Georgia's Layered Run Down Stop Calls
Exploring the Georgia Bulldogs' pressure strategy on early downs.
Since the 2020 season, the Bulldogs have had 23 defenders drafted to the NFL in three seasons, with seven first-rounders. The ‘22 class set an NFL record with five defenders drafted in the first round and broke an NFL record with 15 total players selected in a single draft. NFL teams drafted four more defensive players this past weekend. The talent is deep in Georgia.
Not only has the NFL moved to scoop up Bulldogs for their rosters, but their coaches are mining the scheme for concepts to add to their playbooks. The Eagles flirted with defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann last year, who ultimately chose to stay in Athens. Philly selected five Bulldog defenders between their ‘22 and ‘23 draft classes. During a Fall Camp presser, Schumann explained why he decided to stay,
“…people always talk about the grass isn't always greener, and when you look at it, there's been a lot of people who have been extremely happy, and they tried to be happier, and they wound up miserable... There's a lot of reasons to still be at Georgia."
Georgia’s defense has become one of the best schemes in football, both in college and the NFL. Though they have a massive amount of talent, the scheme is equally as deep. At the least, you would be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive coverage package at any level of football.
Kirby Smart stems from the Saban tree and has coached alongside the Hall of Fame coach since 2004, only departing for a year in ‘05 to be Georgia’s RBs Coach. Schumann also cut his teeth as a student assistant starting in ‘08, when Smart became the coordinator. Schumann has never worked outside of Saban or Smart. Oregon’s Dan Lanning, who assumed the DC role after Mel Tucker’s departure to Colorado (‘19), preceded Schumann and also has ties to Alabama, where he was the Graduate Assistant in 2015.
In ‘16, Smart assumed the Head Coach position at his alma mater and quickly built a monster, culminating in back-to-back National Championships in ‘21 and ‘22. Only in his first year (‘16) and the shortened Covid season (‘20) did the Bulldogs fail to win 11 or more games. Schumann would be the ILBs Coach in Smart’s inaugural staff. Lanning would return to the fray in ‘18 after a two-year stint in Memphis working under current Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell.
The scheme in Athens is diverse and deep, encompassing years of evolution under Saban's and now Smart’s tutelage. The most famous of these schemes are generally the coverage pieces. Rip/Liz, or man-match Cover 3, was invented by Nick Saban and Bill Belichick in the ‘90s and is a keystone concept today. The systems man-match split-field coverage system (Cover 7) is diverse and takes years to understand completely.
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