David Greene, who gathered with some of his former UGA football teammates for last week’s ‘Night to Shine’ event, was not surprised that the Bulldogs moved so quickly to hire Mike Bobo as the replacement for Todd Monken as the team’s offensive coordinator.
When Greene starred as Georgia’s quarterback in the early 2000s, Bobo was kicking off his coaching career as quarterbacks coach for the Bulldogs.
“I certainly knew that Coach Bobo was qualified,” Greene told DawgNation on Tuesday. “There’s no doubt about that, with (Bobo’s) history at Georgia, his history of being a head coach (at Colorado State), and the amount of experience he had. I certainly knew he would be on the shortlist.” Note: More on Greene’s reaction to Bobo/Monken at the bottom of this story.
Greene, 40, was one of several former Georgia standouts to volunteer at the ‘Night to Shine’ event, held at Dunwoody United Methodist Church on Feb. 10. It was a prom night experience celebrating people with special needs, centered on “God’s Love.” The event was sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation, and some other former Georgia players among the 400+ volunteers were Jon Stinchcomb, Terrence Edwards, Charles Grant, George Foster and Musa Smith.
“The ‘Night to Shine’ was so much fun,” Greene said. “It was so good to see the former players and guys we played with. Then, to see the faces of the kids, it was so much fun. When they got dropped off right there at the front … at the red carpet, you had all of these kids lined up and cheering them on. It was such a cool experience. You could tell they all had different personalities. Some of them were like ‘I don’t know if I am really sure about this.’ Others were running down that red carpet like they were owning it. It was a great night, and I know the parents were appreciative.
“The people who set it up, they did a fantastic job. They took care of the parents, and provided a really cool environment (for the participants). It was just a really fun night for everyone – and selflessly me, too. It was fun to get to see a bunch of my old buddies. We’re all so busy with our life and our kids, it’s hard to see each other as much as we’d like. It was just a great night together, and a lot of fun.”
Stinchcomb, the former UGA All-American at offensive tackle, also shared in the praise: “As we finished the night, the common sentiment was we can only hope our distinguished guests had as much fun as we did. The atmosphere was one of the most enjoyable I’ve been a part of — to the joy of attendees and the quality of the event that Dunwoody United Methodist had put together .. from the decorations to the DJ and karaoke – so many fun activities. The entire spirit of the evening was really enjoyable. We were all honored to be a part of it.”
The former players also talked briefly about the current UGA team, which is the two-time defending national champions. Bobo was quickly hired after Monken accepted a similar role with the NFL’s Ravens on Feb. 14.
“I hated seeing Monken leave because what he has been able to do at Georgia is nothing short of remarkable” Greene said. “I was a little shocked he left, to be honest with you, given his age and the type of success they’ve had at Georgia. My guess is that he probably wanted to get out of the recruiting, and some of those crazy hours you have as a college coach.
“But as soon as they announced that Mike Bobo was going to step in and be the O.C., I thought it was a great hire. First of all, nobody knows Coach Bobo better than Coach Smart, right? You’ve got a core group that not only are they fantastic coaches, they are great buddies. So they know each other well. And Coach Bobo, look at the success he had with Coach Richt, some seasons averaging over 40 points per game. The kind of talent that is there right now at the University of Georgia, it’s pretty remarkable. I know (Bobo) is excited. I’m excited.
“Obviously I am a huge Coach Bobo fan, personally and professionally. He does great work. He’s a great play caller. And he’s a Bulldog. Ultimately, he’s uber-competitive. He wants to win. And nobody wants to win more than he does. It was interesting. I noticed Coach Monken’s speech when he was named ‘Coordinator of the Year.’ He gave a lot of props to some of his assistant coaches, including Coach Bobo, who (Monken) said designed some plays that we threw as touchdowns in the SEC Championship game. Coach Monken said ‘my job is to put it all together and call the plays.’
“I think it’s great that Coach Bobo has been able to be at Georgia for the last year, and kind of get a feel for how Kirby is running the program. So I don’t think it’s going to be as big of a transition as if he is coming from another school. Because he knows the players now, he knows the structure and the program, and he knows the way Kirby wants to run things. So I’m really excited about it.”
Night to Shine launched in 2015 with 44 host churches and 15,000 volunteers honoring more than 7,000 kings and queens of the prom. In February 2020, 721 host churches and 215,000 volunteers came together to celebrate 110,000 honored guests with special needs. Over the past two years, Night to Shine innovated and endured through the pandemic with the first-ever virtual Night to Shine, celebrating thousands of honored guests through unique adaptations including a complete virtual video experience and socially distanced Shine Thru drive-thru events.
Below are pictures of “Night to Shine,” courtesy of the event organizers:
