Glenn Schumann on his Philly interview, other jobs and more

Glenn Schumann’s name was a popular one during the offseason.

Speculation tied Kirby Smart’s co-defensive coordinator to a number of jobs after the Bulldogs claimed their second-straight national championship, including openings at both Alabama and Miami.

The Philadelphia Eagles also took notice, ultimately bringing Schumann into an interview for their vacant defensive coordinator position.

“When you’re successful, opportunities come for you. Opportunities come for players, opportunities come for coaches. It was an honor to be considered and reached out to by them,” Schumann said during his session with reporters on Tuesday. “I appreciate it. It was great to go through that process but I’m glad to be where I am.”

It’s no surprise that Schumann’s name has been so popular.

With Georgia having boasted one of the nation’s best defenses over the past few seasons, other programs and organizations naturally have gravitated toward the man who was the first assistant hired by Smart when he took over the program eight years ago.

The Bulldogs are certainly in no hurry to see him go.

After last season, Schumann saw his salary doubled to its current level of $1.9 million, making him one of the highest-paid assistants in college football.

While that’s certainly not going to keep other schools looking for a potential head coach from staying in touch, Schumann sounded like a man who’s going to need a special opportunity to come along before leaving Athens.

“There’s a lot of ways to define the quality of life, right?” Schumann said. “One, you’re responsible as a husband and a father to do what’s best for your family and their well-being. My family is extremely happy here. Two, quality of life in this profession is generally tied to winning, and I’ve been fortunate between being here and at Alabama to be extremely successful, so I have a high expectation standard for what I want to achieve in my career.”

In other words, it’s going to take a program with the same dedication to winning to entice Schumann to leave his current post.

"The grass isn’t always greener,” Schumann said. “When you look at it, there have been a lot of people who have been extremely happy thinking they can become happier, and they end up miserable. So, I’m extremely happy here, I love the people I work with, the players, coaches, so there’s a lot of reason to still be at Georgia."

… Sophomore linebacker Jalon Walker is back practicing on the inside, but Schumann said he’s still being challenged to be as versatile as possible. “That happens more than probably you guys realize,” Schumann said. “We’ve done that with a lot of guys over the years. Maybe they didn’t end up being in that role on game days. He was able to do that last year. We want to find out how much each guy can do right now so we’re challenging them day to day. You have to play inside linebacker on first and second down, and you might have to do it on third down because there are other guys who are good edge rushers as well and we want to figure out who the best 11 are.”

… Schumann said Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Smael Mondon have both done a lot to elevate their game. The coach singled out Dumas-Johnson for his leadership, how vocal he is, and how his effort in his approach to practice stands out day to day. He also cited Mondon that despite being limited, the junior is doing “every single thing” he’s been asked to do.

… Schumann is taking a wait-and-see approach on freshmen outside linebackers Damon Wilson, Gabe Harris, and Sam M’Pemba before predicting how much each will help the team.

“Those guys flash. Those guys have the ability. They have traits whether it's in pass rush or in run defense and they are embracing what we're asking of them. But practice six, I couldn't have told you for sure on practice six of last year,” Schumann said. “We still have two scrimmages, really 25 practices before the first game. About 18 of those are camp-style so we're a third of the way. I'll be better able to answer that question after two scrimmages and those 18 practices."