Getting out from under your parents' roof is usually a highlight for athletes and students alike when shipping off to college.

That’s not so with Georgia sophomore Damon Wilson II.

When Wilson matriculated to Athens from Nokomis, Fla., his mom and dad came along, too.

“My parents do live with me right now,” smiled Wilson, who joked that having mom and dad at home with him isn’t cramping his style.

“Well, yes and no. But what's more important? What are the priorities? Wilson said. “If I’ve got to be here two more years with my parents to get where I want to go. I'll do it.”

This isn’t a case of Mom and Dad being unwilling to let go.

Quite the contrary.

Wilson’s burgeoning football career is a true family affair with both parents playing key roles.

“I think my dad's going to be my trainer for my whole life. He's one of the very few people who understand me as well as my mom,” Wilson said. “My mom's like my second nutritionist besides Georgia staff. She's up making breakfast, helping me keep my weight on because that was one of my biggest struggles.”

After missing the Orange Bowl with a meniscus tear, Wilson's weight dropped to 235 pounds.

“After my injury I was around 235 and then came home, me and my dad focused on putting on weight and getting my legs balanced. I tried to put on like 15, the highest I got to was about like 252,” Wilson said. “I think the season I'll be playing around 248, 250, that'll be my area, my range.”

Wilson hopes the added weight will assist his development in other ways well.

“For me, I know my plan wasn't just to be an edge rusher; I want to be able to play first and second down,” Wilson said. “I need that extra weight to be able to anchor, hold my weight against bigger tackles, aggressive tackles, be able to root out people, and just overall strike and that will help me.”

Teammate Chaz Chambliss said Wilson’s track has not been unlike other young outside linebackers to have joined the Bulldog program.

“During your freshman year, we don’t like to ask a lot of these guys; we ask them to play to their strengths,” Chambliss said. “Now, coming into his second year, we’re asking him to be a more mental piece of the team. Obviously, he’s got speed off the edge, but now we’re getting him to being better in the run game, being better in coverage, and just expanding what he can do.”

Head coach Kirby Smart believes progress is being made.

No longer is Wilson considered solely a third-down pass rusher, he’s earning the opportunity to be a four-down contributor.

“I think learning his assignment like he could go play on third down and play with reckless abandon and did a really good job last year. Now, first and second down, he knows what to do. He understands it,” Smart said. “He has better poise. He has a better strike. He can hold up against a physical tackle. He's improved. Just by merely being here and going through the spring, he's improved.”

Wilson is confident the results will take care of themselves.

“I don't like to lose. I don't like to be in a situation where I have to worry about losing. Georgia's one of those places where I knew I was going to be pushed. I wasn't just going to be the best guy,” Wilson said. “But I don't want to just be the best guy. Sometimes you've got to be around people who are better than you and make you better, and I think being around someone like Coach Smart. He’s kind of like my dad, just put your head down and work."