you ask him, new system, new terminology, trying to figure everything out, and probably wasn't playing as fast as he would like. And just, you know, our message to him was, you know, it's gonna be okay. Just keep, keep your head down, keep working, and you're seeing incremental improvements from him. He's light years ahead of where he was in the spring. And he gives you, you know, it gives you another big, big body outside that can catch those balls that are contested.

Tight Ends Room competing against the WR room.

Like, I said, there's competition in that room, and Coach Harley has done a great job of, you know, recruiting guys, but when they're in that room, they know they got to compete. And you know, a lot of times we look at the tight end, the catches that they might have, or the unbelievable plays that Brock, or some of these guys have made in the past, but they know that they've got to get dirty, and they've got a block and they've got to put their face on on people, and he's done a good job of creating toughness in that room. Those guys don't run away from competition. And it's any year, you know, you've got tight ends, you got receivers, you got backs. You're trying to figure out, you know, what's the best personnel group? What's the best mixture between 12 and 11 or different personnel groups of getting those guys on the field? And, you know, I tell them, you know, we go out, we're practicing right now. We're practicing against our defense. And we're not just competing against our defense, we're competing against, you know, those tight ends are competing against those receivers at practice. You know, they want us to be in 12 or even 13 more. So at the end of the day, we're gonna put the guys out there that have the most production and are able to create positive plays force.

Freshman WR and How Much More Ready They Are To Play

It definitely gives them a chance, especially at the at the skill positions. You know, I always tell these guys when recruiting them that, you know, you know, you know they want to walk in the door and they expect to be, you know, running with the first team and everything go perfectly. And I tell them, when you come in the spring, you know you're going to get to go through these walk throughs and these spring practices where we have a day off and it slows down you this, that's spring practice, and that mid year, you got to think of that as your red shirt year, you are learning, learning what it means to practice at Georgia, and how we practice and learning this playbook, and then you've got summer, we're going to do it all over again, and then you're trying to get yourself a position where fall camp starts, where now I can play to my true ability. And I'm not thinking that's an ongoing process for those guys, but it definitely gives them a better chance, because they're here mid year, because the rules have changed in the summer where coaches can be around and meet with those guys, and then the staff that our administration allows us to continue to have, we haven't cut corners in our staff. There are guys that meet with these guys year-round that put them in a better position to be to be ready to play early.

Gunner's Development And Where To Get Better:

"First gunner, like I said earlier, you know, he was ready for that moment because his preparation, I don't think his he has not changed, you know, and he's in this offense now for his fourth year, and some of the same notes, some of the same reminders, some of the same coaching points, and that guy every day is taking notes like he's a first year freshman, just attention to detail. And. And ready to go every day at practice is probably a little higher, because he knows now he's running out there with the ones the majority of the time at practice. You know, he's worked on things in the off-season, fundamentally, that you see improvement. We were just in a meeting, and we were pointing out the things that we had done during spring practice, post spring, summer, early in fall camp, fundamentally and showing us doing the drills individually and how it's, how it's correlated to practice. So, you know, we can always be more efficient and everything we do fundamentally and technique-wise, at the quarterback position, and that's something that we've been working on. Gunners, you know, got the because his name is Gunner, but he's a little bit of a gunslinger. And working on, you know, sometimes everything doesn't have to be a howitzer. You know, learning how to layer the ball. And you made it through yesterday that we pointed out to some things that we had done and, you know, trying to just improve on little things. You know, every day, what can I improve on?

How to Improve the Running Game

As far as second part is about the running game, right? You know, as far as the running game, we that's a big emphasis for us. That's the emphasis. Number one, I don't think anybody that's not a secret. Coach Mark said it. I said it. I think the last time I talked to you, on to sugar bowl, we got to be more efficient in the run game. And again, that doesn't mean numbers we got. We got to run the ball officially and find ways to be explosive in the run game, not just the pass game. It's, it's the what I've seen is every day, it's an emphasis for us all right, when we come together as a unit of an offense, we're talking about the run game. And a lot of times we think run game means just offensive line, but it's the offensive line, it's the tight ends, it's the running backs, the right reads in the right tracks. It's receivers blocking downfield, his quarterbacks getting us in the right run, his quarterbacks on their face. And we made an emphasis every day to point out those things when they're good and they're not up to our standard. And day by day, we're working on those things, and we know that we've got to be able to run the palm, and that's in the 20 emphasis right now.

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