The search to replace Mike Bobo, the orchestrator of one of the nation's top offenses in recent seasons, is over.
Georgia head coach Mark Richt announced on Wednesday that St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer would replace Bobo, who accepted the head job at Colorado State last month, as the Bulldogs' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
"I'm excited to have Brian join our coaching staff," Richt said in a statement. "His NFL experience will be a perfect fit for how we like to play offensive football here at Georgia. He'll be excellent in developing our players in both the running and passing games which will benefit them while they are at Georgia and for their future."
Schottenheimer spent his past three seasons leading a Rams offense that ranked as one of the NFL's lowest-scoring units (25th in scoring and 28th in total offense over that stretch) while struggling with personnel issues, most notably quarterback Sam Bradford. A long-time NFL veteran and son of a former NFL head coach (Marty Schottenheimer), Schottenheimer worked previous stints with the Jets, Chargers and Redskins. He first broke into major coaching with college jobs at Syracuse and Southern Cal.
Now, he takes over a unit that will lose some key pieces -- notably star running back Todd Gurley, senior quarterback Hutson Mason, receivers Chris Conley and Michael Bennett and a few starting linemen -- but still projects as one of the top rushing teams nationally.
Even after losing Gurley to suspension and injury, the Bulldogs dominated opponents on the ground with true freshman star Nick Chubb, who ranks only behind former Heisman winner Herschel Walker in school history in terms of single-season rushing yards (1,547) despite receiving starter's reps in just eight games. Chubb will likely be joined in the backfield by former five-star backs Sony Michel and Keith Marshall, giving Schottenheimer plenty of talent to work with.
Bobo's shoes will be difficult to fill, though. Over the past five seasons, despite plenty of turnover and injuries, the Bulldogs averaged 35.9 points per game.
"This is a great opportunity to become a Georgia Bulldog for both my career and my family," Schottenheimer said in a statement. "I'm thrilled to be part of an elite program with such national tradition and a great staff already in place."
This is the second coordinator hire Richt has made in the past two years, as he brought in former Alabama and Florida State coach Jeremy Pruitt to run his defense prior to the 2014 season.
The Bulldogs are looking to end a recent stretch in which Missouri has won back-to-back SEC East titles. Georgia has reached the title game five times in Richt's tenure, but hasn't captured the conference crown since 2005.
