ATHENS — There’s a stark contrast between when Georgia’s defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann speaks and when co-defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson does.

When Robinson speaks, there’s an energy and enthusiasm to his tone. An excitement to attack each question.

Schumann is much more reserved and monotonous. But Schumann’s tone doesn’t detract from his message, or how impactful and important he is to the Georgia operation.

“(I) call him Rain Man,” Robinson said of Schumann. “He’s very, very intelligent. Very intelligent, sees everything, has really good ideas and he does a really good job in front of the guys. I think the guys really respect him. He does a good job of delegating different things to the staff and giving them ownership in their job. Y’all should see him try to make any kind of edit or slide. He’s the best on the computer I’ve ever seen.”

Schumann, as improbable as it seems, is now entering his ninth year as an assistant coach at Georgia. It will be his third as Georgia’s defensive coordinator.

He’s worked with a number of assistants over the years, from Mel Tucker to Dan Lanning and now Robinson. He’ll step in for Will Muschamp, who previously worked as the co-defensive coordinator for Georgia.

Schumann is quick to note it’s always a collaborative effort when it comes to the defensive coaching staff. That has always been the case on a Kirby Smart coaching staff, offense or defense.

But Schumann’s voice echoes loudly on the defensive side of the ball. And it has only grown in his time with Georgia.

“As a teacher, you can’t assume the people you’re delivering the message to are understanding what you’re saying unless you get that communication back and forth,” Schumann said. “So I think those elements are important.”

Schumann didn’t play at the SEC level as Smart, Muschamp or Robinson did. His football career ended when he was in high school. He never planned on going into coaching but a moment during his senior year of high school when he helped explain a concept to another player.

“I had the biggest rush of my life seeing them be successful after me helping them in some way, shape, or form, and kind of at that moment I knew I wanted to coach,” Schumann said.

That enthusiasm for teaching hasn’t waned for Schumann, even as his stature in college football has grown. He’s the highest-paid assistant coach on Georgia’s staff, making more than $2 million a year.

With that salary comes great problems, like solving the puzzle of how to get the most out of multi-positional players such as Mykel Williams, Jalon Walker or Joenel Aguero.

There’s also the looming 2024 schedule, which features games against Texas, Ole Miss, Alabama and Clemson. The contest against the Tigers is at the end of the month, and it’s easy to understand why someone who can see all the angles like Schumann might be looking ahead.

But the Georgia defensive coordinator actually cares far more about figuring out what his own team can do at this point, rather than trying to slow down Clemson.

“Focusing on our installation, focusing on our players and their development,” Schumann said. “It’s this window of time for these two weeks that you have to attack your technique and fundamentals, okay, your mental part of the game, every area that you need to focus on to improve yourself. If you become a better player, if each person, each coach grows themselves over this period of time, that’ll pay more dividends than just about anything we could do in opponent prep.”

Clemson will be plenty motivated against Schumann’s defense, as the Tigers had just three points against Georgia back in 2021. Garrett Riley, Clemson’s offensive coordinator, scored just seven points the last time he matched wits with Schumann, which came as TCU’s offensive coordinator in the 2023 National Championship Game.

Much like Raymond Babbit in the aforementioned Rain Man, Schumann always seems to be one step ahead of the dealer. More often than not, his defense has been in a position to get stops, even after losing wave after wave of defenders to the NFL.

He’s only just begun working with Robinson, who came over from Alabama’s staff. And while Robinson is still learning some of the quirks of Schumann’s personality, he recognizes what a special coach and person Schumann is.

“He’s an awesome dude, a great guy, a staff guy,” Robinson said. “He’s a guy that I’m eager to continue to learn from and be a part of and help with what we’re trying to get accomplished here.”

Glenn Schumann shares his hopes for the 2024 Georgia defense

ATHENS — As is always the case, no one is safe from Kirby Smart’s wrath on the microphone at practice. Even reporters who may be taking notes on the order in which wide receivers were going through a passing on air drill.

Smart leaned over to get a look at what the reporter was jotting down and loudly wished that said reporter would be more concerned with how the players were practicing, rather than the depth chart.

Smart’s barbs weren’t just reserved for the reporters though, as he voiced his frustrations about how players weren’t fully locked in. He bemoaned that they were playing College Football 25 too much and compared the players to “Tickle me Elmo’s” as well.

Tuesday was the sixth day of fall camp, with the Bulldogs in full pads. The media had 13 minutes to make observations, ranging from how players were doing in individual drills to, yes, what appeared to be the depth chart.

Below are some observations from the practice.

Georgia football practice report

• In the short viewing window, what may have been most noticeable was who was and was not practicing. Since last Thursday’s practice, defensive end/outside linebacker Gabe Harris has put on a black non-contact jersey. Freshman running back Nate Frazier and freshman wide receiver Sacoive White were wearing black non-contact jerseys as well. Chaz Chambliss was seen at practice but he was not working with the outside linebackers during the indy(individual drills) portion of practice. Jordan Hall and Warren Brinson were again working off to the side, but Smart told reporters last week that those two were recovering from injuries. Center Jared Wilson was with Harris, Hall and Brinson at the start of practice as well, away from their respective position groups for that portion of practice. Wilson was in a regular red jersey.
• Ellis Robinson was working with the cornerbacks, but he did have his right wrist in a wrap. He was working with the cornerbacks, with Daylen Everette and Julio Humphrey being the first two up in the respective drill that DawgNation saw.
• Will Muschamp was present at practice, as he was working with the safeties during the practice.
• In terms of drill work, Georgia had added some extra bodies to the outside linebacker group. Jalon Walker, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, Justin Greene and Joseph Jonah-Ajonye were all receiving instruction from Chidera Uzo-Diribe during drill work. Mykel Williams was with the group as well. This isn’t uncommon for fall camp, as Smart often wants to cross-train players at different positions. Walker will still practice with the inside linebackers, while Ingram-Dawkins, Greene, Jonah-Ajonye and Williams will also rep with the defensive line as well. Uzo-Diribe did get on Jonah-Ajonye for some sloppy drill work.
• With Brinson limited due to his Achilles, it seems Christen Miller is getting the bulk of his reps, as he was working alongside Naz Stackhouse with the interior defensive linemen.
• At wide receiver, Cole Speer was back running with the wide receivers after dealing with a foot injury. Smart wanted freshman wide receiver Nitro Tuggle to do a better job of high-pointing the football, while wide receivers coach James Coley praised Anthony Evans for his route-running ability during a drill on air. The first-team wide receivers were still Dillon Bell, Arian Smith and Dominic Lovett.
• Smart did get on freshman tight end Jaden Reddell for always jumping when he went to catch a football during a drill. Stanford transfer Benjamin Yurosek was still working behind sophomore Lawson Luckie during the drills.
• Former Georgia tight end Pearce Spurlin was spotted at the practice. Spurlin had to medically retire in the spring due to a heart condition but has stayed around the program. He was spotted chatting with former Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran during the practice.