Could Georgias Glenn Schumann be a candidate for any SEC head coach jobs? Bulldogs mailbag

ATHENS, Ga. — It’s a big, huge game for Georgia this week at Tennessee, the one that always seemed the most likely loss on the schedule, and … almost all the questions were about other things: transfer portal candidates, why aren’t certain guys playing more, chances a Georgia assistant takes another SEC head coaching job.

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People, people, this is a major matchup, one Dolly Parton is coming to see. Surely you wanted to break down the intricacies and personnel and …

Eh, whatever. Let’s give the people what they want.

With the Texas AM, Mississippi State, and potential Arkansas vacancies, do you think any current UGA coaches are potential candidates for those jobs?

Anonymous

Potential candidates, sure. Actual candidates? Glenn Schumann seems like the only realistic candidate on Georgia’s staff for those jobs, and there are reasons to think it won’t happen.

Texas A&M: Schumann went to high school in Texas, and Dan Lanning’s success at Oregon certainly helps Schumann’s cause. But the Aggies look like they’re aiming high, or at least looking for someone with head coaching experience. That doesn’t mean they don’t give Schumann a look, and they could come away convinced he’s Lanning 2.0. But they could also be scared off by his age (33) and the uncertainty of someone who’s never been a head coach.

Mississippi State: This would seem like a stretch on both sides. Does Mississippi State fire a defensive coordinator who was a first-time head coach in order to hire someone with the same profile? As for Schumann, you have Smart in your ear advising you to wait for the right job, and you have to wonder if this is it. At Schumann’s age, there isn’t any urgency.

Arkansas: We’ll see if this job opens, it seems like it could go either way. But if it does, would Arkansas want to hire a Georgia assistant for the second time in a row? If it can see past that, Schumann seems like a good fit.

As for other Georgia assistants, Mike Bobo and Will Muschamp could down the line try head coaching again at a smaller stop but for now are probably happy to be at their alma mater with their sons. Dell McGee is someone I’ve long thought should get a shot somewhere, but I’ll believe it when it happens. Bryan McClendon would be an interesting hire for a smaller program, too — he’s done the interim head coach thing twice now — but his path is probably to get a play-calling job. Tray Scott, now earning $1 million as a position coach, might be an inspired candidate for someone, but you just don’t know.

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The thing about it is Georgia didn’t know they were getting what we now know Kirby Smart to be when it hired him. They hoped, and they had people telling them, that Smart could be a great coach. But mostly the power brokers were hiring based on the known resume: successful defensive coordinator, great recruiter, saw how Nick Saban built a powerhouse program, Georgia kid who knew the terrain.

It was as much about fit as it was coaching greatness. If Smart had taken over South Carolina — which would’ve happened if Georgia didn’t open — would he have turned it into the powerhouse that Georgia is right now? Almost certainly not, though the Gamecocks would have probably been pretty good. But when Georgia ended up with Smart, it got what ended up being the perfect mix, along with a coach willing to evolve with the times, first by modernizing his offensive philosophy and then by seamlessly adjusting to the NIL era.

What athletes did Georgia recruit and lose to Texas A&M? How do NIL agreements impact kids that transfer out?

Kraig B.

It’s hard to say on the latter question without seeing the actual contracts, and information on them is sketchy. But you’ve seen enough guys transfer out already — such as Smoke Bouie after last season to Georgia — that the contracts don’t appear to be prohibitive.

Georgia is going to target defensive line in the portal, and Texas A&M had some elite recruits at that position. Georgia got an official visit from then-five star Shemar Stewart, who has been OK but not great yet in his two years in College Station. Defensive tackle LT Overton is from Alpharetta, Ga., and Georgia was after him.

But keep in mind that Rara Thomas and Dominic Lovett were not names you heard in connection to Georgia during the high school recruiting process, or even leading up to portal season. Georgia is likely to be more stealthy in its portal process. It’s making a list and doing due diligence, but the names may surprise us.

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With Jamon Dumas-Johnson injured, curious why we didn’t see more of Xavian Sorey given his experience and also former 5-star status?

Charles M.

Partly because CJ Allen was the backup at the Mike linebacker spot and has been all season. Allen came in when Dumas-Johnson briefly came out of the Auburn game. Sorey may have been in line had Smael Mondon been the one who got hurt.

But it’s actually more telling that Raylen Wilson came in as the third inside linebacker for 24 snaps, while Sorey only got four. Sorey missed the Missouri game for what were called personal reasons, so maybe he fell behind. Still, this is Sorey’s third year, so they know what he can do by now. If he’s not playing ahead of a true freshman, that probably tells you something.

