Georgia defensive assistants open up on what it's like working with Kirby Smart

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has his mentors in the coaching world. Nick Saban most prominently, but also Chris Hatcher, Bobby Bowden and others all had an impact on Smart becoming the coach that he is today. The same goes for Smart though, making an impact on coaches that he’s worked with as a head coach. Georgia co-defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann shed some light on that this past week while his partner in the title, Will Muschamp, could have seen this success coming from a ways away, even before their time together in Athens now.

“I was trying to figure out how many more years it would be — you know, you have this saying about your wife where you go and say ‘Hey, I have had more years in my life than I have had without her.’ I was trying to figure out the other day where I have to get to to get to that point,” Schumann joked before speaking on what he’s learned being with Smart. “I think when coaching defense you have to evolve with the times. Every year what offenses are going to do is attack you and their trends offensively are going to change. So, no matter where this defense has existed, no matter who has been in charge of it, no matter what coaches on staff, the goal has been to create a defense that can create problems for offenses and answer the challenges that they present. Every year that will look a little bit different. Our top calls every year are a little bit different. The way we use our personnel, it’s a little bit different. You figure out who your best players are, what you need to do to be successful. You do that as a staff cooperatively to give yourself the best chance on gameday. When you do that, then you get a good product.”

Schumann and Smart spent time together before Georgia at Alabama where Schumann was a graduate assistant. When Smart got the job in Athens, he gave Schumann his first on field job in coaching by bringing him with him as the inside linebackers coach. Now he’s got a coordinator title attached to his name too, another step towards Schumann’s climb to potentially being a head coach one day.

As for Muschamp, the biggest thing that stands out about Smart is his competitiveness. Those two played at Georgia together before coaching together at several stops. Their friendship goes way back, and when Muschamp was out of a job after being let go by South Carolina in 2020, Smart decided to bring him in to the program for additional help on the defensive side of the football.

“First of all, you see a guy who is a great competitor. He’s a fierce competitor, and that goes way beyond his coaching days, that’s noon time basketball association of Valdosta State, we almost got in several fights, but we’ve matured since then,” Muschamp said. “He’s a great competitor, extremely bright, he does a great job with the players as far as relating with the players, motivating the players, continuing to challenge himself, challenge our staff and our football team on a daily basis for a very high standard. He has an element of toughness about himself of knowing what it takes to be successful, in our organization and in the league, he has a great understanding of this league which I think is a big part of being successful.”

“You adapt to what’s happening in this league – the football stuff is different. I’m talking about recruiting, I’m talking about all the different things that go into being successful in this league. He certainly has done that and has done a phenomenal job here at Georgia,” Muschamp continued. “But he’s a guy that, all around, from a staff standpoint, from a roster management standpoint, and the elements of toughness that we do what we need to do to be successful. I can probably count on one hand the ‘not-so-good’ practices we had last year. Now, that’s a lot credit to our young men on our team because of the leadership and things like that, but that’s also the culture that’s been set of that’s how we’re going to practice at Georgia. You go to a Tuesday practice here, it’s a thing of beauty. That’s the way you’re supposed to get after it, but it’s what’s expected, it’s what’s set from the top all the way down in the organization and it’s understood that’s the way we are going to do things. I credit him with that.”