ATHENS – Will Muschamp already was intimately involved in Georgia’s preseason preparations. Now he’s even more engaged.
The former South Carolina head coach spent most of the first six months of the year studying Clemson’s offense and formulating a scheme with Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart and his defensive staff for slowing the Tigers, as well some of the other offenses Georgia will face this season. Now he has assumed possession of coach Scott Cochran’s special-teams playbook, and so he’s out on UGA’s practice fields trying to find some players to fill roles.
But Muschamp hasn’t abandoned the defense either, according to defensive coordinator Dan Lanning. And that’s just fine with him.
“It’s actually really a blessing for us to have that experience on our side of the ball,” Lanning said before Tuesday’s practice, Georgia’s fifth of the preseason. “The great thing about our group is there are zero egos, and everybody’s pulling the rope in the same direction. When you can add a guy like coach Muschamp, as well as the additional coaches we have on our staff, it’s obviously a benefit to myself and every one of our players.”
Muschamp, who turned 50 a week ago, launched his college football career as a defensive coordinator. Recently, though, he was tabbed by Kirby Smart to fill in for Cochran, who has been away from the team since mid-July to deal with an undisclosed health issue.
In addition to on-field work with Georgia’s special-teams units, Muschamp has taken over Cochran’s recruiting lists and territories as well. So he’s suddenly busier than he has been at any time since joining Smart’s staff as a defensive analyst in February.
But Lanning expects Muschamp to stay involved with the defense.
“I just have such a tremendous respect for coach Muschamp and the job he does,” Lanning said. “He’s a guy I lean on a lot for advice really in every situation, whether it be football or life. I definitely think he’ll be involved with us on defense and I’m excited to see that as it continues to develop.”
Coaches tab Georgia No. 5
Georgia-Clemson on Sept. 4 is officially a top-5 matchup in at least one poll. That became so Tuesday when the college football coaches tabbed the Bulldogs No. 5 and the Tigers No. 2 in the preseason coaches poll.
It’s familiar territory for Georgia, which has been included in the top five of the past four preseason coaches polls. It’s actually the lowest the Bulldogs have been in those previous polls, as they were No. 3 in 2019 and picked fourth in the ‘18 and ‘20 preseason polls.
Georgia finished No. 7 in both the final coaches and Associated Press (media) polls last season.
Once again, defending national champion Alabama was No. 1, Oklahoma No. 3 and Ohio State No. 4. Six SEC teams were ranked, including Texas A&M at No. 6, Florida at No. 11, LSU at No. 13 and Ole Miss at No. 25.
RB James Cook turning heads
One of the players creating buzz in preseason camp is running back James Cook. The senior doesn’t look at all like the 170-pound scatback who signed with the Bulldogs as a 4-star prospect in 2018. Cook will take the field this season at nearly 200 well-chiseled pounds and is joining forces with junior Zamir White to give Georgia the kind of veteran leadership in the backfield it hasn’t had since Nick Chubb and Sony Michel departed for the NFL after the 2017 season.
The trouble is, between a running back group that features Cook, White, Kendall Milton, Kenny McIntosh and Daijun Edwards, then all the other offensive weaponry in the Bulldogs’ arsenal this season, it might be difficult for any one of them to assume the role of designated playmaker.
Cook insists that’s not at all on his mind.
“I mean, all I’m trying to do is just win,” said Cook, who has amassed 1,221 yards and nine career touchdowns rushing and receiving the previous three years. “That’s the main thing, just winning games this year. We want to go out with a national championship and win the SEC championship, that’s all I’m focused on. That other stuff will come if you do things right.”
Lanning updates personnel
In his 22-minute Zoom call with reporters Tuesday, Lanning provided updates on several of his defensive players, including:
Nose guard Jordan Davis, who was named preseason All-SEC: “Jordan just doesn’t get moved. I know we always talk about his size, but I think one thing that he’s continued to improve on is not just be a guy that doesn’t get moved and eats up a block, but being a guy that separates from a block. I’m anticipating Jordan being a guy that can play three downs. He’s got to get his body in position where he can do that because he is extremely athletic, super talented.”
Cornerback Kelee Ringo, who’s coming off labrum surgery: “There’s nothing that can replace game experience, and Kelee missed out on that. At the same time, Kelee has worked extremely hard in practice to put himself in position to go out, make plays and learn what we do defensively. Kelee is engaged, he’s intelligent and he puts the time in. We’re going to continue to challenge Kelee because I’m excited to see what this guy can do. He can obviously run extremely fast and he’s got great size. The more experience he gets, the more reps he gets, the better he’s going to get.”
Linebacker Nakobe Dean, who takes on even more responsibility this season: “Nakobe is ready for that challenge. We have a lot on every one of our player’s plates, but Nakobe is certainly a big-time signal-caller for us. I’m excited to see Quay Walker and Channing Tindall and those guys as well. We’ve got some young guys who are really coming up and doing a great job also. But Nakobe is having a good fall so far, and he knows that we have high expectations for him. But nobody has higher expectations for Nakobe Dean than Nakobe Dean, I promise you that.”
On an expanded role for linebacker Tindall: “Channing is a guy who has earned our trust over time. He’s played significantly more snaps each year that he’s been here. He’s gotten significantly better each year that he’s been here. I think this could be a really big year for Channing, excited to see what he does.”
On outside linebacker Nolan Smith stepping up as pass-rusher: “I think Nolan has been very conscientious about his development from a pass-rush standpoint this offseason. Right now, every single day in our team meetings, we’re showing a pass rusher of the day, and Nolan’s been on there. He’s executing moves at a high level. So that’s something that we’re going to continue to look for. There’s definitely an opportunity sitting in front of Nolan. I’m looking for him to take advantage of it, and I think he has the skill set to do so.”
On linebacker M.J. Sherman coming off labrum surgery: “I’m excited to see a healthy M.J. He hasn’t really been. He had some toughness this past year where he was playing being dinged up on special teams. He has strength, energy and he’s very focused. I’m excited to see where this guy can help us. He’s working at the Sam and the Jack, so it’ll be interesting to see where he ends up playing.”
