FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann had a lot to say about the Georgia defense when speaking to reporters ahead of the Orange Bowl.
Be it on the best positions for Jalon Walker or Mykel Williams or his thoughts on former inside linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Schumann spoke to reporters for just over 25 minutes ahead of Saturday’s Orange Bowl against Florida State.
Below is a full transcript of what Schumann had to say.
On what it’s been like the last few weeks after knowing you aren’t playing for a national title...
“Our guys have been great. I think your passion and energy for playing the game of football kind of dictates how you handle things, and our guys love playing football. They had a really good couple weeks of prep, and I know they’re excited to be here.”
On preparing for a Florida State team that is hard to get a feel for after opt outs and transfers...
“Like, people always preach standard, and if the standard is a real thing then you’re always trying to be the best version of yourself. You know, they have a lot of good players. That’s how you end up in this position, and the guys that want to play are there for a reason and we know we’re getting their best shot.”
On coaching to a standard...
“Ultimately, you set expectations and you hold people to them, right? If it’s a real thing then you’re just trying to continually find the best version of yourself both individually and collectively as a unit. And so you never reach your best version of yourself because once you hit it, you’re always trying to meet the next mark. And so that’s how you go about, one, preaching the standard and then trying to reach out.”
On the growth of the defense this season...
“There’s a lot of maturity, a maturing that’s taken place. There’s guys that maybe whether they were older or younger hadn’t play a lot of football. There were obviously guys that had. I just think their poise, their resiliency, their connection as a unit, those things have grown leaps and bounds with each game.”
On how well-coached Georgia is...
“The games still come down to — no matter what you do schematically — blocking and defeating blockers, tackling, and making people miss, winning one-on-one matchups in terms of coverage situations, and run-game and pass-game blitz situations. I think when you look at people and how they’re coached, a lot of it is shown with their technique fundamentals. I like to think — I know that we place a lot of emphasis on that at the top. That’s how you get better. That’s a reflection of coaching more than what you do with your 11 guys on paper.”
On what the issue was giving up touchdowns on opening drives...
“Every game was different. I think that we just had a stretch there where we didn’t start well, you know? You can’t pinpoint one specific thing. We went back and looked at every game and the reasons were different, whether it was call structure, whether it was tackling, whether it was execution. Every single one of those games was different. Uniquely, we’re a really strong team on third down statistically, and on those drives I think one thing you can pinpoint is we had opportunities to get off the field and we did not when people scored on the first drive so, hey, if you get off the field on third down, it’s harder to score.”
On the message to the team in those situations...
“I think if you have to give some special message in that moment, then you didn’t go through your offseason the right way. Like, we talk about our team DNA traits all the time, and we talk about, you know, being connected and having toughness and resiliency and composure. And if that’s really a part of who you are, then in those moments that’s what you pull from. And the guys came over to the sideline with great poise, and all they wanted to do was have the answers. They wanted the reasons, and they wanted the answers. So we gave them the reasons for why what happened happened. They gave us the information, and then they went back out there and played football. That’s all you can ask them.”
On Jamon Dumas-Johnson transferring...
“I love Pop. I mean, I wish him the best. Obviously I care about him, and anytime you care about somebody and you have a time that you’re no longer with each other, then that’s what’s best for him in this case. He’s excited, and I’ll wish him the best from that standpoint.”
On CJ Allen and Raylen Wilson...
“They’re really mature. They approach their preparation the right way. They didn’t start preparing differently when they got opportunities to play. They prepared that way really starting in spring ball when they got here. Going back to bowl prep last year when they were able to come in early. So I think that’s ultimately the mark of a young player that is able to help you. A lot of times it’s relative to their maturity level and how they prepare because nobody gets to Georgia without ability.”
On Jalon Walker’s progression...
“Jalon goes about his business the right way. He works really hard. He’s a unique individual because he’s able to play both inside and out. He helped us a lot on third down this year. We also had packages where he played off the ball on first and second down. He’s just grown leaps and bounds. This isn’t something — you could see he’s rushed the passer his whole life. He decided to take on the challenge and play more off the ball in college because he knew it’d be more beneficial to him in the long run because, the more you can do, the more value you add to your career. He’s helped us a ton on third down. He’s helped us more on first and second down moving forward. I’m excited about where he’s going.”
