AUBURN, Ala. — A veteran coach in the Southeastern Conference, Mike Bobo has been named offensive coordinator at Auburn, head coach Bryan Harsin announced Thursday. Bobo spent last season at South Carolina as offensive coordinator and quarterback coach after a five-year stint as head coach at Colorado State. He also spent 14 years at Georgia.
“I’ve wanted to work with Mike now for quite some time as he compliments the many things we want to do with our offense,” Harsin said. “We are going to be very versatile in what we do and Mike’s offensive background speaks for itself. I’m really excited to combine forces with Mike as we create the Auburn offense, a high-powered, attacking and physical unit that will come at you in many ways.”
At Colorado State, he guided the Rams to bowl games in each of his first three seasons, making him the lone coach in program history to accomplish that feat, and joined Sonny Lubick as the only two to coach the Rams in multiple bowl games in their careers.
Overall, Bobo’s teams left their marks on the offensive record book at CSU, as his squads own three of the top six marks for total offense in a season as well as the school record for most yards per game in a season, that coming in 2017. His Rams also posted three of the top seven scoring seasons in CSU history. In five seasons, he was 28-35 and 20-20 in the Mountain West Conference.
“I have a great amount of respect for Coach Harsin, both as a coach and as a person,” Bobo said. “I competed against him for five years as a head coach and we’ve talked ball on numerous occasions over the years. I know what he’s about and his commitment to excellence. I know that Auburn is a great community with a tremendous passion for and commitment to Auburn football. I’m excited to get started and look forward to helping Coach Harsin compete for championships.”
In 2019, the Rams ranked 14th in the nation in passing offense, averaging 305.3 yards per game through the air. Wide receiver Warren Jackson averaged 111.9 receiving yards per game, fourth in the country. The previous season, his CSU offense ranked 13th among all FBS programs in passing offense (304.9). Bobo’s 2017 team ranked 11th nationally in total offense (492.5), second in third down conversions (50.3 pct.) and eighth in first downs (25.1).
In 2016, Bobo became the first head coach in CSU history to lead the Rams to a bowl game in each of his first two seasons. The Rams’ offense fueled a late-season surge, averaging 47.8 points and 533.8 yards per game over the last six contests, including the bowl game. CSU ranked fourth in the nation in red zone scoring (94.6 pct.), 28th in scoring offense (35.3) and 30th in total offense (462.5).
Bobo became the only head coach in program history to win seven regular season games in his first season at the helm in 2015.
Bobo spent all but one of the first 22 years of his adult life at Georgia as a player or assistant coach. While in Athens, he had been a record-breaking starting quarterback and spent 16 seasons coaching, including the last eight (2007-14) as offensive coordinator.
Bobo’s 14-year coaching stint at Georgia, began in January 2001 when head coach Mark Richt hired him as quarterbacks coach, for his second stint with the school. He had previously worked on the football staff in an administrative role in 1998, then as a graduate assistant in 1999. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2007.
During his time at UGA, Bobo helped lead the Bulldogs to 135 victories, including two Southeastern Conference championships, five SEC Eastern Division titles and eight bowl victories. The 2012 Broyles Award finalist held the offensive coordinator spot for 92 games with the Bulldogs, scoring 30-plus points 57 times, 40-plus points 29 times and more than 50 points 13 times.
Bobo guided several talented quarterbacks at Georgia, including Aaron Murray, Matthew Stafford and David Greene, along with wide receiver A.J. Green, running back Todd Gurley and many others. In all, Bobo helped mold four first-round NFL draft choices at Georgia: Stafford (No. 1 in 2009), running back Knowshon Moreno (No. 12 in 2009), Green (No. 4 in 2011) and Gurley (No. 10 in 2015).
Prior to joining Richt’s staff at Georgia, Bobo served one year as an assistant coach at Jacksonville State.
Bobo was a quarterback for the Bulldogs from 1994-97, throwing for 6,334 yards, the third-most all-time by a Georgia quarterback, and set several Georgia passing records. As a senior in 1997, he threw for 2,751 yards on 199 completions in 306 attempts and had 19 TD to just eight interceptions.
Bobo, a native of Thomasville, Ga., and his wife, Lainie, have five children, a son Drew; triplets Olivia, Jake and Ava Grace; and Kate. His father, George, was a long-time successful high school coach in Georgia.
