ATHENS – Anybody who has listened to Kirby Smart over these last eight years as Georgia’s football coach knows he constantly rails against complacency. That’s probably increased five-fold during the Bulldogs’ current run of championships. It was his core message at SEC Football Media Days last month.
Last spring, linebackers Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Smael Mondon found themselves in Smart’s crosshairs on this subject. A longtime inside linebackers coach during his days at Alabama, Smart didn’t like what he was seeing on the practice field from the two rising juniors.
“I think they were maybe cruising,” Smart shared.
Truthfully, Smart didn’t just think it; he knew it. He summoned them to his office not just to talk to them, but to show them what he was seeing. He played them video clips of their practices from the spring of 2022 and last summer’s preseason camp. Then he showed them their most recent practice video.
“‘Is that the same two guys?’” Smart asked his star linebackers. “I think they both acknowledged that it probably wasn’t.”
That little powwow resonated with both players. Not only did they pick up the pace on the field, but they also answered the call in the huddle and in the linebackers’ meeting room, as well. Admittedly, they needed to demonstrate leadership in both arenas.
Dumas-Johnson was asked about the encounter with his head coach when he met with reporters as preseason camp got under way last week.
“When (Smart) told us that, we had to really look at ourselves in the mirror and actually be truthful with ourselves about what coach was saying,” Dumas-Johnson recalled. “He actually showed us some clips of us going into our sophomore year and he was right. We were hungry (coming into ‘22). So, now, we’ve got to keep the same energy and really do the same thing as we did last year.”
That’d be a good thing for Georgia’s defense, which returns eight starters from last season’s 15-0 squad. Mondon and Dumas-Johnson finished 1-2 on the team in tackles with 76 and 70, respectively. They also led the team in tackles for loss (8 and 9) and combined to record 49 quarterback pressures. More importantly, they almost never had a busted assignment.
Having a pair of stalwarts they could count on in the middle of the defense last season steadied the Bulldogs on that side of the ball. They weren’t as dominant as they were in 2021 and some pass-defending weakness were exposed in the postseason. But, overall, Georgia allowed just 14.3 points per game and a paltry 2.9 yards per rush.
Just staying on the field proved the greatest challenge for both linebackers. Mondon missed two games due to injuries last season and a sprained foot knocked him out of spring practice last April and has kept him sidelined so far for preseason camp.
Dumas-Johnson was “banged up” most of the year and especially during last third of the season. But his continued presence on the field and in the meeting room served as inspiration for his teammates.
“This defense is not the same without Pop,” junior safety Javon Bullard said. “He’s the voice. As the middle linebacker, you have to take on that role. It’s something we don’t take lightly. And he’s been under leadership in the years prior to him.”
Dumas-Johnson points to Nakobe Dean as the player who had the most profound influence on him. Dean, who won the Butkus Award during Dumas-Johnson’s freshman season, now plays for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.
“Nakobe, really his work ethic, how he approached everything, basically said, ‘hard work works.’ So that’s what I took from him,” said Dumas-Johnson, who earned All-America honors in 2022. “You work hard, that’s eventually going to show off.”
Linebackers have flourished at Georgia since Smart – and inside linebackers coach Glenn Schumann – arrived from Alabama eight years ago. Roquan Smith and Nakobe Dean both earned Butkus Award trophies during their tenure. Monty Rice, Tae Crowder and Quay Walker all are currently playing for NFL teams.
Dumas-Johnson and Mondon are on track to keep that tradition alive. Meanwhile, great prospects continue to flock to Athens to become the latest star in Georgia’s LBU legacy.
With Mondon sidelined, sophomore Xavian Sorey has asserted himself at the “Mac” linebacker position next to Dumas-Johnson and earned the praise of coaches and teammates. Former 5-star prospect Jalon Walker has settled inside after a year of cross-training with outside linebackers. E.J. Lightsey has benefited from a redshirt season and heralded freshman signees CJ Allen, Troy Bowles and Raylen Wilson are battling for playing time.
“They’re a really athletic group,” Mondon said last spring. “They’re hard workers, strong, fast, really everything you want in a linebacker.”
Georgia’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class of 2024 already includes two of the top linebacker prospects in the nation. Five-star commitment Justin Williams of Conroe, Texas, is ranked No. 2 overall, and Kristopher Jones of Fairfax, Virginia, is rated 10th by 247Sports.
Keep them coming, says Dumas-Johnson, who was ranked No. 10 in the nation when he signed with Georgia out of Hyattsville, Maryland, in 2021. Since being embraced by his predecessors, getting the next wave ready is something in which the 6-foot-1, 235-pounder takes much pride.
“I tell them, ‘as long as you lock in that first year and learn from the guys that’s ahead of you, then your time will come,’” he said.
Clearly the time is now for both Dumas-Johnson and Mondon. Two of Georgia’s last three starters at middle linebacker were summoned to the NFL after their junior seasons. Both are listed by Pro Football Focus among the nation’s top draft prospects at the position for 2024.
Thanks to a spring wake-up call from their head coach, the motivation appears to be there.
“They both answered the bell,” Smart reports.
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