Georgia's defensive coaching staff is keeping its operations the same as much as it possibly can.
That's a tall task considering defensive coordinator Dan Lanning is balancing his Bulldog duties with his new job as the head coach at Oregon. There's also the dynamic of co-defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann now sharing that title with Will Muschamp, who to this point has been a defensive analyst this season.
Even with all that going on, the Bulldogs are maintaining the status quo as much as possible. Every bit of stability counts as Georgia prepares to battle Michigan in the College Football Playoff at the Orange Bowl on Friday night.
Lanning met with the media on Monday morning. He said he plans to make the defensive calls against Michigan just as he has all season.
Georgia's defensive coordinator added that the Bulldog defense has been a team approach all season long. With more on Lanning's plate now, that approach coupled with the layoff before the bowl game has helped the team.
"Every single one of our defensive coaches have been extremely involved throughout the week, throughout our preparation," Lanning said. "This is a team effort. It’s been a team effort all season. That doesn’t change for just this one game. Whether it be Coach (Kirby) Smart’s involvement, Coach Schumann, Coach (Tray) Scott, Coach (Jahmile) Addae, Coach Muschamp, there’s a lot of hats. There’s a brain trust that goes into how we operate."
The one name in that group with a new title is Muschamp. He joined the Bulldogs as a defensive analyst this summer before moving into an on--field role following the temporary departure of Scott Cochran. Muschamp has now been elevated to co-defensive coordinator along with Schumann.
"Just from an experience standpoint, I think he does a good job of communicating with our players," Lanning said. "I know our guys really love being coached by Will. I certainly love having him in the room. He’s been a good guy for me to be able to lean on and our coaching staff to be able to lean on with his experience and just with his demeanor and his approach."
Schumann's relationship with Smart dates back to their days together on Nick Saban's staff at Alabama. When Smart took the Georgia job in 2016, he brought Schumann with him as his inside linebackers coach.
In 2019, Schumann earned the role of co-defensive coordinator. He has been a key figure in Georgia's strong defenses over the past three seasons. During his time in Athens, he has also coached linebackers such as Roquan Smith, Tae Crowder, Monty Rice, and now junior Nakobe Dean.
"I feel like he works as hard, if not harder than we work on the field," said Dean, the 2021 Butkus Award winner as the nation's top linebacker. "He demands the best out of us. That was one of the reasons I came, because I know he was going to push me to be great. Not just be good, be average, be mediocre, he’s going to push me to be great day in and day out."
Each player asked about Schumann on Monday brought up his intelligence and knowledge of the game. Even senior Jordan Davis, Georgia's behemoth defensive lineman said he learns something new every time he speaks with Schumann.
Georgia's defensive staff is going to undergo plenty of changes at the conclusion of the season. For now, though, the Bulldogs are keeping things as stable as possible as they try to win a national championship.
"(Lanning is) going to try to play out his role with us the best he can, to the best of his ability," senior defensive back Chris Smith said. "He’s been doing a great job with that all year. He’s continuing to do so until this thing is over."
