Georgia’s coaching staff will look different in 2026, as the Bulldogs are making a change on the offensive line.

Stacy Searels will move into an analyst role after spending the previous four seasons as Georgia’s offensive line coach. In his place, Georgia will promote Phil Rauscher, who served as a quality control coordinator this past season.

“We’re grateful for everything Coach Searels has poured into our program over the past several seasons,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said in a statement released by the school. “His knowledge, experience and steady leadership have been instrumental to our offensive production. In his new role, Stacy will continue to impact our offensive strategy and provide mentorship for both our staff and players.”

Rauscher made just $75,000 last season in his role with the Bulldogs, while Searels made $803,000 in 2025.

The move is not dissimilar to what Georgia did with Will Muschamp following the 2023 season, when he moved from co-defensive coordinator to an analyst role. The Bulldogs hired Travaris Robinson to replace Muschamp on staff.

Searels joined the Georgia staff from North Carolina prior to the 2022 season. This is the second time in his career that he has been the offensive line coach at Georgia, as he served in the role from 2007 through 2010.

Rauscher arrived at Georgia after spending time as the offensive line coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings. He also served as the running game coordinator for the Jaguars in 2024.

“Phil has been a tremendous asset to our staff and players,” Smart said. “He has earned this opportunity through his work ethic, technical expertise and his ability to connect with our players. We’re excited about the future of our offensive line under his leadership.”

With Rauscher added to the staff, Georgia’s rushing attack improved greatly this past season, going from 15th in the SEC to fourth in the SEC. That is despite the Bulldogs having to start six different offensive line combinations in the first six games of the season.

“Coach Phil is with us in the meetings a lot,” offensive lineman Micah Morris said of Rauscher prior to the start of the 2025 season. “Obviously just him being a guy who coached in the league for so long, All-Pro guards, All-Pro tackles, All-Pro linemen in general, his insight on the game is irreplaceable. I mean, it’s amazing to have somebody like that whose brain I can literally pick every day, like constantly just getting so much better.

Searels leaves behind plenty of talent for Rauscher to work with. The Bulldogs do have to replace starting left tackle Monroe Freeling and starting left guard Micah Morris, but Earnest Greene, Dontrell Glover, Juan Gaston and Drew Bobo all return.

Georgia does have a commitment from 2027 four-star offensive tackle Kelsey Adams. He is the No. 54 overall player in the 247Sports Composite rankings for the 2027 recruiting cycle.

One of the big offseason storylines to follow will be how Bobo recovers from his foot injury that he suffered in the final regular season game for Georgia against Georgia Tech. Malachi Toliver started in place of Bobo for the final two games of the season.

Searels was a strong recruiter for the Bulldogs it will be worth following how Rauscher does on the trail. Prior to arriving at Georgia before last season, Rauscher last coached in college during the 2014 season when he was the offensive coordinator at Cal Lutheran.

Moving Searels into analyst role ensures that the Bulldogs will not have all 10 on-field coaches from the season before. That was the case a season ago, when the Bulldogs made no coaching changes from the previous season.

Georgia went 12-2 this past season, winning the SEC championship before losing in its first College Football Playoff game against Ole Miss. Georgia ended the season ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll.