Biggest offseason addition?

While many people are focused on what the "Dream Team" will bring to the table this fall I want to spend a few minutes discussing what might be as important an addition as any player the team added. Georgia's offensive line has not performed up to expectations for several seasons. Despite former offensive line coach Stacy Searels success at LSU and early success at Georgia he was not able to get consistently good play out of his line the last few years.

Will Friend, the new offensive line coach, has been working with less talented linemen at UAB and Garner Webb but has gotten the most out of them. His first season at Garner Webb his line, which ended up having 3 all conference players on it, helped the teams offense to be number 10 in the nation in total offense. This from georgiadogs.com on his bio may be the most impressive
"In 2009, UAB's rushing average of 229.9 yards per game was the highest mark for the Blazers in school history and ranked No. 7 in the nation. Their total offense average of 425.9 yards represents the second-highest average per game since the program was formed in 1991 and ranked 22nd in the country. UAB also ranked No. 15 in the country last season in sacks allowed, yielding only 12 in 12 games."

All of those numbers are good but the one that I love to see is the 229.7 ypg rushing while setting the school record. That tells me that he can coach toughness into an offensive line. The team does not have to average that many yards but anything in the neighborhood of 180 ypg would be close to a 40 ypg improvement over last season. To me that would make a world of difference in aiding Bobo with play calling, not to mention being the difference in so many tight games. His biggest challenge is going to be can he instill mental toughness into a unit that has been lacking it for several years. If he can then he might be as valuable an addition as any player that will be wearing Red and Black for the first time this fall.