Georgia linebacker Nolan Smith describes reaction to Dan Lanning becoming Oregon head coach
The coaching carousel of the 2021 college football season has been one of the wildest in the sports; history. It impacted the Georgia Bulldogs when their talented defensive coordinator, Dan Lanning, was recently hired by the Oregon Ducks.
One of the more talented linebackers on Georgia’s dominant defense, Nolan Smith, took some time to talk about his defensive coordinator leaving to take the head coaching job in Eugene.
“He’s still my head coach at the end of the day and he was with me for 3.5 years. And he coached me to this point and I’m happy for him,” Smith said. “Everyone does the coordinator job initially to become a big-time head coach. And he’s become a big-time head coach at that program. When he lines up against those ‘Dawgs next year he knows who he’s getting.”
Smith understands the business aspect of college football coaching very well and he had a very mature response in the interview.
The Georgia defense accomplished some historic things for most of the 2021 season. Then there was the SEC Championship Game against Alabama, which was an unmitigated disaster for the Bulldogs.
Still, the Bulldogs should be proud of the incredible numbers they put up on defense, outside of the Alabama debacle.
The Georgia defense still put up amazing numbers in 2021
This season, there were only four teams that ranked in the top 25 in pass defense, run defense, third-down defense, and red zone defense (TD percentage allowed): Georgia, Michigan, Houston, and Wisconsin.
Georgia and Michigan, of course, will be facing each other in the College Football Playoff Semifinal in the Capital One Orange Bowl. The game will feature some of the nation’s top assistant coaches, Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, who was the Broyles Award winner for 2021.
Twice in his three seasons running the Georgia defense, Lanning has been named a finalist for the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach. He’ll be coaching for the Bulldogs until they are finished in the College Football Playoff, before moving onto Oregon.
This season, the Bulldogs’ defense led the nation in scoring defense (9.5 points per game) and they ranked second in total defense (254.4 yards per game).
Georgia fans are hoping the same unit that dominated the regular season shows up against Michigan, as opposed to the one that got blowtorched by Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young in the SEC Championship Game.