On the outside linebacker room in 2024...
“I really like the guys that we have. I think that there’s a lot of ability in that room, guys that are going to step up. When there’s opportunity to step up, the guys who take advantage of it, they’ll be the ones that are out there, as far as moving forward. We had guys that played for us this year that we believe in. That’s why they’ve been in there in the forms and facets they have.”
On Malaki Starks...
“He’s a really good person. He prepares the right way, from the moment he’s been here. We talk about the maturity level of the linebackers. He had a maturity level to himself as a defensive player and a human being from the moment he got here. He’s incredibly humble. When you have humility, and you’re grateful for the opportunity, you constantly approach each day with the right level of enthusiasm. I think that’s why he’s gotten to the point he has. That’s why he’s going to continue to improve. He doesn’t have an ego. He just wants to do what’s best for his team and his teammates. That’s what he’s done.”
On missing the College Football Playoff and being a top-4 team...
“Playing in the Orange Bowl. We have an opportunity to play a great opponent. You play to win the games. Winning matters. We have a chance to go win a game, play a game against a great opponent. Our guys are excited. We’re excited as coaches.”
On Mykel Williams at outside linebacker...
“Sometimes, because you see things in the game, each game you decide what’s best for our team relative to what they do. You cross-train a lot of guys. You see that in the secondary a lot where guys play corner but they also play nickel. Guys play safety and nickel or dime. Linebackers play inside or outside. We do that in our front, as well. He’s trained to play on the edge a lot of times in his role. As a D-end, he’s on the edge already. There’s actually been times this year that he’s played in specialty roles that way. He definitely is an athletic enough guy that has enough length that he can potentially do that.”
On the freshman outside linebackers...
“The matchups in the trenches at the college level, it’s really different when you go on normal downs, first or second downs, run downs, and you go from high school to college. Pass rush is a little bit different because their speed and athleticism and natural skill set can take over. There’s a lot of strength that goes into playing on the edges, whether that’s setting edges, closing on counter. Sometimes that’s combos happen to you when people run duo plays and things like that. That’s an adjustment. Those guys have gotten stronger. They’ve gotten better in the run game. They’ve developed a more well-rounded skill set. All three of those freshmen have a chance to help us.”
On Jamon Dumas-Johnson...
“I mentioned earlier. One, I love Pop, and obviously he’ll be missed. It’s just a new day and age. I’ve been in conversations. I’ll leave that to him. But I wish him nothing but the best.”
On the linebacker room with Dumas-Johnson gone...
“They’re here for a reason. They’re really mature. They go about their business the right way. I know that when you have faith in how people prepare and do things, in addition to their ability, you know that they’re going to constantly improve. They’ve improved throughout the year. There’s nothing that beats experience. Sometimes they’ve learned from mistakes. Sometimes they’ve gained confidence through plays they’ve made. I’ve really seen really solid growth the last couple of weeks. I’m looking forward to watching them play.”
On what he’s learned from working with Kirby Smart…
“Coach Smart approaches every day like it’s gameday. When we go to the field, if there’s a scenario that’s a live-game simulation and it’s a call-it (?), he makes sure that it feels like, when I mean a call-it, I mean everyone out there, it’s unscripted and we’re playing good on good and moving the ball down the field like a game. He creates that environment every day to prepare us. That communication is very comfortable because of what we do every day. We don’t want the game to feel any different than our practice. We want practice to sometimes be more chaotic and harder than games. That’s what he does with everybody, not just our players.”
On how much it feels like his defense and how much collaboration there is with Kirby…
“We have a — there’s a whole staff input in everything that we do. We decide in the offseason the base structures, but the base structures, that’s where a lot of those have carried over from all the years that I’ve been involved with Coach Smart going back to Alabama. It evolves based on what you’re defending and who your players are and how you want to use them. When we look at it from that standpoint, the wrinkles will come every single year whether it’s different pressure paths, different coverage, different personnel grouping based on what the people are. It’s a whole staff decision when we do those things. That’s why we have Coach Muschamp, Coach Scott, Coach Uzo-Diribe, obviously Coach Smart’s involved in. Fran had a great impact and we added Donte Williams to our staff. There’s so many people more than that. I would say it’s just a whole staff effort in terms of our evolution.”
