ATHENS — Glenn Schumann may be young compared to most coaches, as he recently turned 35 in March.

But only Kirby Smart has spent more time in Athens than Schumann. The Georgia defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach will be entering his 10th season at Georgia.

If the Bulldogs end up having the season they’re capable of, it could well be Schumann’s last in Athens, as he figures to be one of the most attractive coaching candidates in all of college football.

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg recently put Schumann at the top of his list regarding potential future college football head coaches.

“Few assistants have experienced more high-level success than Schumann. A 2011 Alabama graduate who worked for the team as a student, he has been part of six national championships with the Crimson Tide or Georgia, where he joined coach Kirby Smart in 2016,” Rittenberg wrote. “Schumann, 35, has held a coordinator title with Georgia since 2019 and enters his second season as the team’s primary D-coordinator. He gained interest for the North Carolina job and should be in the mix for more. The only question: How will Schumann fare at programs with fewer resources than the two where he has worked?”

Rittenberg also tabbed Georgia cornerbacks coach Donte Williams as someone who could quickly become a head coach. Williams is entering his second season at Georgia as the team’s cornerbacks coach.

Schumann has been patient as far as waiting for the right job to come along. Dan Lanning, Georgia’s previous defensive coordinator, did the same and ended up at Oregon. The Ducks went undefeated during the regular season last year and won the Big Ten.

If the Georgia defense is to shine once again, Schumann’s inside linebackers will be a big reason for success. Even with having to replace Smael Mondon and Jalon Walker, Georgia’s inside linebacker room should be the strength of the team.

Georgia returns Raylen Wilson and CJ Allen, who enter their junior seasons. Wilson and Allen have seen plenty of playing time in their first two seasons at Georgia.

In 2025, both are primed for a breakout.

“It helps our development tremendously because he has so much years of experience, so he really has a nugget, a new nugget every day,” Wilson said of Schumann earlier this spring. “Just to right now, we jot everything down in the meetings. So it’s really helpful.”

on-field

The Bulldogs have quality depth behind those veterans, as sophomores Chris Cole and Justin Williams hope to pick up some of the snaps vacated by Mondon and Walker.

Cole is one of the more talented players on Georgia’s roster, while Williams is hoping to make an impact on Georgia’s defense this fall.

Williams could’ve gone anywhere in the country, as he was the No. 1 ranked linebacker prospect in the 2024 recruiting cycle.

He came to Georgia in large part because of Schumann.

“Coach Schumann does a great job of developing us as linebackers and as human beings,” Williams said. “And when I was getting recruited, that was the biggest thing for me. And making that decision came up to that, honestly, not with championships.”

, this season, that has rarely been the case under Kirby Smart. The Georgia head coach has had five assistants hired directly off of his staff to become head coaches elsewhere.

Schumann seems poised to be the next coach to make that leap. First, though, he’ll be tasked with organizing and leading a talented Georgia defense once again.