Mike Bobo couldn’t run out of nice things to say about Georgia at the Broyles Award ceremony on Tuesday.

Bobo was in the running for the award, but lost it to Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker.

Bobo got his start at Georgia under Mark Richt as the QB coach on staff in 2001. Bobo was later promoted to offensive coordinator in 2007.

Richt had a big impact on the kind of coach that Bobo is now, and the Georgia OC was very grateful for those years on staff.

“I’m a young coach and probably didn’t deserve to be a coach in the SEC, but I got the opportunity to coach under a guy by the name of Mark Richt,” said Bobo. “It really allowed me to grow as a position coach and offensive coordinator. I had success and failures, but Richt was always there to encourage me. That’s why I try to do in this profession.”

Bobo later coached at Colorado State, South Carolina and Auburn, and he returned to Athens in 2022. Bobo took over the offense this season after Todd Monken left for the NFL.

Bobo couldn’t stress how glad he was to be on the current staff. He loved going to work each day with Kirby Smart and the rest of the coaches.

“We had a great year and a lot of that is because of our head coach Kirby Smart,” said Bobo. “To be back at the University of Georgia with him and the example he sets every day has been a blessing for me and my family. The backbone of any coordinator is your staff. Every day I love to go in that room and work with those guys.”

While the players and team came up short, Bobo was very proud of the effort they played with this year.

“I think every guy here will tell you it’s about the players. I can’t say enough about the University of Georgia, the expectations that these kids have any back-to-back national championships to perform. They poured it all in, we came up a little short, but I love those guys and how they perform.”