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Following James Coley departure, we’ll learn a lot about the importance of South Florida to Georgia football

James Coley took a job at Texas A&M on Friday.
Jeff Sentell/DawgNation
Connor Riley
Connor Riley

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With James Coley gone, how important will South Florida be to Georgia football?

James Coley’s time at Georgia has come to an end. On Friday it became known that he would be heading to Texas A&M to work on Jimbo Fisher’s staff. The move has not been publicly announced yet but it shouldn’t come as a surprise given Coley’s past relationship with Fisher and the fact that Coley was demoted from his role as offensive coordinator.

Related: Former Georgia football OC James Coley leaves staff, headed to Texas A&M

Georgia brought in Todd Monken and named him offensive coordinator. The Bulldogs also brought in former Southern Miss offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, though he’s currently a support staffer. With Coley now at Texas A&M, there is an opening at quarterbacks coach that it would make sense for Faulkner to slide into.

Coley’s tenure as the offensive coordinator was not a successful one. Even though the Bulldogs won the SEC East and Sugar Bowl this past year, the offense struggled. Not all of that can be chalked up to Coley given the issues Georgia had at wide receiver and Jake Fromm’s struggles, but it does fall at the feet of Coley.

But for all of the complaints, you might have about his on-field results, Coley brought a lot to the program. And perhaps there was no greater impact than how Coley was able to help Georgia recruit south Florida.

Coley had strong ties to the area and Georgia greatly benefitted because of it. The Bulldogs have landed a number of contributors from that part of the world, such as James Cook, Tyson Campbell, Tyrique Stevenson and Divaad Wilson to name a few. In the 2020 class, Georgia pulled 4-star wide receiver Marcus Rosemy from the area.

With Coley now gone, it’s going to be interesting how well Georgia is able to recruit in that region. Obviously Smart and the Bulldogs have shown that they can recruit nationally, but it won’t be quite so easy do so now in an area where Georgia has had a lot of recent success.

South Florida is one of the few areas in the country that can rival the metro Atlanta area in terms of the number of elite prospects that are produced on an annual basis. And Georgia isn’t going to just stop trying to recruit the area now that it doesn’t have Coley on staff.

But it’s undeniable that Coley made things much easier for Georgia in that part of the country. And while replacing him as an offensive coordinator might not be all the difficult from a statistical standpoint, Georgia’s 2020 team would be worse off if it didn’t have some of standouts from South Florida.

And Coley is just as responsible for those players as he is for the offensive struggles in 2019.

Georgia football players show impact of Kobe Bryant’s legacy

Legendary basketball player Kobe Bryant tragically passed away on Sunday following a helicopter crash that also claimed the life of his 13-year-old daughter and seven others. Bryant was just 41 years old.

His 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers included countless iconic moments to go along with five titles. He was a league MVP and easily one of the best to ever play the sport of basketball.

But Bryant’s impact stretched far beyond the game of basketball. His “Mamba Mentality” and willingness to win at any cost inspired countless individuals. Even to someone who doesn’t understand why Bryant was a great two-way player, anyone who watched him play could understand his grit and toughness was something to try and emulate.

Given Bryant’s career apex took place when many recent Georgia football players were able to watch and appreciate his greatness, the news rocked a number of individuals. And they took to social media to react and respond to the tragic news of Bryant’s passing.

Bryant was incredibly divisive at times but just based on the social media reaction from yesterday’s tragic news it’s clear the way he went about playing the game of basketball, and life, was something that everyone appreciated and tried to replicate.

Whether it be mashing your teeth together while trying to push through something, or shooting a sheet of paper at a trash can while letting out a “Kobe!” Bryant’s impact goes far beyond the NBA.

“You grow up watching him, he just means so much not only to the game of basketball but to the game of women’s basketball,” Georgia women’s basketball coach Joni Taylor said on Sunday. “He was a fan, he was at the Final Four, his daughters played.

“He supported college basketball, the WNBA, all levels. He was a champion for us.”

Related: Kobe Bryant death draws strong reactions from hall of famer Dawn Staley, Georgia’s Joni Taylor

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart also sent out a tweet commenting on the tragedy.

Bryant truly was a GOAT. You don’t accomplish the things he did in this life, both on and off the court, without being one. He meant so much to so many people and changed the way athletes across all sports play and compete. He so clearly inspired so many in this world, including a number of great Georgia athletes.

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