ATL All Day
Fansided

Brian Schottenheimer: Which Dawgs Star in his Offense?

By John Buhler

facebooktwitterreddit

New Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer comes to the University of Georgia from the NFL’s St. Louis Rams this upcoming season.  Coach Schottenheimer is the son of former NFL Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer, considered by many one of the best HC’s to never win a Super Bowl.

-= Related: Can Terry Godwin Be an Impact Freshman for the Dawgs? =-

Though Brian has spent his professional career on the sidelines in the NFL most notably with the Rams and the New York Jets, Schotty wanted to get back into the college game for some time.  He was a finalist for the Vanderbilt head coaching gig that ended up going to former Stanford DC Derek Mason.

Live Feed

Dylan Raiola will be fine wherever he lands, and so will Georgia football
Dylan Raiola will be fine wherever he lands, and so will Georgia football /

Dawn of the Dawg

  • Georgia Football: Rumors swirling that Dylan Raiola will flip to NebraskaDawn of the Dawg
  • Georgia Football: College Football Is Dead, and I Don't Feel So Good MyselfDawn of the Dawg
  • Taking a look at the SEC Blueprint at SyracuseSouth Bound & Down
  • The Georgia Bulldogs were robbed of a spot in the College Football PlayoffSouth Bound & Down
  • Ranking every Georgia College Football Playoff game of the four-team eraDawn of the Dawg

    • Now that Brian Schottenheimer is running the offense for Mark Richt’s Georgia Bulldogs, which players will benefit the most from playing in his offensive system?

    The first player that comes to mind is freshman wideout Terry Godwin.  Godwin chose to attend UGA after Schottenheimer’s hiring due in large part that Schotty coached Godwin’s favorite player in the NFL: St. Louis Ram’s WR Tavon Austin.  When healthy Austin is an explosive play maker in space.  He kind of reminds of how Reggie Bush thrived for Pete Carroll at USC.  Godwin has a terrific opportunity to become a great slot receiver for the Dawgs this fall.

    In a similar role that Godwin would play for Brian Schottenheimer, I can see sophomore WR Isaiah McKenzie progress in this new offense.  I-Mac has blazing speed as the Dawgs’ primary return man.  He has good enough hands to thrive in Schotty’s short-to-medium passing attack.  McKenzie is another great playmaker in space.  Could you imagine I-Mac breaking a 75+ TD run on a jet sweep or a simple check-down pass from the quarterback?

    And it’s not just the wide receivers that will thrive in Brian Schottenheimer’s offense.  I believe that the running game will feature new wrinkles this fall, too.  One tailback in particular that I can sense big things from in 2015 is sophomore RB Sony Michel.  Like his high school teammate McKenzie, both can just absolutely fly on the gridiron.  The former five-star recruit out of Fort Lauderdale was the lightning to Nick Chubb’s thunder in the UGA Recruiting Class of 2014.

    More from UGA Football

    I feel that Mike Bobo’s running game was more power-driven than what Schottenheimer’s will be.  Brian Schottenheimer uses a zone blocking scheme similar to what Kyle Shanahan will run with the Atlanta Falcons.  Or at least it feels that way, given the types of backs that have thrived for Schotty in New York and St. Louis.  ZBS is more bases than a Man Blocking Scheme (MBS) and that bodes well for greased lightning backs like Sony Michel.

    Though Brian Schottenheimer will try his best to keep his offensive system similar enough to what Mike Bobo ran for years Between the Hedges, I think that he will take advantage of some of his underclassmen’s raw speed.  Not that the Dawgs will run a hurry-up-and-run offense like Auburn, but expect Georgia to run the ball with conviction and exploit flat-footed defenders all season long in 2015.

    Next: 3 UGA Defensive Backs to Star for Pruitt in 2015

    More from ATL All Day

    Home/UGA Football