Georgia practice news and notes

Center Sedrick Van Pran didn't seem particularly keen on the idea when asked to compare new offensive line coach Stacy Searels with Matt Luke, his coach for his first two years as member of the Georgia football.

Speaking after practice Thursday, Van Pran chose his words carefully.

“Let me say this, I appreciate everything Coach Luke has done for us and absolutely have tremendous love for Coach Luke, his family, so I appreciate them,” he said, before answering the question presented to him.

“The biggest thing I’d say, is Coach Luke is more of a motivator. He definitely wanted to coach and teach technique, but he also wanted to motivate,” Van Pran said. “I think Coach Searels is more get to the point, and that can be good or bad depending on the player. But I think ultimately the biggest thing is to just take the message, what did I do wrong, how can you get better, and what’s the best thing for the team.”

Van Pran said there’s no question that the veteran Searels knows what he’s talking about.

“He is a very technical guy. Really smart football mind. He understands schemes,” Van Pran said. “There’s a little different terminology coming from a different school, but football is football.”

The Bulldog junior said he studied up on Searels before spring practice began.

“I watched a few YouTube interviews, just to get a basic understanding of who he is but I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him introduce himself to me,” said Van Pran, who said the terminology being used is not terribly different from what the line used before.

Some’s similar, some has taken some learning.

“It’s been a little of both,” Van Pran said. “There’s compromise, but at the end of the day you have to make it work, because we’re all working toward the same thing.”

Van Pran was one of three Bulldogs, along with Kenny McIntosh and Christopher Smith, to meet with reporters following Thursday’s second day of spring practice.

• Van Pran opened some eyes with his description of junior defensive tackle Zion Logue.

“Don’t kill me for saying this, but I think Zion is a combination of JD and Devonte. He’s in between both of them. He’s fast, he’s strong,” Van Pran said. “He’ll catch you off guard with his quickness, and he’s very powerful in the run game.”

• In any discussion with Van Pran, you’ll quickly learn just how pragmatic of a young man he is. That was evident during a question when asked how much more confident he was heading into his junior campaign.

“I wouldn’t call it confidence. For me, confidence comes off as cockiness. I’ll call it more as comfortable,” he said. “I think I’m very comfortable in the system right now. I’m still pushing, learning, taking notes on things like inside zone, but just trying to get better. But yes, I feel way more comfortable playing football at this point in my career.”

• Van Pran said this year’s offensive line wants to “honor” last year’s offensive line by winning the Joe Moore award, given annually to the best unit in college football.

“We want to use it as motivation that we didn’t win the Joe Moore last year,” he said. “We want to be the best group possible.”

When reminded that Michigan’s offensive line won the award last year and whether that was even extra motivation, Van Pran smiled.

“Yes sir,” he said. “Definitely.”

• Early enrollee Earnest Greene is opening eyes. “I absolutely love EG,” Van Pran said. “He’s a really, really talented guy. Of course, we’re all talented, but seeing some of the things he’s doing, he’s a really talented guy, and I’m looking forward to seeing how he develops.

• James Cook wasn’t lying after the Orange Bowl when he joked that Kenny McIntosh had not been throwing the football worth a flip before his halfback pass against the Wolverines went for an 18-yard touchdown. “I don’t know if it was the gloves, the way I’d been throwing it, but all week it was bad, just bad,” McIntosh said. “But in the game, under the lights and cameras, that’s when I shined. So, thank God for that.”

• You bet McIntosh is waiting for an expanded role after Zamir White and Cook both moved on.

“I’m ready to take on whatever role they have for me,” McIntosh said. “Whether that’s special teams, whatever they throw at me, I think I’m going to be able to handle.”

McIntosh said he plans on putting his hands to good use.

“I think I’ve got special hands to go out and be able to catch the ball like I can,” he said. “I just want to show the coaches how versatile I can be, and I’m ready to do whatever they need me to do.”

• McIntosh laughed that there was an advantage being the youngest of five boys back home in Fort Lauderdale.

That was especially true when his brothers tried to give him a hard time.

“I was the youngest, so my momma wasn’t having none of that,” he said. “They tried, but they didn’t get too far.”

Of course, being the youngest sibling paid off in other ways.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “I got away with a lot.”

• Safety Christopher Smith said there were several reasons he decided to return for another year.

The biggest?

“I wanted to have the opportunity to better myself as a player and as a leader,” said Smith, who laughed that he sort of felt like a stranger with 19 early enrollees with the team this spring.

“I felt like a stranger for a little bit. When they first get in, guys aren’t too much comfortable with each other,” Smith said. “It hasn’t taken long for me to be able to gel with a lot of young guys. Those relationships will continue to build. I wanted to have the opportunity to better myself as a player and as a leader."

• Smith joked new secondary coach Fran Brown is fitting right in, even if he does hail from New Jersey.

“He’s really up North. I’m a down South kid, so it’s different with him being the coach, but he’s a great guy,” Smith said. “But no, he’s kept it real since Day One. He wants us to succeed. He’s pushing the DBs every day, day in and day out. He’s constantly on everybody to get better.”