Stacy Searels teaching Dawgs, both young and old, new tricks in first spring

Spring practice is supposed to be a time for fierce competition. No position group at Georgia’s practice sessions this spring has better exemplified that than the offensive line under the direction of new coach Stacy Searels. The Bulldogs are replacing two multi-year starters in Jamaree Salyer and Justin Shaffer. Furthermore, the competition at the guard spots has heated up to a point where Warren Ericson might not be able to hold on to his starting job. According to Kirby Smart, that’s a testament to what Searels has been able to do in a short amount of time.

“I think Coach Searels has brought a little new energy to those guys, teaching those guys,” Smart said. “Sometimes when you get a new coach, you learn new things. You learn new ways to do things. I think that’s been important for those guys.”

“Probably the offensive line is the one that’s had the most competition in terms of guys being really close to each other in terms of reps, competition and growing,” he added. “We’ve had some depth issues at some other positions that’s hurt the competition because you don’t have enough guys, but that offensive line group has had a lot of quality competition.”

Among those leading the group through the changes have been Warren McClendon and Broderick Jones. McClendon made the decision to return to Georgia for his third season as the starter at right tackle while Jones started the final four games of the regular season last year at left tackle, also playing significant snaps in a few other games, and continues to get more comfortable in his increased role.

“Both of those guys have played a considerable amount of football,” Smart said. “Warren, he’s been a two year starter and worked really hard at that position. He has to continue to improve. He can’t get complacent. He’s got to do a better job playing with power and doing some things in the run game, but I’ll tell you, he’s tough, he works really hard each day, day in and day out. And Broderick’s gotten better … The development of the rest of the group, we’ve got 14-15 guys in that unit that are getting better day in and day out. I do think that finding tackles is the key to success. When you start looking at it, you’ve got to have three to four guys who can play the position because we’ve had guys get injured throughout the years at that position.”

Fans will get their first glimpse at the offensive line this coming Saturday as Georgia hosts its annual spring game to close out spring practice. Not only will it be an opportunity for guys like McClendon and Jones to get tested against talented defensive linemen like Jalen Carter, but it also offers the chance for early-enrollees like Earnest Greene and Aliou Bah, as well as still developing talents like Devin Willock, Dylan Fairchild, Jared Wilson, Micah Morris and others to be tested in a bigger stage.

“You always like to see these young guys react to a big environment,” Smart said. “I don’t think any of these guys, the new ones, have played in front of a crowd this size in their career. So I like to see the mid-years and some of the guys that maybe didn’t have a bigger role last year take on a bigger role.”

“We’ve still got some guys injured in that group, but we’ll have a good group out there ready to practice, ready to play the game,” he added when asked about spring being an opportunity for some of those younger offensive linemen to get reps. “It’s always about getting reps and growth. You just want to get better as a player, and you get to focus on your academics. There’s less stress, no games, days off in between the practices so you come back with really good recovery. You’re able to do a little more in each practice because you’ve got that day off in between.”

G-Day kickoff time is slated for 1:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

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