No one-trick ponies at Georgia

When recruiting players to become fits in Georgia’s defense, one-trick ponies don’t fit the Bulldogs’ bill.

With the way the game continues to develop, the ability to play different roles, and be effective in different packages, is more important than ever before.

“You want to have guys that you don't feel can only do one thing because now not only do you as a staff feel like, okay, maybe we have to protect this guy or maybe we can only use him this way, the other team knows that as well,” defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann told reporters Tuesday.

Take the secondary, for example.

At Georgia, Schumann says having a “home base” for everyone who plays defensive back is the first step in getting the unit to flourish in whatever their respective role happens to be.

“A home base for a guy like Javon Bullard, the safeties and the STARS, the nickels, a lot of times they're together if the whole secondary isn't together in terms of drill work, in terms of meeting rooms, things of that nature,” Schumann said. “Obviously there are skills different there than they are at corner,” Schumann said. “So, you have to have a home base and you have to become strong in your home base first and then grow what you can do otherwise. It is a big piece because when you talk about the question about game planning.”

As Schumann explains, the more versatile your players are, the more difficult it is for opposing offenses to get a feel for what the defense is trying to do.

"In terms of opponents attacking us, the more versatile our players are, they can't necessarily say, 'we're only going to get this front to this formation or this coverage,' or 'this player is only going to line up at a nickel or is only going to line up as a safety, corner,” Schumann said. “Are they playing left and right corners or are they playing field and boundary?' There's a big difference. Or are they just getting up and playing ball based on where they are and they're interchangeable?”

Per Schumann, it’s all part of the chess game that takes place during the course of the game.

The more a defense can stay one step ahead, the better chance for overall success. Considering Georgia has won back-to-back championships adhering to this philosophy, we can say it works.

“Because a lot of football is matchups and if we can change the matchups by having versatile players, it's extremely helpful,” Schumann said.

There’s also another reason.

NFL teams love versatile players. With smaller rosters, the more a player can do, the more chances someone has of enjoying the benefits of an NFL career.

“For their long-term career development after college if they're fortunate enough to be able to do that, they don't necessarily have a say in what they're able to play at the next level,” Schumann said. “So, the more we can train and prepare our guys to be able to do multiple things gives them a chance to have longevity in their football career.”

Take former Bulldog Natrez Patrick, for example.

“Natrez played inside linebacker for me and was able to have two years active roster in the NFL as an outside linebacker for the Rams. He was able to cross-train,” Schumann said. “He played third down in some packages for us and then he was able to do that at the next level so we're also helping their careers long term if we teach them how to do more than one thing and how to become a well-rounded football player."