On the next-man-up mentality and who is stepping up in this game...
“You know, some of that remains to be seen, right? There’s some guys that have been battling through injuries. They’ve been getting reps, and a lot of that will be a medical decision from the standpoint of Ron Courson and Coach Smart. But we get everybody ready from that standpoint. When you look at it, there’s obviously the linebackers that are going to have to go and play a bigger role, but they’ve been doing that with Pop being out. From that standpoint, I look at our defense and we’re really in a good position from the standpoint of playing with guys who played throughout the course of the year. I think that we don’t ever look at it like we have 11 starters. We look at it like if you’re on the field you’re a starter, and that’s how we prepare. So there’s a bunch of guys that depending on the game situation will have an opportunity to step up.”
On any areas of the team that the transfers have affected...
“I think the majority of our main rotation is intact with the guys that finished the year playing. There’s obviously a couple guys here and there who’s no longer playing with us, but you have to adapt. That’s what we have to do as coaches is recruit as a team, and we’ve had time to do that. When you have a couple of weeks to prepare, you can get your bearings about you.”
On what Julian Humphrey is about to do...
“He’s out there practicing. He’s still battling through, you know, on his recovery timeline, and that’ll be a medical decision. But he’s out there practicing with us and doing everything he can. We’ll have to see whether he can do contact or not.”
On if Julian is wearing a black, non-contact jersey...
“Right.”
On Jalon Walker saying he is an HLB [hybrid linebacker]...
“Yeah, he likes that term.”
On what effort and mental bandwidth it takes to be able to do what he does...
“It’s really unique. We’ve always had guys that play inside on first and second and then on third down they go out in rush packages. Maybe they weren’t the first guy on the depth chart always because somebody else was ahead of them in that role, but what he’s done is he’s taken on some roles in early-down packages that maybe hasn’t shown itself as much in the game where he goes out on the edge as well. So that’s really challenging. When you have to be able to defend run and pass in both positions and all the different blocks that can show up for you, all the different coverage variables there, that requires a lot of effort and focus, both on the field and off the field. He’s approached it and done it the right way from that standpoint. Third down’s easier because, if you’ve got a guy that plays in the front, all they want to do is straight rush and go get the passer. So that part is a little bit easier, but first and second down, hybrid, versatility, it’s challenging.”
On Chaz Chambliss, multi-faceted aspect of the job at OLB ...
“That room, we jump in and out of fronts. We have to be able to play four down and three down. Within that, you have to have a unique individual that can do that because when we call four down fronts, you have to be able to play anywhere from a 6-technique out to a 9-technique. There’s a lot of different blocks you can get out there and a lot of different reads that show up with the way people run the quarterback now. Not just in terms of zone reads and quarterback pulls, but gap schemes where its sweep with the quarterback having the option to run counter or power. So all those blocks change now when you jump into three down and there’s a possible dropper who’s not a rusher. So you may have somebody in coverage and all the fits are different. Then, if they’re playing spread offense, he may have to go out and drop and leverage formations more. You watch a guy like Khalil Mack who plays the position in the NFL and people miss it because of the sack production, but Khalil Mack drops a fair amount. Haasan Reddick last year who had 19.5 sacks, plays outside linebacker for the Eagles and he’s dropping at times. Obviously you want to keep the guys going forward if that’s what they do best, but there’s a lot that goes into that position in terms of playing both four down and three down, being a possible dropper and the different blocks you have to defend in a game. And the blocks you have to defend change based on which call you’re in, which front you’re in and whether you’re to the field or the boundary. There’s just a lot of variables there, and then in the RPO game, that position a lot of times has to be a pass first player dependent on our call and how they line up. So, there’s a lot more to it than when you get to pin your ears back, what we call jet mode where it’s third down and a known passing scenario and we say, ‘Get off. You have free rein to rush.’”
On pass pressure this year...
“I would say this, we always want more production statistically. As coaches, you’re going to judge it based on how they throw the ball, and even if we didn’t get a sack, if they didn’t throw the ball effective then we did our job. But, we’re all guilty of - one of the most fun things to do in football as a player is to sack the quarterback and as a coach is to see the quarterback get sacked. If he’s on the ground, he can’t complete a pass 100% of the time. Now, we’ve been an effective pass defense, and on third down when they pass the ball the most, we’ve been really effective. So we’ve upset the quarterback more. But, at the same time, we’ve been effective against the pass and can be more effective if we sack the quarterback more and create more havoc plays from that standpoint.”
