Ahead of the 2020 Season Kickoff, Kirby Smart Has Shown Signs of Change
If it ain't broke don't break it.
It's a decision making strategy that a lot of really successful businesses and individuals live by. Sure, it's risk adverse, but it often times lead to adequate results. Then there are the people that are constantly attempting to improve, striving to find ways to enhance their product or portfolio even if it means occasionally reinventing the wheel.
These people often climb to the top of their industries, one of which being Jeff Bezos, an owner of an online bookstore before switching from selling just books to selling everything you could imagine online. Ever heard of Odeo? Probably not, but it was a Podcast platform where you could download your favorite shows until their owners decided to bail on that plan and turn the software service into a status-updating micro-blogging platform that you now know as Twitter.
Kirby Smart's 60/40 Run to Pass, ball control, risk adverse, time of possession based offenses in his first four seasons as head coach of UGA were his Odeo. Todd Monken and the air raid are his Twitter transformation.
This type of change doesn't come without some realizations of truth, and a serious willingness to change. Kirby Smart has done those things.
Allowing the Offense to Adapt
When you look at the offensive tendencies of Kirby Smart in the last four years you'll notice some things.
| Year | Run:Pass | PPG | T.O.P Rank | Offense Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | 57:43 | 24.5 | 81st | 102nd |
2017 | 68:32 | 35.4 | 8th | 20th |
2018 | 31:39 | 37.9 | 19th | 14th |
2019 | 55:45 | 30.8 | 35th | 50th |
The connection points? Well, the more successfully Georgia's offense ran the football. The more they dominated time of possession, the more points they scored. If you didn't know by listening to Kirby Smart over the last four years, running the football is hard in the SEC. Matter of fact, Smart says it's one of the hardest things to do in college football.
So, after watching LSU go from a time of possession, "Run down your throat" football team, to a team that finished with a Run to Pass ratio of 47:53, and have that team stomp you in the SECCG on their way to completing one of the best offensive seasons and National Championship runs we've ever seen, Smart decided to reinvent the wheel.
Georgia now has an offensive coordinator that over his last 8 seasons of calling plays, has thrown the football 58% of the time. That's drastic change for this program even if they meet in the middle.
Releasing the Reins
Most successful people have to learn to adapt. This being the case, they are still very often control oriented. They like to have their hand in every decision made. Unfortunately, the world of college football isn't conducive for that when you're a defensive minded football coach. Sometimes you've got to let the offensive coordinator do what they do best. All indications are Kirby Smart has allowed Todd Monken the full reins to this offense. Gone are the days of protecting a lead by running the clock off.
As Smart has learned, I.E. the 2017 National Championship, no lead is safe in this world of college football.
Gone are the days of wondering if you've got enough fire power and scoring ability to hang with an offense like LSU had a season ago, or the offenses Clemson and Ohio State put on the field perennially. At least in terms of the mindset to put up points and drive the ball down the field with pace instead of needing to finish 8th in the country in order to be successful.
Taking His Time with QB Decision
Smart is in the midst of his third QB battle since arriving in Athens. 2016 was simple. He inherited a Five-Star freshman, Jacob Eason, he chose to grow with in his first season, to see what happens. 2017 got a bit more dificult, Jake Fromm arrives as did the first true battle.
Eason was chosen the starter, and relatively early in the process as well. It was known that, sure, Fromm is here and that's great, but Eason was the heavy favorite to become the starter in the season opener against Applachian State, only to be sidelined the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. Enter true Jake Fromm, who carried them all the way up to a 2nd & 26 away from a National Title.
Exit Jacob Eason via the transfer, enter Justin Fields in 2018. Again, Kirby Smart has a talented true freshman challenging the encumbent. Though after speaking with sources close to the situation, Fields never felt he had a legitimate chance to win that job. Fromm was the clear guy. Exit Justin Fields via the transfer portal and Fromm stays the Georgia starting quarterback through the 2019 season.
What did Kirby Smart learn from the first two battles? Well, he's clearly taking his time. We are 48 hours from the kickoff of the season in late September and Smart still hasn't named a starting quarterback publicly, and quite frankly, we at Dawgs Daily don't believe he's even told the team just yet.
That's a lot of change for a man that's 44 years old, has 66 games under his belt as a head coach, and has been to a national title game already. But, then again it was big for a company that sold a billion dollars worth of books to up and change their business model.
"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often” – Winston Churchill
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