Channing Tindall knew he had a long way to go.

A four-star in the Class of 2018, he arrived in Athens as a 218-pound outside linebacker. The Bulldogs moved him inside, and Tindall knew he had to both bulk up and learn the intricacies of inside linebacker in order to see the field.

Now a senior, Tindall seems primed to make his biggest contributions yet.

The Columbia native played 11-of-65 defensive snaps against Clemson. He made those snaps count, registering three tackles.

Tindall took the field at 232 pounds, significantly bulked up from when he first came to Georgia. Upon arriving on campus as a freshman, he knew he had to add weight if he wanted to see the field as an inside linebacker.

"Just grinding and taking those protein shakes, doing what I’ve got to do. I knew I had to get bigger," Tindall said. "As soon as I walk in, you see them—people like Jordan Davis, 6-6, 330 pounds. I just can’t be taking on those blockers looking the way I was looking. I had to do what I had to do."

Over the past three years, Tindall has waited his turn. His action as a Bulldog has mainly been as a reserve or in mop-up duty.

In today's transfer climate, Tindall could have easily chosen to finish his college career elsewhere. Instead, he chose to stay and learn the position in hopes of eventually contributing.

"I just knew it was going to take me a little while to understand (inside linebacker)," Tindall said. "I didn’t try to use that as an excuse to leave, or anything like that. I really believe in Coach Schumann. He was a big reason on why I stayed—just the things I was learning from him and the things I’m still learning from him now."

Tindall is now among Georgia's top three inside linebackers, along with Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker. That trio makes up one of the fastest and most athletic groups of linebackers in the entire country.

That trio combined for nine tackles, including two sacks from Dean, against Clemson. That's only a continuation of what the group, along with freshmen Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Smael Mondon, produces in practice every day.

"We compete every single day," Tindall said. "Everybody makes a play, at least one or two plays every single day at practice. It’s very competitive in our room. We just keep pushing each other."

As a recruit, Tindall saw Roquan Smith patrol the field for the Bulldogs. He then got a front row seat to watch Monty Rice do the same.

Now, Tindall and the rest of the inside linebackers want to carry on that legacy.

"You just have a lot of good legends here that’s been playing that’s in the league now," Tindall said. "We don’t want to let them down, and we don’t want to let ourselves down. We’re just going to keep pushing."