ATLANTA — The second most important person in Georgia’s football program is a self-proclaimed 56-year-old “wanderer” who has held 12 jobs in eight states in college and the NFL and isn’t even that present. drunk on his own success that he lost touch with the realities of job security.
“It’s a company, it’s not a family,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said Wednesday. “He will fire me if we fear. So don’t say we’re family.
Monken is in his third season in Georgia. Kirby Smart had been talking about changing the offensive approach to his program for years, but was finally pushed to the point of taking action after the Bulldogs were trailed by LSU 37-10 in the 2019 SEC Championship Game. is no exaggeration on what Monken has meant to the team, as illustrated when Georgia recently gave him an extension and a raise to more than $2 million per season, elevating the coordinator to one of the best paid assistants in the country.
Georgia’s passing offense ranked 72nd nationally in 2019 and 106th as recently as 2017, averaging 176.9 yards per game. This season, the Dogs rank 19th in passing at 284.9 yards per game and Stetson Bennett – the former afterthought – continued his unlikely run to a national championship in 2021 by becoming a Heisman Trophy finalist with a chance for a second title.
“A ton,” Bennett said when asked what Monken meant to him. “I feel like before he came here I didn’t really understand football. It’s weird, even in 2020 I didn’t really know what was going on. I don’t really know how to describe it. Maybe I’m learning slowly, but eventually it started to click every time he said the same thing to me for the 20th time and looked at me like, ‘Why don’t you do what I just told you to do ?’
Smart rarely allows his aides to speak to the media, so Monken enjoyed the moment Wednesday, days before Georgia takes on Ohio State in the playoff semifinals. He was cowardly and funny and above all honest. It was widely believed that if he had success in Georgia, he would return to the NFL as a coordinator or possibly take a college head coaching job. It is still possible, but if there is one thing that stands out from his words, it is that he has reached such a level of ease in this profession that he needs something really attractive.
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“First of all nobody wants my old ass,” he joked.
This is not entirely true. Purdue liked him as a candidate for their recent head coaching vacancy. Georgia’s playoff timelines, complicated by transfer gate and recruiting urgencies, don’t help his cause. Granted, he’s had success calling games in the NFL and could come back there. But he is well paid and he is in a stable situation. His whole vision of his career has changed. There is no real reason to leave Georgia.
“The funny thing is that at some point in my career, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted next year, in five years, in 10 years,” he said. declared. “I don’t know if it’s just getting older or the appreciation of the work you have, but I can’t control the opportunities that come my way. I would never say no to anything. But I like where I am because I believe we are going to win and I believe in the head coach. These are all important factors in which you decide to stay as a coach. If winning is important, if having good players is important and I can lead the attack, there are a lot of positives.
He was the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator and helped Jameis Winston lead the NFL in passing distance. What Monken couldn’t correct was Winston’s tendency to throw at the opposition (30 interceptions to go with 33 touchdowns). When head coach Dirk Koetter was fired, the staff also exploded. Monken was hired by the Browns in 2019, but this season was a disaster, and once again he got caught up in the backlash of a head coach (Freddie Kitchens) getting fired.
He sought a job that would allow him to call games again, which he did not do in Cleveland. Smart phoned him. He told Monken he could lead the attack. In fact, Smart said everything Monken wanted to hear.
“I don’t know if I believed it at the time or if it was a sales pitch or not,” Monken joked.
But Smart held its end of the bargain.
“I fell into this job and the culture was already established,” Monken said. “I landed here with good players. My job was just to try and do my best to make it better, and I hope I succeeded.
Yes, he would listen to other offers. But, he said, “Happiness is winning. It’s the fight song in the locker room. That’s the whole story. Someone who says “I’m in school A, and the city is awesome and I love it, it’s great for my family, and we’re 4-8 and I’m happy as hell”, eh well, it’s not (true). I’d rather win in Alaska than lose in San Diego.
Monken did an impressive job as head coach at Southern Miss. He resumed a program that finished 0-12 in 2012 and three years later, 9-5. He left for the NFL and the Buccaneers in part because he had previously worked with Koetter in Jacksonville, and that put him back on the NFL trail. Success would open new doors. He doesn’t spend much time looking for those doors anymore. He doesn’t need it. He has earned respect within the profession, college and pro.
“As far as offensive football goes, I feel like he’s been ahead of the game for a while,” Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said.
Monken embezzles credit for Bennett’s development. He rightly points out: ‘All we (the coaches) did was try to bury him for the few years he was here, and all he did was keep going. fight and compete. I think we came out on the other side probably better collectively. I did a better job coaching him. He did a better job of accepting that part of it. Sometimes you don’t always make the right decision but, you know, we’re human too.
But Bennett’s inner strength and Smart’s leadership aside, that probably won’t happen without Monken. Georgia and the “old ass” coach found each other at the right time, and while it’s not really family, it’s not a relationship looking to end either.
(Photo : Michael Allio / Icône Sportswire via Getty Images)