Tyler: Georgia ILB coach Glen Schumann
When thinking of these hires, one name that casual Dawg fans might not know is that of inside linebackers coach Glenn Schumann. A Kirby Smart protege, Schuman started out at Alabama in 2008. That means he’s coming up on his tenth year of working with Nick Saban, Kirby Smart or both, which is pretty good company to have when learning defensive football. He then moved into a graduate assistant role where he was believed to have a pretty significant role in defensive game-planning for the Tide. If Smart is looking to hire someone without having to teach the nuances of his defense all over again, Schumann would probably be the most logical choice.
Schumann’s most prized product so far is Smith, who was selected 8th overall by the Chicago Bears this past spring. Prior to the coach’s arrival, Smith was a solid player, but nowhere near a first-round talent. The light started to come on in 2016 for the talented backer, but 2017 in his second year under Schumann and Smart is when he soared to a level Bulldog fans won’t soon forget. Some of the talented defenders Georgia has brought in, such as Channing Tindall, Adam Anderson and Quay Walker hope Schumann can do the same for them as he was a big reason why all three ended up in Athens in the first place.
Schumann is a hot name in coaching circles right now and Coaches change schools all the time. That’s part of the business side of college athletics. But the situation with Schumann is different. As mentioned earlier, he’s only 28 and is moving into the prime of his career in the coaching ranks. In the shark tank that is the SEC, programs are always looking for the next bright young phenom to take them to the next level. Naturally, Schumann probably doesn’t want to stay a position coach forever. Now just might be the time to give him his crack at running the Junkyard Dawg defensive show…with oversight from Smart of course.
Only one man knows what the Dawgs will do. He wears visors, signs 5-stars and eats the occasional giant bag of popcorn. He might decide to hire from outside the program to run his defense next season. A hunch from this writer, however, is that he knows he’s got a pretty good option already on his sideline.