In discussing Georgia’s upcoming spring practice session, which begins Saturday, coach Mark Richt mentioned several broad-based goals he wants to see the Bulldogs achieve, dropping words like “fundamentals,” “safety” and “unity.” But the one word he mentioned more than any other was “competition.”
"I want to see competition at everybody's position,” said Richt, who is entering his 13th season as the Bulldogs’ football coach. “I want everybody to prove that they can play for Georgia and that they deserve to start and get playing time. Offense versus defense, every drill that we go against each other I want a winner and a loser. I want guys to win and I want guys to want to win."
There should be plenty of competition to be had. Between graduation and NFL opportunities, starting jobs have opened up all over the field, especially on defense. In all, eight positions are without the players that manned them for the majority of the Bulldogs’ 12-2 run last season. But Richt and his coordinators Mike Bobo and Todd Grantham emphasized that few, if any, of the other spots are locked down for 2013.
So there is much to get done before the 15-practice session concludes with the April 6 G-Day Game at Sanford Stadium. Here are some of the Bulldogs’ top priorities.
1. Rebuilding the defense: Georgia is looking to replace starters at both safety positions, cornerback, inside linebacker, outside linebacker, defensive end and noseguard and will have at least nine of last year's defensive players will be in NFL camps this summer. Grantham has downplayed the talent bleed, pointing to the return of "eight or nine" players who have started at least one game. Whether or not they are of the ilk of the group that just left -- which includes projected early-round NFL draft picks Jarvis Jones, Alec Ogletree and John Jenkins -- remains to be seen.
Redshirts such as noseguard John Taylor and career backups such as linebacker Ramik Wilson, defensive linemen Ray Drew and Mike Thornton, cornerback Devin Bowman and safety Corey Moore will battle with incoming freshmen and transfers to fill the voids.
“We’ve got some guys who have been here for a while that it’s their turn to show what they can do (along with) some guys that came in midyear,” Grantham said. “As coaches we’re excited about that."
2. Indoctrinate the newbies: Georgia brought in its most midyear enrollees ever. Thirteen signees -- seven on defense, six on offense -- started classes in January and have been participating in the Bulldogs' off-season training program. That's going to help them have more players ready to play in the season opener at Clemson. But initially it will mean there's a bunch of people on the field who don't yet know what they're doing. For them it will be a trial by fire.
“You may have one coach spend more a little more time with the young guys just to bring them up to speed a little bit,” Richt said. “Some of that may be going on. But once we hit the field we’re practicing and we’re going.”
3. Solidify special teams: Georgia was as bad as it has been in a long time in the kicking game this past season. Kicker Marshall Morgan was wildly inconsistent as a freshman, missing 10 placement kicks in all, including four PATs. And the Bulldogs were 11th in the 14-team SEC in punting. Georgia was also average-to-poor in the return game, finishing 7th in kickoff returns and 10th in punt returns. Georgia will continue to divide the coaching of each special team unit between nine assistant coaches. But Richt says he going to take a more active role in coaching special teams and has been studying in the offseason to better educate himself on the art of kicking.
"I can’t sit here and say I’m gonna be an expert," he said, "but I’m gonna be better prepared to help guys make sure they stay on track with their fundamentals, how they think and even some detail."
4. Building depth: The one thing holding Georgia back from being a championship team last season was depth. Eventual national champion Alabama exposed that deficiency on the defensive line and at inside linebacker when it gashed them for 350 yards rushing in the SEC Championship game. Georgia also started only six different offensive linemen all season and rarely played more than that in games. So identifying more players in the spring that they can trust to put into games in the fall will be important for the Bulldogs.
5. Staying healthy: As ever, this is a top priority. The Bulldogs already have some injury concerns. Starting offensive linemen Chris Burnette (shoulder) and John Theus (foot) and split end Michael Bennett (knee) are going to miss the entire session while recovering from off-season surgeries and No. 2 tailback Keith Marshall will be sidelined for at least two weeks with a hamstring injury suffered running track. The last thing Georgia needs is a major injury to a front-line player, striking a balance between competition and caution will be important.
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