The vibes seem to be good with Will Muschamp around at Georgia practice.

“I think that the players respect him and the job that he has done,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “So far, I have been really excited and reinvigorated because there is a new voice, and a lot of people are up there talking. They are hearing different voices every day, and the players are really competing.”

Georgia defensive back Ameer Speed backed up what Smart had to say about the former Florida and South Carolina head coach.

And the senior defensive back has taken notice of the dynamic that Muschamp and Smart, two former Georgia defensive backs themselves, have with each other.

“Him and coach Smart, it’s funny and comical,” Speed said of the two. “Their energy is a lot and it gives you something to go off of. Coach Muschamp gets us to laugh and is just a good guy.”

Muschamp arrived at Georgia earlier this offseason, with the original plan for him to be an analyst. He’d help coach the coaches while working behind the scenes.

Then special teams coordinator Scott Cochran stepped away from the program, which allowed Georgia to slide Muschamp into an on-field coaching role.

In addition to being allowed to recruit for the Bulldogs in a more hands-on capacity, Muschamp is now able to interact with players in a more direct manner.

As for the positional group Muschamp works with, Cochran did have the title of special teams coordinator. Muschamp is heavily involved with the various personnel groupings.

But Smart outlined that the job on special teams was more of a group effort. Tight ends coach Todd Hartley in particular has taken up a larger role when it comes to on-field special teams, while new analyst Robbie Discher has helped behind-the-scenes.

And Muschamp’s past experience as a head coach does give him some expertise when it comes to working with special teams.

“People think that because you are a head coach, you are not a special teams coach,” Smart said. “You are probably more in special teams as the head coach than you are when you are the special teams coach. I know that Will ran his program very similar to how we run ours, and he was involved in special teams.”

Muschamp’s energy and expertise though isn’t limited to just working on special teams. It is clearly impacting other parts of the program, as Speed pointed out.

“Coach Muschamp is awesome,” Speed said. “He does a really good job (working) with us. We love talking with coach Muschamp.”

Kirby Smart, Ameer Speed talk importance of Will Muschamp

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