LOS ANGELES — It does not take long to determine Jamon Dumas-Johnson is the ideal kind of no-nonsense leader for Georgia football.
Johnson, or, “Pops” as he’s known to his teammates, brings the pain on the field as a pass rusher and run stuffer from his middle linebacker position.
Johnson is just as direct off the field, as he proved once again during the Bulldogs’ CFP media day on Sunday at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
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“Coach Smart first said it, we didn’t build this program to be a one-hit wonder,” Johnson said. “It’s not no new Alabama — this is Georgia football.
“We’re just coming up, staying the course and standing who we are. We do what we do, we just keep chopping at the end of the day.”
The Bulldogs will end their season at 7:30 p.m. on Monday at SoFi Stadium against TCU in the CFP Championship Game.
The 6-foot-1, 245-pound Dumas-Johnson leads Georgia in tackles-for-loss (9) and sacks (4), and he ranks third with 66 tackles.
“I think he’s actually better than Nakobe Dean,” SEC Network analyst and former Super Bowl champion Roman Harper said.
Dean, of course, was the Butkus Award winner last season and the brain center of an epic Georgia defense that featured five first-round NFL Draft picks.
Harper, who played at Alabama, knows what he sees in Dumas-Johnson.
“He’s bigger, the dude has just as much speed,” Harper said, “and if you watch, this guy is flying around sideline to sideline making very single play.”
Dumas-Johnson often has direct angles of pursuit thanks to the strong defensive line play in front of him, led by All-American Jalen Carter.
“The Georgia defense, you hear Kirby say it, physical football travels,” Harper said. “They hit people with body shots.
“Teams don’t want to see Georgia in the fourth quarter because of the way they play, and the way they hit you. It’s a never-ending wave of relentless play.”
Dumas-Johnson is in the middle of all of it, bringing a different level of intensity.
“To play this sport, you have to be physical,” Dumas-Johnson explained. “But certain people — and you know who the people are — play violent. Two different things.”
Dumas-Johnson’s big hits keep his teammates fired up, and so do his comments in the huddle and the locker room.
“If you don’t have a voice in that inside ‘backer room, it ain’t going to work for the defense,” Dumas-Johnson said, taking his cue from Dean, who learned to become a vocal leader from Tennessee Titans linebacker and former Bulldogs Monty Rice.
“I think everyone respects us because they know what we do, and they know what we have to do.”
It was Dumas-Johnson coming up with a key sack against Ohio State in the fourth quarter of the Bulldogs’ 42-41 win.
The Buckeyes had driven to the Georgia 18, up 38-35 and looking to make it a two score game when Dumas-Johnson chased down C.J. Stroud for a 12-yard loss that led to a third-and-17 incompletion and 48-yard field goal that made it 41-35.
“The sack was a big sack, it pushed them back (12) yards, but it was a big stop to get our offense on the field,” Dumas-Johnson said. “That goes back to our DNA and resilience, we’re never giving up, and we believe in our teammates.”
Even when things were dire, Dumas-Johnson joined veteran Christopher Smith in keeping Georgia players confident and fired up.
“Second quarter we were down, and I said to Chris, ‘We’re going to LA,” " Dumas-Johnson said. “It’s a four quarter game, we always preach that. To comeback, we found out who were were as a team. Like we say at Georgia, we have to keep chopping.”
It will be no different against TCU, a team that has come from double digits down five times to win games this season.
“Just come out fast, and once you come out fast, you have to keep your foot on the pedal,” Dumas-Johnson said. “You can’t let off. Teams tend to fight back when you let off. You have to keep your foot on the gas and don’t let up.”