There are many ways someone can become a great leader on the football field
Some, like former linebacker Nolan Smith use their words to motivate. For others, it’s the old cliché of leading by example.
Both can work.
However, in the case of defensive lineman Zion Logue, it’s a little bit different.
It’s not that Logue is a wallflower who is afraid to speak up. Younger teammates – and even some older ones – would do well to watch how he goes about his business.
But for Logue, it’s more about the journey and how he navigated that trip that has him held in such high esteem and a key member of Kirby Smart’s leadership core.
A member of Georgia’s Class of 2019, that’s the same year at players like Smith, Nakobe Dean, and Travon Walker each came to Georgia, with Jordan Davis and DeVonte Wyatt just sophomores on the team.
It was due to this type of depth that Logue spent most of his first three years in Athens as a member of the scout team, before finally breaking into the rotation.
Now a senior after his redshirt season in 2019, Logue enters his second year as a key member of Georgia’s defensive front, where his workmanlike attitude has earned him complete respect on both sides of the ball for the Bulldogs.
Why is Logue such a great leader?
To understand why Zion Logue is considered one of the finer leaders on the Georgia football team, you need to take a look at his journey. Only then do we realize how far he has come.
As a strongside defensive end, Rivals had Logue as a four-star and the nation’s 16th-ranked player at his position when he signed with the Bulldogs.
However, with all the talent above him, opportunities for playing time were not always there.
But Logue knew his day would one day come. Meanwhile, he used the opportunity to hone his craft against future NFL linemen.
“Shoot, 2019, that was the year that molded me,” Logue said. “Andrew Thomas, Solomon Kindley, Trey Hill, Cade Mays, or Ben Cleveland, then you got Isaiah Wilson. So, there’s nothing more than can prepare you more for SEC football.”
Flash forward to today. Head coach Kirby Smart said Logue is now helping younger teammates on the opposite side of the ball improve their games.
“He had three years of going against (Salyer) and (Shaffer), just every day,” Smart said. “Now, he goes against the scout offensive line, and he’s over there making those guys better.”
Perhaps by default, Logue has also assumed the role of “vocal leader” for this group, although speaking up and speaking out may not quite be his style.
“That’s something I need to do and I try to do,” Logue said. “Whether it’s cheering my guys on, whether it’s leading by example, actually striking guys, actually running to the football, actually knowing my assignments, executing my assignments, that plays a big role if people listen to you.”
Who benefits the most?
Georgia’s defensive line is a tight-knit group. Much of that is due to Logue, who along with Tramel Walthour, Warren Brinson, and Nazir Stackhouse is one of four seniors whose experience is being leaned on heavily by position coach Tray Scott.
Because they’ve been around so long, Logue and his fellow seniors are able to impart valuable wisdom to younger teammates like Christen Miller, Jonathan Jefferson, Jordan Hall, Mykel Williams, and Jamaal Jarrett.
Among those lessons, helping them understand what they need to do to keep not let Georgia’s standard on defense slip.
“Don’t look at it as pressure,” Logue said. “Look at it as you’re getting prepared for it every week. Our practices are harder than our games and we make it that way because by the time Saturday gets here, you’ve seen every play. You’ve seen everything that they can do, and now you’ve just got to go react and play.”
Smart sums up Logue this way: While he may not be the most physically gifted, he’s a testament to what hard work can do.
“Zion is a guy that's been kind of a product of our environment—culture I might say. He's seen leaders before him. He certainly had a long way to go when he got here, but he never shied away from work. He's been very consistent in his work,” Smart said. “He's worked really hard to earn the opportunity he's gotten. He would be the first to tell you there are things he can do better. But he's a great leader. He makes up for what he may or may not have in complete talent with effort, toughness, all the things we think are quality leadership things, and he continues to do that.”
