ATHENS — Well before Mike Bobo received a raise that pushed his salary up to $2.2 million, Kirby Smart made it very clear how he felt about his offensive coordinator.

“I don’t think he’s the right guy, I know he’s the right guy. Like I’ve said multiple times, I don’t really pay much attention to what our fans say, seek, what they feel like,” Smart said prior to the Sugar Bowl. “I don’t respond to them. I don’t work for them. Honestly, my job is to put the best product, the best football team I can out there. I need motivators, leaders of men. I need people who have offensive experience, knowledge. I put him up against anybody in the country because of his knowledge, his experience, what he’s done, the staff he has.”

Bobo has also been a controversial figure among Georgia fans, stemming largely from his first tenure as the team’s offensive coordinator under Mark Richt.

He returned to the program in 2022 and became the team’s offensive coordinator in 2023. In two out of the three seasons he’s been in charge of the team’s offense, he’s been nominated for the Broyles Award. In 2025, he was the lone offensive finalist for the award.

However, for all the accolades Bobo has received of late, the Bulldogs are yet to win a national championship under his offensive direction. Until that happens, and likely even after it potentially does, Bobo will still have his very loud detractors.

Bobo understands that is the beast of burden when it comes to his job.

“I don’t listen to the noise. I’m not sitting here and saying, hey, you don’t hear noise, or you don’t pay attention to it,” Bobo said before Georgia’s game against Ole Miss. “I mean, you hear it, but you don’t listen to it. You focus on what’s important. And what’s important is those coaches and those players and me doing my job here at the University of Georgia for our head coach, Kirby Smart.”

Bobo’s new salary — we don’t yet know if his contract has been extended beyond the 2026 season — is now in-line with that of Glenn Schumann. Georgia’s defensive coordinator received a raise as well, but his salary went from $2.03 million in 2025 to $2.2 million.

Another interesting note when it comes to Schumann’s salary is that it is still $500,000 less than what Will Muschamp will make as Texas’s defensive coordinator next season.

Muschamp served as Georgia’s co-defensive coordinator in 2022 and 2023, working alongside Schumann in his first two seasons as the team’s defensive coordinator. The 2026 season will be his fourth as the team’s defensive coordinator and 11th with the program.

Of the three defensive coordinators to work with Smart, none have lasted as long as Schumann. Both Mel Tucker and Dan Lanning were hired as head coaches after their seasons in charge of the Georgia defense.

While Bobo’s raise brings his salary in line with that of Schumann, he’s still looking up at multiple offensive coordinators in terms of salary. LSU’s Charlie Weis Jr. is set to make $2.5 million next year, while Indiana offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan will make $2.4 million.

Even with the raises, the 2026 season will be critical for both Georgia coordinators. Schumann’s defense won’t be nearly as young as it was in 2025 and should have a much more developed front seven. One key area of focus will be the pass rush, as the Bulldogs had only 20 sacks last season.

As for Bobo, he’ll get to work with Gunner Stockton for another season. In 2024, Bobo saw starting quarterback Carson Beck return for his second season as the team’s starting quarterback. But without Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey, Beck and the Georgia offense regressed. The Bulldogs do have to replace six of their top seven pass catchers for 2026 and will have a new offensive line coach in Phil Rauscher.

Despite the lack of playoff success, Bobo and Schumann have put Georgia in a position to consistently contend for championships. The Bulldogs have won the SEC in each of the past two seasons, and thus are the only SEC team to appear in the College Football Playoff in each of the past two years.

Those championship expectations for 2026 existed well before we knew of the raises for Bobo and Schumann. Their pay, even at more appropriate levels, doesn’t change what Smart wants to accomplish in 2026.

“We hold everybody accountable in the organization. That’s my job,” Smart said. “That’s what I get paid to do is hold everybody accountable within the organization. And I think good leaders do that. They can separate work from friendship. I take input from those guys. I listen to those guys. They’re very knowledgeable. There’s a reason why you pay the people on your staff to be on your staff. The better staff you assemble, the better coach you are. I’m a reflection of the staff we have.”