Kirby Smart admits he did a doubletake recently at practice when he glanced over and cornerbacks coach Donte Williams was wearing a helmet during practice.

“Yeah, I noticed that, too. I don’t know if that’s legal. I hope it is, since he’s got a helmet on out there like an extra player,” Smart said. “He may need it for safety, because some of those corners may be coming after him.”

It’s a brand-new look in the secondary as far as Georgia’s secondary coaches are concerned.

Gone is Fran Brown, currently the new head coach at Syracuse, while Will Muschamp stepped back into an analyst role for family reasons.

Muschamp’s youngest son Whit is a freshman quarterback at Vanderbilt.

Taking over for Muschamp is longtime SEC assistant coach Travaris Robinson, who already had a relationship with several of the players he’s now coaching.

“I’ve known Coach T-Rob for quite a little minute now when I was a Florida kid and he was at Miami,” junior JaCorey Thomas said. “He recruited me for Miami, so I’ve known him for a little bit. He’s a cool Coach. He and Coach Muschamp have been coaching together for like 15 years, so it’s pretty much the same person.”

Thomas has a point.

Robinson coached with Muschamp at both Florida and South Carolina before leaving for stints at Miami and the last two seasons at Alabama.

“They both have great energy,” Smart said. “They have great relationships with their players. They’re really good recruiters but they’re also passionate and have a lot of energy on the field.”

Thomas isn’t the only Bulldog to have a relationship with his new coach.

Texas native Julian Humphrey already knew Williams quite well. Although Williams’ coaching experience has primarily been on the West Coast, the assistant recruited Humphrey to Southern Cal while serving as the secondary coach for the Trojans.

“I’ve known him since my sophomore year in high school. Me and him have a tight relationship,” Humphrey said. “He has us doing these ball drills in practice that’s helped me better my ball skills. I like him a lot.”

Coupled with proven recruiting chops, Smart likes what the pair has brought to the equation.

“Everything that we heard about them and the things we wanted them to come into our program for, they’re here for,” Smart said. “I’m really proud of both those guys and how they’ve transitioned thus far."