Kirby Smart provides update on Scott Cochran absence

Georgia special teams coordinator Scott Cochran stepped away from his role with the team to deal with personal health problems last week. Head coach Kirby Smart promoted former Florida and South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp to the position in Cochran’s absence. The timeline of Cochran’s return and future with the team remains unclear.

Smart provided an update on Cochran and showed support for his departure during his Saturday press conference.

“I think it was critical. We all deal with issues and problems within our own household, our own families, and those are personal things,” said Smart. “We’re a family here and our players have really embraced that. Our players have embraced the love, the affection, the struggles he’s going through. We love him. We love his family, we love his kids, we’re going to be there and support him and them just like they’re one of us. That doesn’t change. This team is very well connected, it’s very open and we have very intentional conversations at our night meetings. That’s something that we talk about across the board.”

Background

Smart hired Cochran at Georgia in February of 2020 after the departure of Scott Fountain. The 42-year-old former Alabama strength and conditioning coach had been searching for an on-field coaching job.

Temporary replacement Will Muschamp is a former Georgia player who spent the past five seasons as the head coach at South Carolina. He was 55-51 as a head coach between his time at South Carolina and Florida. Muschamp is also a member of the Nick Saban coaching tree, working as a defensive coordinator at LSU from 2001-04 and as associate head coach for the Miami Dolphins in 2005.

2021 outlook

Phil Steele projects a top 10 special teams unit in 2021 after the group finished No. 7 in his 2020 rankings. The team returns senior punter Jake Camarda, a 2020 finalist for the Ray Guy award and preseason All-American. He finished fourth in the country with a 46.6-yard average last season. Junior kicker Jack Podlesny also returns after going 13-for-16 in his first season as the starter.

The Bulldogs also bring back return specialist Kearis Jackson, who helped Georgia finished first in the SEC in kick return average. Jackson had a career-long 56-yard return against Florida in 2020. Georgia also finished No. 1 in the SEC in kickoff coverage, allowing 16.8 yards per return, and total blocks with three.

Georgia opens as the No. 4 team in ESPN’s preseason power rankings and is the early favorite to win the SEC East. The Bulldogs open the season on Sept. 4 against Clemson in Charlotte, North Carolina. ESPN’s FPI ratings project that game to be Georgia’s toughest of the season, giving the Bulldogs just a 28.7% change of winning.