James Coley talks about the Bulldogs' offense in 2019
ATHENS - UGA offensive coordinator James Coley talks about the Bulldogs' offense, Jake Fromm and Sam Pittman's offensive line.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V620-Q-5GP8&feature=youtu.be
Offensive coordinator James Coley
On what “bring the juice” means…
“It's the energy, you know, we expect them to have energy and we feel like as a coaching staff, we have to reflect that and inspire that. It’s loud, energetic, moving fast, constantly questioning them on the field. When you’re walking by in the hallway if their heads down and they're slumping, occasionally yelling at them, ‘do you have any juice?’ They'll jump and get started but that's it. It’s about being happy to be here. Right? You know, this is a this is a great thing we're all doing- the players, coaches, the whole works.”
On the excitement that comes with being back in a coordinating role, calling plays…
“I’m definitely excited. I think I never lost my excitement. Every challenge is new, every coordinator job is new, every position job is new. The people that you're around cause that to be new- the environment the time that you're in currently. When you get the opportunity, you're excited, but then you jump into it and then the excitement kind of it is what it is, It's what you do. So being that's what you do, you do work, you don't really sit down at night going, ‘wow, how great’. No, I'm down there at night going through scripts.”
On taking an offense that was productive last year to a new level…
“That's what we do every day. That's kind of the theme. That's what Coach Smart expects from us as coaches, as players. So, it's not that we weren't taking it to the next level, it's the demand. That's how we work here. So, there are some good players [returning] and we play against really good players. We all understand that the challenge is to be better- to always be better the day before, more so than just ‘hey, we have to be better next week’. It's really not it, we have to be better the next drill. So, going into this job, you know what's ahead of, you know what you have. Right now, we're getting in this training camp mode. We're figuring out little by little where we're at with some of the guys, how much they have to improve. The benchmark is not there yet, we're still in jerseys.
On being able to work with a quarterback like Jake Fromm, who is very detailed…
“Jake's a grinder. That’s part of his greatness. We say in our room, ‘what’s your greatness today?, What are you going to be great at?’. He’s a constant grinder. So, it's always inspiring to go in there when it really matters to that person. Being with really great quarterbacks and really good quarterbacks- the good ones do have that they have that passion for the game. And he's passionate. The constant strive for him is to bring it every day, which he does, and to get better every day so that one day become great.”
On weighing the simplification of the scheme to get freshmen like George Pickens and Dominick Blaylock on the field…
“First of all, I don't think you simplify it for them early. I think you figure out how much they can retain, what they are bringing to the table. And then at some point, you sit back and say, ‘Okay, this guy has exceptional skill, we're going to feature him doing this and that because this might be too much.’ But ultimately, the goal is not to be so complicated that you can't execute. You want to be complicated enough so that you're not predictable. Those kids have been thrown in the fire a little bit this early in this camp. We want to see what they know, what they can pick up, and what they can do.”
On what Lawrence Cager brings to UGA...
“I think the biggest thing, and again, still in jerseys, but coming to work every day and enjoying the atmosphere of what we have and being positive with learning and the learning curve, because it's definitely different every place you go. He's a veteran and he's learning our culture. The big thing, also, that he brings, he brings experience. So where you sit back and you say, ‘well, I wonder if this guy's going to make this play in a particular time’. Veteran guys, you've seen it happen and you know that they've been those spotlights.”
On if crossing paths with Lawrence Cager for one year at Miami persuaded the decision to recruit him to Georgia…
“He was good player. I think a lot of us recruited him out of high school I did, obviously ,we signed him at Miami. I know at Alabama, that crew when Coach Smart was there recruited him. So, we all had some sort of relationship with Cager. His skill set when he became available, also made it a very intriguing thing to go after. But knowing a little bit further, working with him for a full year you knew what type of character kid he is. So, yes.”
On if he has previously worked with an offensive line this deep and with these many expectations heading into the season…
“I’ve been very fortunate to be around some really good offensive lines. And this group, when you're saying it on paper, they have that potential. We're still in jerseys and in our game, it is a constant improvement on the field. The paperwork is kind of out the door, and I'm not saying paperwork regarding you guys and what you guys do. But I’m saying that now it's competition and the depth chart, when you have depth with no injuries, now you start seeing the level of competition which helps you out within your periods. So this is probably a deep group going into training camp and in training camp and there are heated competitions is going on. It's good. It helps you and makes people better and that's where that's where it stands out.”
On if he has to adjust the things he does as a coordinator to meet the philosophy of the head coach…
“I think in the pro-style game, you coordinate to your players. Players, not plays. It’s a little cliché in the coaching profession, but it's the truth. Players, not plays. Coach Smart is all about players, not plays. He definitely preaches that to us. And sometimes as coaches you forget, you're like, ‘man, this scheme is really intriguing’. But are your players touching the ball within this game. So, I don't know that there's been an adjustment. I've been here several years. I think I think that the philosophy that we have here at Georgia is that- who's touching the ball and are they the guys are going to give us the biggest impact. But you definitely have to play towards your strength. I've always been a part of that where I've been.”
