Georgia could have matched the salary Colorado State was offering Mike Bobo and he still would be in Fort Collins, Colo., today.
That was just one of the revelations procured from the Bulldogs' longtime offensive coordinator on Monday in an exclusive interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Bobo, 40, agreed to become the Rams' new head coach Dec. 23 and accepted a five-year, $7.75 million to do so.
But Bobo made it clear that it wasn’t about the money. It was about the opportunity to become a head coach.
“(Money) did not have anything to do with it,” Bobo said as he sat in his new office at Colorado State on Monday afternoon. “I haven’t been a guy that’s been out looking for jobs and rarely wanted to talk about anything that (reporters) might sniff out in that regard. Me and my family truly were happy and content at the University of Georgia. I’ve said it many times, you can’t put a price tag on stability and the bottom line is that’s the type of environment my kids were raised in to this point.
“At the same time, I felt like I was at the point in my career that I might have a chance at some opportunities and I wanted to explore those opportunities this year. When Colorado State came open, I had followed it a little bit because of (Jim) McElwain. He was an SEC guy and it intrigued me. So I said I was interested and it kind of went from there. The interest was there and it and just took off. It was the right fit at the right time and that’s what I felt in my heart.”
Bobo spoke with The AJC for 20 minutes Monday about what went into his decision to leave Georgia and the resident challenges that created for him in Colorado and for the Bulldogs back in Athens and in Charlotte, N.C., where they’re preparing to face Louisville Tuesday night in the Belk Bowl.
Following are some excerpts from that interview with Bobo:
On starting over so far away from his roots in Georgia …
“To me, home is where you make it. That’s the truth. It’s like I told my kids and my wife (Lainie), ‘we’re family no matter where we live; we’re always going to have each other.’ When I started this process of looking, Fort Collins, I liked everything about it. It was a college town, a great community, the entire community is behind the university, it’s a very nice area. It’s out West, but it’s very similar to what I’m accustomed to. The people here, their support and their vision of this football program and this athletic department, the more looked into that the more I knew this was the right fit.”
On the difficulty of the decision …
“The whole time, through the process of the first interview and the second interview and meeting these people, it was always going to come down to a decision I had to make. And never once, the whole time, did I think, ‘maybe I shouldn’t do this.’ I always felt like it was something I wanted to do. There was never a second thought about anything. I hate to use Coach Richt’s words but it’s like he says, I had peace the whole time. And my wife did, too. I knew if I had this opportunity it was what I wanted to do. So when the opportunity came there was no hesitation. It’s what I wanted from the start.”
On when his family will join him …
“They’re going to stay behind and finish the school year. Having to find a house and all that stuff, it just makes more sense to get our house in order there, get our affairs in order and let Lainie come out and find a house when she can. I’m not going to have anything to do with picking out a house. That’s not for me to say because I don’t spend enough time there. So we’re going to take our time and do it right and not rush into anything.”
On the task at hand at Colorado State …
“You feel like you can’t get out of your own way. It’s been a whirlwind since the 23rd. I’ve already been through one cell phone. It blew up. It’s done. It doesn’t work anymore because I think I’ve been on it 20 hours a day. Got out here (Sunday) and it’s just been one thing after another. But I’m just trying to control what I can control and handle one task at a time and go with my gut and my instincts on what I want to do and what direction I want to go. I don’t want to be in such a rush that I do anything hastily, whether it’s hiring a staff or recruiting a player. I want to get the right fit of coach and player in this place.
“What they’ve done here has been successful, so we want to continue that success and build on that success. It’s all about people and finding the right people, so that’s going to be a process. Will the whole staff be complete by signing day? I don’t know. It might, it might not. I’m not concerned either way. We’re going to be able to sign enough guys to be able to go out and have a great signing class.”
On not being with the Bulldogs for the Belk Bowl …
“That was a tough decision because you are who your players are. They poured a lot into the University of Georgia and a lot into me and believing in what we’re about offensively. I’ve always said you’re only going to be as successful as the players believe in what you’re doing and in each other. They did that. They bought in and believed in each other and believed in what we were trying to do as an offensive staff. So that was a very, very tough decision. But at the same time, I’ve got new players and a new staff that I have to make sure is getting off to the right start.”
On how much input he had on Georgia’s offensive plan for Louisville …
“Most of the game plan was done. And it’s not just me that puts it in. The other staff members are in there in those meetings and making those adjustments that we wanted to run. They had to come back and fine-tune those things. John (Lilly) and I have texted a little bit. But mainly I’ve just been sending him encouraging texts like, ‘you know what to do’ and ‘you’ve been trained for this,’ and that sort of thing. He’s got to call that game. I can’t. It’s up to him and that staff there.”
On plans for watching the Belk Bowl …
“I have not watched one bowl game yet. I was walking through the office while ago and somebody had a bowl game on and I didn’t realize there were any on. I usually watch every bowl game, but I haven’t seen one this year. I know we play at 6:30 on Tuesday and I know that’s 4:30 our time. Hopefully. I’ll be able to check it out and watch those guys. I definitely will be pulling for the University of Georgia and I always will be.”
On recruiting plans for Rams …
“First and foremost you’ve got to handle your state and now that’s Colorado. We’re going to do our due diligence in this state and immerse ourselves with these high school coaches and programs and open our doors to do everything possible to help those guys in this state. California is obviously a heavy recruiting area as well as Texas and Oklahoma and Nebraska. I’ve got a player sitting here from Nebraska right now.
“But I’m still going to have connections in the South. I’ve spent a lot of time in the South. Everybody goes into Florida and recruits there and there are relationships that I’ve formed that I feel like may serve me where guys may call and say you may want to look at this player. But it’s primarily going to get done over the telephone. Then if there’s genuine interest from a player in Colorado State, then we’ll investigate further. But our primary focus is going to be where we’re located, but we’re not going to be afraid to go national and get a player if he meets what we’re looking for.
On whether he’ll hire anymore staff from Georgia ….
“It’s just Will (Friend) right now. That’s as far as I’ll go.”
On leaving his behind his buddy Jeremy Pruitt, Georgia’s defensive coordinator …
“I loved working with Jeremy. I learned a lot of things from him. He brought the practice model that I’m going to use here at Colorado State. I think he was a big contributing factor in the success (Georgia) had this year and the development of some linemen and some young backs. There were a lot of things I learned from him. I always considered him a great coach and still do. He’s going to do a great job there.
On whether he’ll help Richt find a successor as offensive coordinator …
“That’s up to Coach Richt. If I talk to Coach Richt about anything it’s going to be asking for suggestions from him about how to run a program. He knows how to run a program and there’s going to be certain things I need to talk to him about. He’s done it a number of years and knows what he’s doing. I still talk to Jim Donnan and my dad (George Bobo) and Greg Davis, who coached me. There’s a lot of guys that I’ve looked to over the years that I’m going to ask advice. But at the end of the day I’ve got go with what I believe in my gut because I’m the one sitting in this chair now.”
About the Author
