FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – It’s always great to hear from Dan Lanning. Georgia fans will have one last opportunity to do that on Monday.
It also would have been interesting to hear from Will Muschamp and/or Glenn Schumann. Coach Kirby Smart tabbed them as the Bulldogs’ co-defensive-coordinators-in-waiting after Lanning was hired as Oregon’s head coach earlier this month.
Lanning, who opted to stick with Georgia through the College Football Playoff, will field questions from Georgia reporters one last time on Monday. He was designated as the Bulldogs’ representative for the Orange Bowl’s defensive coordinator press conference, which will be conducted virtually at 8 o’clock Monday morning.
If things go well against No. 2 Michigan in the semifinals at Hard Rock Stadium on Friday night (7:30 p.m., ESPN), Lanning will be with the Bulldogs through the Jan. 10 national championship game in Indianapolis.
Georgia fans will recall when defensive coordinator Mel Tucker was named Colorado’s head coach two days after the 2018 SEC Championship. Tucker left the Bulldogs immediately to start his new job.
Three weeks later, the college football world was introduced to his fresh-faced 32-year-old replacement -- Lanning. That was during a Sugar Bowl press conference in New Orleans.
Technically, Lanning was also a “co-defensive coordinator” when he represented Georgia during the lead-up to that game against Texas. Lanning shared the title with then 28-year-old Schumann.
Granted, the stakes are considerably higher for the No. 3-ranked Bulldogs this time. They’ll face No. 2 Michigan in a College Football Playoff semifinal Friday at Hard Rock Stadium. That challenge – and a bonus potentially worth 55% of Lanning’s salary – is why Lanning is sticking around.
Meanwhile, Georgia has been preparing for Michigan with essentially three different defensive coordinators. Make that four including Smart, a longtime defensive coordinator himself.
One would think the Bulldogs’ defenders should be exceptionally prepared.
They need to be. Georgia’s defense, which remains among the best in the nation statistically, was terrorized by Alabama in the SEC Championship game. The Crimson Tide and quarterback Bryce Young torched the Bulldogs with 421 yards passing and three touchdowns in the 41-24 victory.
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