On the similarities he’ll have as the play caller at Miami versus at Georgia…
“I think your personnel changes you. Your personnel changes you completely. Whatever you had, wherever you're going, wherever you’ve been. When I was the coordinator at Florida State, we had different personnel than when I was at Miami. And that’s different personnel than we are here. So I think that changes you as a coordinator when you're a pro-style guy. If you come in here with the system and you're running one of these spread systems- the system is what it is. I think when you’re pro-style you really feature on who's touching the ball, how we're going to format it for that person to touch the ball, how we're going to attack structure for those people to touch the ball. It changes, is what I'm basically saying, with your jobs. Obviously coming here, working under Coach Smart, it's football one-on-one every day. It’s constant situations. He really pushes his coaches, develops his players, develops his coaches. I feel like the last three years have been great for me as a coach, position coach, learning everything I've learned under him and his philosophy.”
On senior tight end Charlie Woerner’s potential and impact on the offense…
“I think the potential part is hard for us right now because we're not in a potential mode in camp. We're in the grind mode. I have to think back and say, ‘where's Charlie?’. Whereas right now we have Charlie in different situations, wearing multiple hats and just seeing how much he can do. I think Charlie has a really good skill set. I think who he is as a person makes him a better competitor because he wants to be that good.
Comparing him to the other guys, he's a little different from a lot of these other guys and all those other guys are very different. [David] Njoku is very different from [Chris] Herndon. It’s very different from Clive Walford, is very different from Nick O'Leary. Those are all guys that are different and Charlie is probably a bigger guy than most of those guys. I think Charlie has the right mindset after day three. We are going to see where he's at towards the end of camp. We know who he is as a person and we know how he competes. He's probably the highest percentage catcher for us last year at 90 percent, so we’ll see.”
On his observations of Demetris Robertson…
“On day three and coming out of spring, D. Rob [Demetris Robertson] has continued to improve within our system He's definitely a guy who has a great skill set. He's fast, he's quick. We just have to continue to develop him into the type of player we need him to be. Right now he's playing multiple spots. As a player he's growing. I think that was the biggest part for him to continue to grow within our system. Coming out of high school was a really good athlete. And now when he went to college, he’s learning to be a wide receiver. Coach [Cortez] Hankton has done a good job with him. I like what I see right now, I just want to see it continue with consistency from these guys.”
On Eli Wolf’s strength and speed fitting into his scheme…
“Well, certain guys can do certain things. So if you sit there and you say you're the best five offensively, philosophically, how are you going to use their skill set? We’re just tapping into his skill set because we're probably just going into pads today. We’re going to figure out some more about their skill sets. He does move well, he was a wide receiver coming out of high school. He has the ability to run routes. He has good hands. So, we'll see. We'll see where he goes. But yes, that that was very intriguing for us after seeing Isaac [Nauta] go to the NFL. It opens the opportunity for a lot of catches for whatever five guys can fit those roles to get that. But he's definitely in competition.”
On Zamir White…
“We’re still in jerseys. But love seeing the kid play. We all we love this kid. It’s very unfortunate his injuries so just seeing them out there getting plays, running the ball, catching, swing passes and picking up protections. It’s fun coaching him because you know how grateful he is to be back out there. Just love the kid though. He’s a moose, he’s a big dude.
On how his history in south Florida gives him an asset to build relationships…
“It helps. It definitely helps. The relationships that I have down there are lifelong relationships with guys that I grew up with. It definitely helps in recruiting.”
On if he’ll be in the press box calling plays…
“We haven't decided that yet.”
On the dynamic last season with former offensive coordinator Jim Chaney…
“We definitely consulted in between series but Jim called all the plays. Jim headed the whole deal and I was kind of his right hand up in the press box. He’d turn around say look at these different scenarios and tell me what you think. And then he’d choose what he liked. So that was our dynamic.”
On what makes Jake Fromm different from other great quarterbacks he’s been around in the past…
“Again, when you talk about all these other guys, they all have their greatness to them. Every single one of them. The guys I’ve been around, it's hard to find guys that are carbon copies of each other. One thing I do know about Jake is I'm not walking in a meeting room without him not being in there. He’s already watched film, he's already sitting there in there going, ‘okay, what do you got for me? I watched it. You have anything new?’. It challenges you as a coach, you have to go in there and make sure that you are maximizing his potential in the meeting room so he can go maximize it on the field because he does so much work on his own. I think that's it- all the actual work he does. And I've been around some guys that do a lot of extra work. He probably does a little bit more.”
On what he saw from Kenny McIntosh in high school that made him target him to come to UGA…
“He’s a bigger back. He has to be able to move in the backfield. He show that and really get hands out of the backfield. He played in a fast league down in South Florida. I got to see him play against fast people. Sometimes that transition from high school to college, take the plays and learning the system out of it, the physical part of it, when guys play against fast competition it’s a plus because there’s not a learning curve for it. There’s just a mental learning curve.”
On how he feels about the guys that he has…
“I’m excited about the guys that we have. I’m excited that they’re competing as hard as they’re competing- day three, going into day four. I love the fact that they’re grinding. There are a lot of things we require from them, coming in and out of meetings and the challenge is on. There is big opportunity for them.”
On if James Cook is comparable to Dalvin Cook…
“Dalvin Cook is a great player. James is little brother. I think James is moving towards that. I they’re both different players, though. You don’t see Dalvin Cook and James Cook in the same light. They’re just different and if you watch they’re games you know they’re different.”
On what it takes for the wideouts to get to the point they need to be for the beginning of the season…
“It’s on me, it’s on Jake [Fromm], and it’s on them. It’s on them winning spots to get in position to be playmakers. And it’s on Jake for knowing the situation of who he is going to go to and it’s on me to put them out there. I have to say, ‘we’re going to feature this guy because he can do this really well’. We are all tied to a string. Everyday it’s fun because every day we evaluate our talent.”