ATHENS — There’s a stark contrast between when Georgia’s defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann speaks and when co-defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson does.
When Robinson speaks, there’s an energy and enthusiasm to his tone. An excitement to attack each question.
Schumann is much more reserved and monotonous. But Schumann’s tone doesn’t detract from his message, or how impactful and important he is to the Georgia operation.
“(I) call him Rain Man,” Robinson said of Schumann. “He’s very, very intelligent. Very intelligent, sees everything, has really good ideas and he does a really good job in front of the guys. I think the guys really respect him. He does a good job of delegating different things to the staff and giving them ownership in their job. Y’all should see him try to make any kind of edit or slide. He’s the best on the computer I’ve ever seen.”
Schumann, as improbable as it seems, is now entering his ninth year as an assistant coach at Georgia. It will be his third as Georgia’s defensive coordinator.
He’s worked with a number of assistants over the years, from Mel Tucker to Dan Lanning and now Robinson. He’ll step in for Will Muschamp, who previously worked as the co-defensive coordinator for Georgia.
Schumann is quick to note it’s always a collaborative effort when it comes to the defensive coaching staff. That has always been the case on a Kirby Smart coaching staff, offense or defense.
But Schumann’s voice echoes loudly on the defensive side of the ball. And it has only grown in his time with Georgia.
“As a teacher, you can’t assume the people you’re delivering the message to are understanding what you’re saying unless you get that communication back and forth,” Schumann said. “So I think those elements are important.”
Schumann didn’t play at the SEC level as Smart, Muschamp or Robinson did. His football career ended when he was in high school. He never planned on going into coaching but a moment during his senior year of high school when he helped explain a concept to another player.
“I had the biggest rush of my life seeing them be successful after me helping them in some way, shape, or form, and kind of at that moment I knew I wanted to coach,” Schumann said.
That enthusiasm for teaching hasn’t waned for Schumann, even as his stature in college football has grown. He’s the highest-paid assistant coach on Georgia’s staff, making more than $2 million a year.
With that salary comes great problems, like solving the puzzle of how to get the most out of multi-positional players such as Mykel Williams, Jalon Walker or Joenel Aguero.
There’s also the looming 2024 schedule, which features games against Texas, Ole Miss, Alabama and Clemson. The contest against the Tigers is at the end of the month, and it’s easy to understand why someone who can see all the angles like Schumann might be looking ahead.
But the Georgia defensive coordinator actually cares far more about figuring out what his own team can do at this point, rather than trying to slow down Clemson.
“Focusing on our installation, focusing on our players and their development,” Schumann said. “It’s this window of time for these two weeks that you have to attack your technique and fundamentals, okay, your mental part of the game, every area that you need to focus on to improve yourself. If you become a better player, if each person, each coach grows themselves over this period of time, that’ll pay more dividends than just about anything we could do in opponent prep.”
Clemson will be plenty motivated against Schumann’s defense, as the Tigers had just three points against Georgia back in 2021. Garrett Riley, Clemson’s offensive coordinator, scored just seven points the last time he matched wits with Schumann, which came as TCU’s offensive coordinator in the 2023 National Championship Game.
Much like Raymond Babbit in the aforementioned Rain Man, Schumann always seems to be one step ahead of the dealer. More often than not, his defense has been in a position to get stops, even after losing wave after wave of defenders to the NFL.
He’s only just begun working with Robinson, who came over from Alabama’s staff. And while Robinson is still learning some of the quirks of Schumann’s personality, he recognizes what a special coach and person Schumann is.
“He’s an awesome dude, a great guy, a staff guy,” Robinson said. “He’s a guy that I’m eager to continue to learn from and be a part of and help with what we’re trying to get accomplished here.”
