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What departure of Jahmile Addae says about Kirby Smart, Georgia football

Chris Smith will be one of the key leaders on Georgia’s defense next season. It will be his third season as a starter and he’ll be asked to step up given the losses GEorgia will see at the defensive line and linebacker positions.

Smith will also be playing for his fourth defensive backs coach next season. He arrived in 2018 to play for Mel Tucker. He worked with Charlton Warren for two years. He got only one season with Jahmile Addae, who will now be the defensive backs coach at Miami in 2022.

That Addae is departing the Georgia program after one season does not come as a shock. Especially when you consider how Kirby Smart’s reputation as a defensive backs coach. The Georgia coach is often spotted at the beginning of practices instructing and working with the defensive backs.

Related: Georgia football searching for new defensive backs coach as Jahmile Addae departs for Miami

Add in Will Muschamp, who was also spotted working with the defensive backs before games this season, and Georgia has two of the best defensive back coaches in the country. That also put a coach like Addae in a difficult spot. Imagine being an offensive coordinator under Andy Reid or a defensive coordinator for Bill Belichick.

It’s the second time this offseason a Georgia coach has made a lateral move, as Cortez Hankton left to become the wide receivers coach at LSU. Hankton received a large pay bump to return to his home state of Louisiana — $350,000 — to be exact. You can bet Addae is likely also to receive a raise to return to his home state of Florida and coach for the Hurricanes. He made $500,00 last season at Georgia.

Earlier this offseason, Georgia pulled new wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon from the Hurricanes. It’s about the only thing money hasn’t been able to buy for the Hurricanes, as Miami plucked head coach Mario Cristobal from Oregon and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis from Michigan.

That Georgia was able to pluck McClendon perhaps speaks to a larger point Smart was making when speaking about his program on National Signing Day.

“I’m big on ‘fit’. Does someone fit the culture we are trying to create? We don’t look at a lot of things that people on the outside world look at,” Smart said. I look at, can the make our staff better, can they make our players better, do they fit our culture. He (McClendon) checked the box, was the best fit, and wants to be here. That’s important to me and what we create at Georgia.”

Related: Recent offensive hires made by Kirby Smart show what he wants next for Georgia football

That doesn’t mean that Addae, or any departing coach, was a bad fit at Georgia. Given all Addae had to replace in Georgia’s secondary, the group held up well save for the SEC championship game against Alabama. Kelee Ringo became a household name in college football and Lewis Cine won defensive MVP honors in the National Championship game. Smith had interceptions in wins against Clemson and Alabama while Derion Kendrick had two interceptions in the win against Michigan.

Addae also played a role in Georgia signing a great defensive back haul. The Bulldogs landed five blue-chip defensive back recruits, with four of them ranking among the top-100 overall prospects in the 2022 recruiting cycle.

One of those signees, Julian Humphrey weighed in on Addae’s departure. It was similar to that of Tykee Smith, who followed Addae from West Virginia to Georgia last offseason.

Addae also helped land 5-star edge rusher Marvin Jones Jr. out of Florida. But this is where we point out that no coach on Georgia’s staff deserves full credit for landing a recruit. It’s a staff effort by design. Muschamp helped greatly in recruiting, especially with the defensive back crop.

And much like his defensive back expertise, Smart is one of the best recruiters in the country. Even if he has to delegate his time more now as the head coach. It’s why Georgia is one of two schools to sign a top-5 class in each of the past five recruiting cycles. As the coaching staff continues to turnover, Smart is the constant.

In terms of replacing Addae, Georgia has options. It could move Muschamp to the defensive backs coach role, and promote one of its many high-profile analysts — Scott Cochran, Mike Bobo, Buster Faulkner — to an on-field role. It could also look for an outside hire, such as Demarcus Van Dyke or Karl Scott. The former worked as the cornerbacks coach at Miami last season and would give Georgia an assist in recruiting south Florida. The latter spent three seasons working at Alabama before spending last season with the Minnesota Vikings.

Travaris Robinson is also a name to know, though he just went from Miami to Alabama to become the defensive backs coach for the Crimson Tide. Robinson worked as the defensive coordinator for Muschamp when the two were at South Carolina.

Whoever ends up coaching the defensive backs will have to replace Cine and Kendrick. It will have veterans in Ringo, Chris Smith and William Poole. Not to mention the talented 2022 signing class that includes 5-star prospects Malaki Starks, Jaheim Singletary and Daylen Everette.

Above all though, the next defensive backs coach will have Smart around to help instruct and get the most out of the defensive backfield. In some ways, that is why Georgia is looking for its fourth defensive backs coach in five seasons.

But it’s also why Georgia is probably going to be just fine in the defensive backfield next season.

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