ATHENS — Much will be made of Will Muschamp’s return to South Carolina on Saturday, as Georgia’s co-defensive coordinator returns to the school where he was the head coach from 2016 through the 2020 season.

He’s not the only Georgia staffer with experience at South Carolina — Bryan McClendon and Mike Bobo both worked as offensive coordinators under Muschamp in Columbia, S.C.,— but Muschamp’s presence looms the largest.

He helped recruit many of the veterans still on the South Carolina roster. But he’s also made a big difference at Georgia, where he coaches defensive backs in addition to his defensive coordinator duties.

“There is a lot of value in that knowledge,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “He understands the seat I am in. He understands recruiting in this conference. He is a tremendous asset to our defensive staff. He is a tremendous asset to our special teams staff. It is like having a second head coach, and that is what I am talking about when I talk about our staff being complete and being one of the best we have assembled.”

Todd Monken and Bobo both have previous head coaching experience as well, but neither did so at an SEC school, much less two. Between his time at Florida and South Carolina, he knows what it is like to work at one of the bigger schools in the conference and also one of the more difficult ones to win at in South Carolina.

It’s why he’s able to win big-time recruiting battles, like he did for Georgia last season, while also identifying under-the-radar talent.

A classic example of the latter is in Javon Bullard. The starting star for the Bulldogs did not have the same recruiting profile as some of Georgia’s other talented defenders. He was rated as the No. 643 overall prospect in the 2021 recruiting class.

Muschamp actually offered Bullard first. But that was when he was still the head coach at South Carolina. Georgia offered a month later. The allure of playing for his home state team was too much to pass up for the Milledgeville, Ga., native but he is thrilled he now gets to play for Muschamp.

“God works in mysterious ways and it’s just crazy how he came back to his alma mater,” Bullard said. “Me and coach Muschamp, he’s shared so much information with me, he’s my position coach. I’m with, shoot, a majority of the day. He gives us so much information, brings so much excitement to the game. Even though it’s football, he takes the time to check up on you, ask how your grades are doing, things like that.

“Great guy, I love him and appreciate him.”

Linebacker Smael Mondon was also recruited by South Carolina but he never seriously considered the Gamecocks. His recruitment was far more contentious, as he was the No. 28 overall player in the 2021 recruiting rankings.

Like Bullard, he loves what Muschamp brings to this team. Especially during the intense practices that Georgia runs in the build-up to games.

“He is one of my favorite coaches. He has an energy to him that feeds off of him,” Mondon said. “Being around him makes me feel more confident, and he is going to get you fired up. He brings that juice.”

Muschamp figures to be around in Athens for a bit, given his son Jackson is a walk-on quarterback for the Bulldogs. He’s done the head coaching thing, while also serving as a defensive coordinator at places like Auburn, LSU and Texas.

Saturday figures to be an emotional day for Muschamp, given his ties to that program. It will mean a lot for him to be back in Columbia and seeing many familiar faces.

But Muschamp has a job to do in Athens. He’s done it very well so far and the Bulldogs are very glad to have him on their sideline come this Saturday.

Javon Bullard on Will Muschamp: ‘That’s my guy’

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