What’s going on with Nyland Green? He was the number 19 overall prospect and a top member in the Dawgs 2021 class. We’ve seen Everette get picked on quite a bit this year and struggle in coverage, why haven’t we seen Green on the field much?

Adrian E.

Basically the same answer as above. Green has been the backup on the other side this year, behind Kamari Lassiter. But if they wanted him to play the other side they could do it, so it probably says something that the snaps have instead gone to second-year guys, Everette and Julian Humphrey. Now that Humphrey is out, it could be a chance to move Green over, but last week the freshmen got the nod.

Running back questions: Can Daijun Edwards and Kendall Milton return for an additional year due to the Covid year? How is Branson Robinson progressing from his injury?

Chad W.

Edwards and Milton each have another year, but I’d be surprised if they use it. They’re doing well enough that I’m not sure there’s much more to show the NFL.

Robinson is still early in his recovery from the patella tendon injury, but I’ve seen him on the sideline and on the field in postgame, and he seems to be moving around well. Maybe he can suit up in the spring on a limited basis? That would be my guess, but just a guess.

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It’s a cutthroat industry … if Sam Pittman gets cut loose from Arkansas, do you think Kirby will bring him back to Athens? No offense to Stacy Searels, but Sam Pittman is a mythical figure in the OL community (if he wants to continue coaching).

Trey D.

We’ll see what Arkansas does, but the performance of Georgia’s offensive line should rule out any change happening there, even if the ghost of Vince Lombardi showed up in Athens and volunteered for duty. Well, Smart could offer Lombardi an analyst job, and maybe the same for Pittman, but Searels has earned himself a raise and contract extension.

As for Pittman, he may get a fifth year at Arkansas, but if not I could see him sitting out for at least a season to see what he wants to do. He’s earned a lot of money there and doesn’t need to jump right back into the grind.

If Carson Beck stays another year at Georgia, how do you see that playing out in terms of existing roster as well as incoming QB commits for 2023?

Steve B.

It would seem to all depend on Beck. If he does come back, then Brock Vandagriff seems likely to try to find a starting spot elsewhere. I’m not as sure about Gunner Stockton, but he knows Dylan Raiola and Ryan Puglisi are on the way. But if Beck leaves you could see all four of the other guys at least on the spring roster.

Beck, as it looks now, is more likely to return in 2024. But that’s without seeing how he performs in the postseason, and how NFL scouts react to it. If he’s starting to hear first round buzz, all bets are off.

Chris Fowler said on the broadcast that it is very rare for a team not to give up a sack or TFL. Any idea how rare?

Bob I.

Congratulations on sending me down a stats rabbit hole. Fowler chose his words correctly: It’s rare, though not unheard of.

Kentucky did not have any TFLs against Georgia last year. That and Ole Miss are the only two times in the past two years Georgia has held a team without a TFL, but there were one-TFL games against UAB this year and South Carolina and Oregon last year.

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But it is rare. Since the start of the 2009 season — as far back as CFBstats.com goes — nine of the current SEC teams have had at least one TFL in every game. That includes Georgia’s defense, which over that time has only had two games when it only had one TFL (Missouri in 2016, Vanderbilt in 2010).

As Kirby is leaving the field at the end of the Ole Miss game, Kirby is walking with some guy in baseball cap with an SEC patch on it. It looked it was heated conversation that got Kirby pissed. What gives?

Brian C.

Here’s the video clip:

That’s actually a Georgia staffer, as you can see from the logo on his shirt. It’s not clear what they’re talking about or what Smart is mad about, but something procedural about game or postgame operations is a good guess.

We’re getting Surly Kirby as the season hits this stretch. The pressers are getting shorter, his smiles are getting rarer. You can tell the season is hitting the home stretch, the schedule has gotten harder … and Georgia is playing well, which usually causes Smart to be more ornery. The same way he’s nicer when they struggle. Never as bad as it seems, never as good as it seems.

Maybe that’s why Smart volunteered that Tuesday’s practice was the worst Tuesday practice they’ve had in five weeks. There’s a tendency to say everything Smart does is calculated, and maybe it was, but sometimes it’s worth taking him at face value: The practice may actually have been bad, and that — along with Tennessee having Dolly on its side — is cause to think Georgia is in real trouble.

Or maybe Carson Beck will throw it around for another four or five touchdowns and Georgia will win easily.

The important thing to know here is Kirby Smart acknowledged knowing who Dolly Parton is, and I still think he was kidding about not knowing who Miley Cyrus is — she’s Dolly’s god-daughter, by the way — and as a child of the ‘90s I’m very sure Smart knows who Billy Ray Cyrus is.

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I hope this has all helped. See you in Knoxville.

(Photo: Jeffrey Vest / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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