Todd Monken leaving Georgia to become new Ravens offensive coordinator
After helping Georgia win two national championships, Todd Monken is returning to the NFL.
Monken, who served as Georgia’s offensive coordinator for the past three seasons, was announced Tuesday as the new offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, succeeding Greg Roman.
Monken, who will also serve as Baltimore’s quarterbacks coach, helped transform the UGA offense in recent years. The Bulldogs went from a plodding, conservative style to a much more diverse and innovative approach. In 2019, the year before Monken’s arrival, Georgia averaged 6.08 yards per play (No. 46 nationally).
Over Monken’s three seasons, the Bulldogs improved dramatically, going from 6.21 ypp in 2020 to 6.98 ypp in 2021 and then 7.17 ypp this past season. Only Ohio State, Tennessee and USC were better on a per-play basis than Georgia’s offense in 2022. The Bulldogs also averaged 501.1 yards and 40.7 points per game last season.
"We conducted 21 interviews with 14 candidates throughout a thorough process that had wide-ranging organizational involvement," Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. "Todd's leadership and coaching acumen were evident from the beginning. He has a proven track record for designing and teaching offensive systems that allow players to succeed at the highest level. We're excited to get to work and begin building an offense that will help us compete for championships."
Monken, 57, has had three previous stints in the NFL. He served as the receivers coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2007 to 2010 and then spent three years as the offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following a three-year stint as the head coach at Southern Miss. He also was the OC for the Cleveland Browns in 2019 before landing at Georgia.
Monken arrives in Baltimore during a bit of an uncertain time for the franchise as the contract status of star quarterback Lamar Jackson looms. Jackson and the Ravens have been unable to reach a long-term extension, and a franchise tag situation could emerge if the two sides can’t come to a deal by the March 7 deadline.
The Ravens went 10-7 during the regular season before losing to the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. Jackson missed the team's final six games due to a knee injury.
Georgia goes with familiar name to replace Todd Monken
Monken also reportedly interviewed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so Georgia has been preparing for his exit and already has a replacement lined up.
UGA announced that Mike Bobo has been promoted to offensive coordinator after working as an analyst on Kirby Smart’s staff in 2022. Bobo is a former UGA quarterback who worked on Mark Richt’s staff from 2001 to 2014, first as quarterbacks coach and then as offensive coordinator.
Bobo had a five-year run as Colorado State’s head coach, going 28-35 before being fired following the 2019 season. From there, he was the offensive coordinator (and later interim head coach following the firing of Will Muschamp) at South Carolina in 2020 and the offensive coordinator at Auburn in 2021. Now he’s back in the offensive coordinator chair in Athens.
“Mike has a decade of experience as a successful SEC play-caller and over 20 years spent at UGA, both as a player and coach,” Smart said. “Mike was an excellent addition to our staff last year as an analyst, and we are looking forward to his expanded leadership on the offensive side of the ball.”
Bobo and Smart were teammates at Georgia in the '90s as Bobo set multiple program records as a quarterback. As an assistant at UGA, Bobo coached the likes of Matthew Stafford and Aaron Murray while helping the Bulldogs win SEC titles in 2002 and 2005.
