The SEC is going to have a lot of new faces on the sidelines and in coaches boxes this season. In the SEC East alone, five teams will have new offensive coordinators going into 2015. None, however, will be under the pressure that new Georgia OC Brian Schottenheimer will be this fall.

Of all the offensive coordinators hired this offseason, Schottenheimer has the least room for error. Georgia was a missed field goal against South Carolina or a fluke loss against Florida from winning the SEC East. It’s not like the Bulldogs needed a change at offensive coordinator, either. Schottenheimer replaces Mike Bobo who, despite some ups and downs, was very successful as Georgia’s OC for eight seasons. So successful that it earned him a head coaching job at Colorado State.

Schottenheimer, in turn, inherits an offense poised to continue right where it left off in 2014. The Bulldogs have to replace one of their most vital offensive contributors from 2014, center David Andrews, as well as quarterback Hutson Mason. Even so, they return four members of the best offensive line in the SEC, several veteran pass catchers and, of course, Nick Chubb and his talented backfield mates.

Even without a proven signal caller on the roster, there’s no room for a drop off in Schottenheimer’s first year. Not with the East as wide open as it is. Georgia is once again looking like an early favorite to win the division, just as they’ve been in that conversation for the last several seasons.

On top of having little room for error in his first year year as a college coordinator, Schottenheimer has a task for which he has a mixed track record. The long-time NFL quarterbacks coach and OC is a mixed bag when it comes to developing quarterbacks, something he’ll have to do at Georgia with no experienced passer on the roster.

Schottenheimer was part of Drew Brees becoming a top-notch quarterback with the San Diego Chargers. He helped Sam Bradford briefly look like a star in St. Louis in 2012 before his career was derailed by injuries, and Schottenheimer was able to make Bradford’s backups look somewhat competent.

While he has those in the plus side of his ledger, he also oversaw the messy New York Jets offense for six seasons and wasn’t able to salvage anything from the 2001 Washington Redskins quarterback pile.

Brice Ramsey is the top candidate to step into the starting role in 2015, but he has just 39 career pass attempts to his name. It’ll be up to Schottenheimer, as quarterbacks coach as well as OC, to mold him into a passer capable of making plays with his arm.

The coordinator has a tough act to follow after Jeremy Pruitt’s successful first campaign as Georgia’s defensive coordinator in 2014. After seeing how quickly Pruitt was able to get the defense humming to his liking, fans will expect the same from Schottenheimer.

In terms of some of the other hires around the SEC, Georgia didn’t exactly “win the press conference” with Schottenheimer. What the Bulldogs did do was find a coordinator who fits in perfectly with what Georgia wants to do: run the ball. He inherits an offense that averaged better than 6.0 yards per carry in 2014.

If he can keep the well-oiled machine running, Georgia’s ceiling for 2015 is pretty high. If he finds a way to derail it, the cries of discontent will be loud and justified.