CHARLOTTE — Georgia football coach Mark Richt has tabbed tight ends coach John Lilly to act as offensive coordinator in Tuesday's Belk Bowl.
The team has a vacancy at the position after former offensive coordinator, and Georgia alum, Mike Bobo left to accept the head coaching job at Colorado State.
"Everybody's happy for Coach Bobo," Richt said Wednesday following the team's arrival to Charlotte. "It's a wonderful opportunity to be a head coach. Everybody will miss him, but everybody's happy for him.
"When a coordinator gets an opportunity to be a head coach, that's something he has to decide it that's right for him. I think Mike is ready to be a head coach and he took that opportunity. He's been with me the whole time I've been at Georgia. He's done great things for his alma mater and for us. We're thankful for all the things he's done for us. He got an opportunity to move into a head coaching job and a very good one, so we're very pleased for Mike."
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Richt told Sporting News that Lilly would call the offensive plays when the Bulldogs (9-3) meet Louisville (9-3) at Bank of America Stadium on Dec. 30.
Senior quarterback Hutson Mason, who is finishing his first full season as Georgia's starter, said the offense won't change.
"It'll just be a different guy calling the plays," Mason said Wednesday from the team hotel. "I'm seasoned enough to know what to do and prepare on my own. I've been doing that for a long time, so I feel fine with that."
Adversity isn't anything new to the Georgia offense. Starting running back, and early Heisman Trophy contender, Todd Gurley was suspended for four games by the NCAA in October and then tore his ACL afer he returned to play. Freshman Nick Chubb emerged in Gurley's absence to run for 1,281 yards and 12 scores.
"We knew Chubb was really talented, but I don't think we knew how talented," said Mason, who threw for 2,019 yards, 20 touchdowns and four interceptions this season. "What he did this year was a surprise for any freshman, let alone what he did in the SEC. As each game went on, he just gained more and more confidence. He really carried the team. We wouldn't be where we are today, with the possibility to win 10 games, without his production."
Bobo will take Georgia offensive line coach and running game coordinator Will Friend with him to Colorado State, but Friend is with the Bulldogs in Charlotte for the bowl game. Friend was thought to be tabbed to call plays against Louisville before Richt's decision to have Lilly do it. Richt is thinking about a replacement for Bobo and has received numerous inquiries about the position.
"When you're at Georgia, you're going to get a lot of interest from tremendous people," Richt said. "That hasn't changed in the 14 years I've been at Georgia or in the 100 years before I came to Georgia. That's par for the course."