Kirby Smart seeking balance, explosive plays on offense

ATHENS -- Kirby Smart became Georgia's head coach because of the long-term success he experienced as Alabama's defensive coordinator.

What Smart does on the offensive side of the ball remains to be seen.

Georgia's identity on offense remains its biggest question mark with the Smart era just beginning. And Smart wasn't ready to commit one way or the other as to what kind of style he would implement.

Under former head coach Mark Richt, now leading Miami, Georgia ran a predominantly pro-style offense which pushed the tempo at times during the past four years. Smart, at least for now, is leaving his offensive preference up to everyone's imagination. What's on the forefront, regardless of what kind of style he'll run, is getting players who can stretch the field and produce in a big way.

"To me, you have to recruit great skill people," Smart said. "They're here in the state. They're here within a five-hour radius. You've got to go get them and get them in your program so you can make explosive plays. I think that was lacking somewhat last year here on this team. The perimeter guys, you want to be able to make explosive guys."

Georgia was unable to feature much of a downfield passing attack this past season. The Bulldogs averaged only 187.1 yards through the air.

Without an offensive staff, it's important for Smart to have a philosophy and coordinator in mind, considering he took a West Coast trip Monday evening to see five-star quarterback recruit Jacob Eason in Lake Stevens, Washington. With Eason potentially looking elsewhere, it's imperative for Smart to give the prospect a good idea of what to expect at Georgia.

Smart isn't ready to pinpoint one specific style at this time but did say he he'll employ a balance of run and pass.

"Now to say, 'Are you going to be spread or are you going to be pro?' I don't think you can pigeonhole yourself into that," Smart said. "I like to think you've got to be both in both situations. You've got to utilize the talent you have on your team. What kind of players do you have on your team? What does it set up to be successful? Do you have a lot of good tight ends? Do you have a lot of good backs? How about using those guys?

"You get the best players the ball. I've learned that from the coaches I've worked for. They've been the most successful when the good players got the ball. So you need to go get good practice players and get them the ball. That's what we plan to do."

A couple of candidates linked to Georgia's offensive coordinator position have been Western Kentucky offensive coordinator Tyson Helton and Alabama receivers coach Billy Napier. Helton employs a pass-heavy offense, and Napier likely would bring over something similar to what Alabama runs.

As for Georgia's offensive players, they'll continue to wait and see what kind of system comes while preparing for their upcoming game against Penn State in the TaxSlayer Bowl.

"I'll be looking out for that, but my main focus is getting back on track and playing football again," running back Sony Michel said. "We had time off. Our minds were in other places and not focused on football. So I'm just ready to get back into playing football. Once we finish that last game, it will be like, 'All right, who's our next (offensive coordinator).' "

During a team meeting Sunday night, Smart told the players he can relate to the transition they're going through. After all, Smart went through a coaching change at Georgia when Jim Donnan replaced Ray Goff after the 1995 season. The change figures to hit the offensive side of the ball harder considering the varying options who could replace Brian Schottenheimer.

"(Smart) just said basically he understands there's been some uncertainty and a ton of change, but he just said sometimes that's good and he promises to do everything he can to help us succeed and win ball games," quarterback Greyson Lambert said.

Regardless of whom the next offensive coordinator is, Smart wants to make sure his offense isn't one dimensional. As long as there's a healthy mix of run and pass, he'll be happy.

"So to have balance, you've got to have good depth on the offensive line, especially in this conference," Smart said. "You have to have big, grown men that need lots of depth, because it's hard to get through it without having injuries. But we want to make explosive plays on offense, which means you have to have good skill people."

This story was originally published December 8, 2015 at 9:24 PM with the headline "Kirby Smart seeking balance, explosive plays on offense ."