On bowl practices from new defensive players...
“When guys come in for these bowl practices, they’re completely swimming. From the standpoint of, they don’t know our defense, we’re not expecting them to be ready to play in this game so when they do scout team work, they’re off a card and when they do good on good scenarios where they get a chance to go in, a lot of times there’s a coach chasing them around telling them their job. ‘Hey, line up over here. You’re in press man.’
When you evaluate people from the standpoint of guys standing out in these practices, a lot of it is just based on who they are as a person and their effort. I’ve really been pleased with everybody we’ve brought in. I know you’re looking for specific guys, but the class we have is really good people. They’re working really hard. There isn’t a guy who walked in and we’re like, dang, this isn’t the kid we thought he was. They’re the kids that we think they are. They can run. That’s a premium we place in recruiting across all positions. I’ve been really pleased with just how they’ve gone about their business. Some of them got here earlier than later so they’ve been able to be in full pads longer. Some of them just got here the other day and so they’re going through acclimation. Some of them we can’t really get a full evaluation on too until they have the pads on.”
On if he envisions a changing role for Mykel Williams next season...”Mykel’s an edge player. I mentioned this earlier, he’s always cross-trained at other positions. Sometimes you say changing role, the things that you’ve cross-trained in terms of hey, being able to play D-end and be a bigger outside linebacker, you decide that based on who’s your best 11 on the field and what’s your opponent doing. I know this, we’d like to play him on the edge more, whether that’s at D-end, Jack, anything from that standpoint. He’s one of our best players and we want to make sure that he’s doing what he does best more often.”
On Jalon Walker and his growth…”There’s these stages you go through when you’ve never keyed the run from behind the ball before. It starts with being able to see things properly. Then after it gets to seeing things properly, then it goes to navigating the traffic that happens from playing behind the ball. I think he’s seeing things really well right now. I think he’s continuing to get better at navigating the blocks and the traffic from that standpoint. He’s grown leaps and bounds there. You’re involved in a lot more coverage scenarios as an off-the-ball backer and different pattern match versus when you’re playing on the edge, you’re kind of, hey, I’m a flat player or I’m man on somebody or I could have a hook. There’s a lot more pattern match in terms of passing off routes between the safeties and the nickels and the other backers. He’s gotten a lot better in all those areas. It’s just about how fast, people always talk about the game slowing down. The game’s starting to slow down for him. Where before, mentally he’s a really sharp kid, he could understand where he’s supposed to be and what he’s supposed to do, but then it has to happen really quickly for him. It has to happen really quickly for him mentally, which means it’s slowing down for him. For a little while, it was happening fast. I’ve started to see it, especially in the last couple of weeks, I think slowing down for him. We want to play the guy on the edge a lot too because that’s what he does best. There’s things that we’re going to do with him and that we’ve done with him this year that maybe the other guys in the room don’t do. I think he’s just a unique individual and we’re going to find ways to use him more moving forward.”
On Georgia’s run defense and what needs to be better…”One, it goes back to how fast do you see things? It goes back to how do you defeat blocks because, especially when you mention the quarterback run game, there’s a reality of when they run the quarterback, there’s a hat on every player except the middle-field safety. Really, when you look at that, you have to defeat blockers. You can’t go one-for-one. That doesn’t just mean the front, that’s the first level, second level, and third level because on paper, they have everybody blocked. Then eyes are really important because a lot of these runs now are really, it’s not necessarily, you can say it’s misdirection, but it’s two plays within one play. The guys on this side of the defense have to play this play, the guys on this side of the defense have to play this play. Sometimes there’s a guy in the middle who’s completely in conflict. The only way your number is right is if he ends up on the right side of the play. Your eyes can be better. I think defeating blockers would be better from that standpoint. Then you can have more answers to what they do. It’s a three-part question. How do you see things, how do you beat people technically and fundamentally, and then can we create, if we’re not able to beat blockers one on one, which don’t take that wrong. We did that at times this year. But then finding ways to create changeups to help us in the run defense to answer the runs that are being run.”
