Georgia freshmen LBs living up to standard of success set before them

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia has a rich tradition of success at linebacker. Even before Kirby Smart took over as head coach the Bulldogs were producing players to the pros. Since Smart and position coach Glenn Schumann stepped foot on campus in 2016, thing have been taken to another level.

Roquan Smith won Georgia’s first Butkus Award in 2017, helping the Bulldogs win their first SEC Championship in over a decade and advance to the College Football Playoffs. There they finished just short of the ultimate goal. Then, in 2021 on the back of a generationally good defense led by the program’s second-ever Butkus Award winner Nakobe Dean, Georgia got to the top of the sport, taking home its first National Championship since 1980.

Of course Georgia would do it again in 2022 and has its aim set on another in 2023. One consistent of the championship level play has been production from the inside linebackers.

Smith and Dean are just two examples under the direction of Schumann. Others that have gone on to the NFL include Tae Crowder, Monty Rice, Channing Tindall and Green Bay Packers 2022 first round pick Quay Walker. Natrez Patrick has also managed to stay around the league as an undrafted free agent, and Georgia’s got more talent on the rise with the likes of Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Smael Mondon potential NFL-bound players next spring.

“The thing about a standard is, once you set it, you have to uphold it every single day. When we go out to practice today, we’re not worried about the results that are going to come when we play our opponents this fall. We’re worried about how we can uphold the standard today,” Schumann, Georgia’s defensive coordinator on top of being the inside linebackers coach, said. “We constantly measure things to hold guys accountable: our results as a team defense in the prior day’s practice, we show it to them. When we fall short, we have to be accountable for that and man up and be better the next day. We chart things in terms of individual measures, things that really matter to playing great defense. The effort that you play with – you have to out-hustle people to play great defense – the physicality you play with – you have to out-hit people to play defense at a high level – and your competitive nature, we were talking about it earlier but you have to out-compete people.”

Schumann is certainly doing his part to uphold the standard in his inside linebacker room. In the most recent recruiting class, Georgia signed three of the nation’s top 10 linebackers. Coming in at No. 4, No. 6 and No. 7 according to the On3 Industry Ranking, Raylen Wilson, CJ Allen and Troy Bowles are thought to be next in line of great Georgia Bulldog linebackers.

Wilson had over 100 tackles for the second straight season at Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Fla. Meanwhile, Allen had 80+ tackles in four straight seasons at Lamar County Comprehensive in Barnesville, Ga. Both Wilson and Allen arrived on campus in the spring and impressed early.

Those two were joined by Bowles – son of Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles – at the start of summer. He too had an impressive resume coming out of high school with 90 or more tackles in each of the last three seasons and came down with five interceptions as a senior.

“I prioritize, outside of athletic ability because in my opinion they’re very talented in terms of their athleticism, in terms of being versatile in their skillset. They’re not limited to doing one thing. That’s what attracted me to them when I watched the tape,” Schumann said. “Speed is a premium. Ability to play in space is a premium. What really made me want to sign those individuals and why I’m happy they’re here is they’re extremely competitive, extremely hard-working, they love football, they’re good people. You check those four in addition to your skillset, those are guys you want to coach. That’s exactly who they’ve been. They’ve been competitive, hard-working, love football, extremely attentive, they want to learn and they’re great people.”

Schumann’s not done either. In the Class of 2024, Georgia currently has two of the top-10 linebackers in the country committed – Justin Williams (No. 1) and Kris Jones (No. 10) – and is a hat on the table and the RPM leader at over 85% for Chris Cole, the nation’s No. 5 linebacker, on September 10th.

Whether those freshmen linebackers make a major impact this season remains to be seen. One thing that’s for certain though, as long as Schumann’s around, and likely well beyond too, Georgia’s going to have great talent accumulated in its inside linebacker room.