Connor Norman to the rescue.
Again.
For a walk on – and that’s what Norman considers himself still – there sure are a lot people who depend on him. That point has been highlighted again in the Georgia Bulldogs’ preseason camp.
Tray Matthews, slated to start at free safety this season, was sidelined for much of Sunday’s practice due to an undisclosed injury. Meanwhile, Josh Harvey-Clemons, who is penciled in to start at the other safety position, will miss the first game due to a disciplinary suspension.
So what do the Bulldogs do? They simply turn to the guy who wears Aaron Murray’s duplicate number and tell him to “get in there.”
“I kind of move around a lot in the secondary,” said Norman, a senior out of Duluth’s Peachtree Ridge High School. “I really couldn’t pinpoint one spot. I have a pretty good hold on all the secondary spots.”
It’s not as much that Norman is a freakishly versatile player – though he’s a better athlete than many might suspect – but it’s his deep and thorough knowledge of Todd Grantham’s defense that gets him all over the field. He gets a lot of snaps on one hand because he knows the playbook so well and on the other so he can demonstrate what to do to his teammates.
Norman is as much coach as he is competitor, his coaches and teammates say.
“His value is in that he’s versatile, he can do multiple things,” said Grantham, Georgia’s defensive coordinator. “He knows our defense very well and I think he’s done a tremendous job of helping us develop Tray since January. We’re limited in the time we can meet with these guys, but Connor can meet with them and help those guys. And he does a really good job of explaining the concepts of our defense. And he can play multiple positions as well. He’s got good instincts and some quickness to him, too. He’s always in the right spot.”
Norman has been a busy man in 2013 as the Bulldogs are going through an almost total overhaul of the secondary. Only cornerback Damian Swann returns as a starter as inexperienced players are being inserted at every other position.
Specifically, Norman has been helping to get Matthews ready at free safety and Harvey-Clemons, Corey Moore and Shaquille Fluker at the strong safety spots. Meanwhile, he’s getting a lot of reps himself at those spots and at the nickel. Odds are he’ll have to play a lot of snaps when the Bulldogs’ open against Clemson on Aug. 31.
“Connor, that’s my dog. I love him,” said Moore, a junior who’s currently running with the first team at strong safety. “I have much respect for Connor Norman. Connor is like the best player on the defense. If Coach Grantham was to dial up a play or just make a play, Connor will know that play that night. He’s a great guy and he’s willing to help everybody.”
Some of Norman’s best contributions have come on the field of play. Because of suspensions to Bacarri Rambo and Sanders Commings, he started the first two games of last season. And he held his own in both contests.
Norman had four tackles against Buffalo and six against Missouri, both UGA victories.
“I was definitely more nervous for the Buffalo game than the Missouri game because that was the first one,” said Norman, who transferred to Georgia from Presbyterian after the 2009 season. “I was nervous for that game. I felt more comfortable in the second game I started. The more you’re in there the better you feel.”
Norman also had to step in briefly for a temporarily injured Shawn Williams in the 2011 opener against Boise State.
But his chief job has been to help get his teammates ready. That is what has occupied the majority of his time since January.
“It feels like (a coaching position) sometimes,” said Norman, who was placed on scholarship before last season but remains unsure about this one. “As an older guy you’re obligated to help the younger guys. You’re really just doing what’s in the best interest of the team with all these new guys we’ve got. I feel like a coach sometimes, but I’m really enjoying it. It’s kind of fun.”
Norman spent a lot of time with the No. 1 defense at free safety on Sunday morning as Matthews had to sit out all contact drills and 11-on-11 work. Oddly, UGA did not release an injury report as it usually does following Sunday’s practice and coaches and teammates were cryptic about his ailment other than to infer that it’s not serious and he should be back to full speed in a day or two.
It appeared that Matthews was favoring his right arm as if he had a neck or shoulder injury of some sort. Matthews indicated via his Twitter account, @TriggaTray_28 that it’s a minor setback: “I’m good . Nothing to worry about.”
But as we’re learning, with Norman in the fold there’s never a worry.
O-line shuffle: Add Watts Dantzler's name onto the growing list of possibilities on Georgia's offensive line. The junior from Dalton was getting a good bit of work with the Bulldogs' No. 1 offensive unit on Sunday.
"Watts has done a good job so far," said offensive line coach Will Friend of the 6-foot-7, 310-pound behemoth. "Let's see if he can keep it up. Some of it is just to give Chris (Brunette) a little break because he just got back in. But some of it is because he's done a good job."
That brings to 10 the number of players who are in position to get playing time on the offensive front when Georgia takes the field this fall. The Bulldogs are returning all five starters from last year’s record-breaking unit. But Xzavier Ward, Kenarious Gates and now Dantzler have all taken snaps with the starting offense. Georgia has also experimented with Burnette at center. Burnette a senior and a two-year starter, is coming off of off-season shoulder surgery.
It’s a delicate balance the Bulldogs are trying to strike between trying to establish the five best players and maintaining the chemistry they helped them score a school record 529 points last season.
This and that: The defensive line with the No. 1 defense on Sunday had senior Garrison Smith at one end, junior Ray Drew at the other and redshirt freshman Jonathan Taylor at noseguard. "Yeah, but it could be different tomorrow," defensive line coach Chris Wilson said. "It probably will be once I look at the film." … UGA is not allowing the team's kicking specialists to be interviewed during the preseason. Place kicker Marshall Morgan is facing a possible suspension after his arrest this summer for boating under the influence. Georgia has yet to announce a punishment. … Long snapper Nathan Theus has been practicing with the Bulldogs' tight ends.
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