Georgia defense concerned about cohesion, not necessarily individuals, in fall camp

Georgia Football has always been known for its physicality. From Vince Dooley’s Junkyard Dawgs of the 70’s and 80s to Kirby Smart’s elite defenses of late – although lacking a cool nickname – the Bulldogs have had a standard set for quite some time. If you come to Georgia to play defense, you better be ready. And headed into the 2022 season with several stars of last year’s dominant defense off to the NFL, that standard is the topic of discussion. As Georgia co-defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann said, the players know what is expected of them because of those that have come before them.

“When you look at what we do here defensively, all these kids took pride in the defensive side of the ball when they came here. Part of it, you go back to Georgia with Erk Russell is playing great defense. Guys who come here believe in themselves that they can go be as good as they want to be defensively. I believe collectively that we can do that,” Schumann said. “I don’t think anybody is worried about what we are going to be. I think they go out there every day and try to be the best defense they absolutely can. All of that external stuff… I don’t see a group that needs external motivation. I think they are focusing and working as hard as they can.”

Taking over for Dan Lanning as the defensive coordinator alongside Will Muschamp, Schumann says that it’s going to be a group effort. He’s not asking any singular player to replace another one that left for the NFL. He’s asking them to be the best version of themselves. But with so many new faces, cohesion can be a concern. That’s why Georgia is going through all sorts of different pairings defensively, getting everybody ready to play with different guys beside them at any given time.

“Every day we go out to practice and we challenge guys to get used to playing with other people. That might be, you go out there today and this guy is going to rotate and play with this other at linebacker, safety or defensive front. Preparing yourself for the whole room to be cohesive,” Schumann said. “You have 48 guys here when you count scholarships and walk-ons on the defense. They are all out there and they will all get to play with each other. To be good on defense you have to have a real team bond, a connection, so that can’t be only comfortable with one guy. Then you are not ready and the next guy steps up. Throughout camp, we are trying to all grow, so we are preparing different people with each other and making people really comfortable being uncomfortable. We’re not reliant on one person, we’re reliant on the whole team.”

“We had 19 players on defense play over 200 snaps last year, so I do think that team talk on defense is extremely important,” he continued. “You are looking for as many people that can play winning football as possible. Individuals do stand out, there are going to be guys that you can identify that you’ve already identified, but team talk is extremely important this time of year because our only way to play to the standard on defense here is to get that. To get the team and everybody playing at a high level. Last I checked, there are 11 guys on defense at once. Everybody has to fit their gap properly in the run game. When you want to pressure, everybody has to be in the right area. When you sit there in coverage, certain guys have the flat, certain guys are responsible deep. At the end of the day, the only way to actually be good on defense as a unit is to be a team.”

Georgia’s defense will get some of its first live looks of the fall on Saturday as the Bulldogs take to Sanford Stadium for a scrimmage. The season kicks off September 3rd against Oregon as a part of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.