Nolan Smith shares on what Bulldogs bring to table in 2022 as 'LBU'

Over the last few decades of College Football, the Georgia Bulldogs have garnered the reputation of “LBU”, which stands for Linebacker University. While a term like that is sure to start a debate about what exactly qualifies as a linebacker, it’s a reputation that is completely warranted for UGA nonetheless.

Within the six NFL Drafts that have taken place since the start of the Kirby Smart era, the Bulldogs have had seven linebackers selected by professional teams (Roquan Smith, Tae Crowder, Monty Rice, Quay Walker, Nakobe Dean and Channing Tindall), with two of them being taken in the first round (Smith and Walker). This number does not even include EDGE players like Azeez Ojulari, Lorenzo Carter or Travon Walker, all of whom are sometimes used as outside linebackers with their respective NFL teams.

Heading into this season, Georgia senior outside linebacker Nolan Smith is very aware of the reputation that the Bulldogs have earned, and he knows what the team has to do in order to continue it.

“I know we say we LBU, so we always try to play together, inside linebackers and outside  linebackers, and just really play under Coach Schumann and Coach Diribe the way that they have an idea for us to play,” Smith said.

Since joining the Bulldogs for the 2019 season, Smith has played alongside and behind an abundance of NFL talent. With a perceived talent drop-off at Georgia’s inside linebacker position this fall, Smith showed his support for the group based on what he’s seen this offseason.

“I’ve seen great things from that entire group from the freshman all the way to the seniors, from the guys that I came in class with,” Smith said. “Trezman (Marshall) and even Rian Davis, they’re taking that extra step and that extra role and getting everyone playing together and playing as a room and also including us.”

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but despite losing a historical amount of talent to the draft, there’s still tons of it on the roster in Athens. The Bulldogs actually return their sack leader from last season, Robert Beal – better known in Athens these days as Bobby – who racked up 6.5 sacks during the 2021 season and decided to come back to Athens for his sixth season with the program. While talking about the outside linebacker unit, Smith explained the impact that Beal had on the defense, while also revealing a pretty cool nickname.

“Man,’ Big Beefy’, man. He brings a lot of things for me as far as being my friend. It’s like a me and Adam (Anderson) situation, and it’s just me and ‘Beefy’,” Smith said. “I love working with him day in and day out, and I think he brings a lot to my game as far as he pushes me to be better. And we just push each other day in and day out to compete.”

Smith sure is humble because he could have just as easily talked about himself being a vital piece of the LBU plans for 2022 too. Over his three year tenure with the Bulldogs, the Savannah, Ga. native and IMG Academy product has put up 8.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss and one interception. He’s widely being projected as a potential first round pick come the 2023 NFL Draft next spring. With the next generation of Bulldog linebackers coming around the corner, Smith can’t help but feel inclined to do what he can to help them continue the tradition of great linebacker play in Athens.

“I usually just tell all our young players to calm down and play football,” Smith explained. “It’s the same football that you played since you was a little boy so don’t think too big of it or too little of it. At the end of the day, it’s a game and we’re supposed to enjoy and have fun.”

Expectations are easy to make and very difficult to fulfill for college football teams, which is why Smith is blocking out the outside noise heading into the season. For the Bulldogs, everything that they need to have a great season is inside the locker room. That starts on defense with the linebackers.