Soon after Kirby Smart opened his press conference earlier this week, it was the first thing mentioned by the Georgia head coach regarding what the Bulldogs wanted to “establish” this spring—havoc.
“We want to increase our havoc rate on defense. That's one of the main target areas,” Smart said. “We want to be more disruptive, and the only way you're going to be more disruptive is practice being disruptive.”
There’s actually an established calculation in determining a team’s havoc rate. The number of tackles for loss, including sacks, recorded by a defense are added to its forced fumbles and passes defended (interceptions + passes broken up), divided by the opposition’s number of offensive plays, resulting in havoc rate.
Georgia’s havoc rate of 15.6 percent for the 2018 season was rather substandard, ranking No. 73 in the 130-member FBS—and tied for a lowly tenth in the SEC, trailing four conference members included in the nation’s top ten: No. 2 Alabama (21.2 percent), No. 5 Texas A&M (20.4 percent), No. 6 Mississippi State (20.3 percent), and No. 9 Kentucky (19.8 percent).
Whereas Smart’s hope is for the Georgia defense this season to increase its havoc rate, players on the defensive unit are seemingly confident they will do so—and due in part to a young, energetic defensive staff. With the addition of defensive backs coach Charlton Warren in the offseason, the average age of the Bulldogs’ four-man defensive staff is only 34 years old.
“I definitely think we’ll bring a lot more energy with a younger staff," said senior safety J.R. Reed, who totaled 66 tackles and two interceptions last season. “We’re going to create a lot more turnovers, a lot more havoc plays, and more sacks and tackles for loss. I definitely see that happening.”
Notably, along with a young defensive staff in 2019, Georgia will feature a relatively young group on defense. Entering the spring, half the Bulldogs’ two-deep defenders (12 of 24) are mere sophomores, according to a projected depth chart. Still, the young group is undoubtedly talented—and certainly capable of creating more havoc.
“They (the defensive staff) are going to bring energy. I mean, they’re young, so they’re energetic—and that excites us,” said senior defensive tackle Michael Barnett, who recorded 14 tackles and a pass breakup last season. “We also have a lot of young players, and they love that—the excitement and what not. And, I feel like they’re going to get out there and ball.”
Beginning in 2000, Georgia’s top- and bottom-five teams according to havoc rate:
Observing the table above, a legitimate question arises if the Bulldogs increasing their havoc in 2019 might be a tall order, considering four of the team’s five lowest havoc rates since 2000 have resulted in the last five seasons.
Although if Georgia can definitely be more disruptive defensively this upcoming season is questioned, rest assured, Smart and his staff will have their defenders working—and working hard—at increasing havoc.
“We've got to create more lost yardage plays, more negative situations, and that's something we've really worked on,” Smart said. “We've done studies on the top-10 teams last year in havoc, and we're trying to do some of the things they do—and we're trying to put guys in position to do that.”
