Georgia would not have won its first national championship in 2021 without Dan Lanning. He served as the team’s defensive coordinator and helped land a number of key contributors on the 2021 and 2022 Georgia defenses.
His final game as Georgia’s defensive coordinator was the 2022 National Championship Game, where his defense stymied Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Bryce Young. Glenn Schumann took the role after Lanning became Oregon’s head coach.
Schumann is now entering his third season as the team’s defensive coordinator. And he’s continued to put his stamp on the Georgia defense, in part due to his stellar recruiting. Zayden Walker, the No. 1 inside linebacker, became Schumann’s latest win on Wednesday.
In landing Walker, who announced he would be shutting down his recruitment after his commitment, Schumann has brought in the No. 1 ranked linebacker in each of the past two recruiting classes. Georgia signed 5-star prospect Justin Williams in the 2024 recruiting cycle and landed 5-star prospect Chris Cole.
“I feel like Coach Schumann like, has a mold of the type of guy he brings in here or the types of guys he brings in,” linebacker Smael Mondon said.
In the cycle before, Georgia signed 5-star prospect Raylen Wilson, to go along with top-100 prospects in CJ Allen and Troy Bowles. Ever since Schumann became the defensive coordinator, he’s shown no signs of slowing down on the recruiting trail.
Which cannot be said for Lanning in his time at Georgia.
In part, Lanning was a victim of his own success at the outside linebacker position. In the 2019 recruiting cycle, Georgia landed Nolan Smith and Jermaine Johnson. They both became first-round picks. In the cycle before, the Bulldogs brought in Azeez Ojulari, Adam Anderson and Brenton Cox.
Landing multiple elite outside linebackers was always going to be difficult. In the 2020 class, the Bulldogs only ended up signing one outside linebacker in MJ Sherman. He was the No. 33 overall prospect, but he ended up transferring to Nebraska after the 2022 season. That same cycle saw Will Anderson and BJ Ojulari both leave the state of Georgia and star for other SEC programs.
In the 2021 recruiting cycle, Georgia landed only one outside linebacker. That would be Chaz Chambliss, who has emerged as a starter for Georgia over the past two seasons. Georgia did sign Mondon and Xavian Sorey in that same cycle, but they played inside linebacker for Schumann.
Lanning needed to land a strong haul in 2022, as Smith would be the lone member of Lanning’s previous outside linebacker signees still on the team. Georgia ended up landing Darris Smith, CJ Madden and Marvin Jones Jr. But Lanning would end up leaving before they got to campus.
Those recruiting hauls played a part in someone like Jalon Walker leading the team in sacks. What’s more, the entire 2022 recruiting haul has since transferred out. Georgia will rely on Chambliss, defensive end Mykel Williams and its 2023 EDGE signees in this coming season to provide some pressure at outside linebacker.
With the way things are going for Schumann, at some point he is likely to follow in the footsteps of Lanning. He’s going to be a head coach, likely a high-level one at a Power 4 program. That Georgia has been able to keep him for nine seasons as of 2024, is a massive win for Kirby Smart.
With how Schumann has recruited, Georgia likely won’t run into the same problem it did after Lanning left Oregon. Yes, the transfer portal exists and there will almost certainly be some defections. Such is life in 2024 in college football.
But not all of them will depart. Georgia won’t be trying to get by at inside linebacker. The Bulldogs have recruited too well, thanks to Schumann, to see a substantial drop-off at the position.
Georgia won’t be moving a safety or outside linebacker to help bridge the gap at the position in any time soon.
And while Schumann may one day follow the same path as Lanning, Schumann’s position will likely be well-stocked for whoever fills the very large shoes he left behind.
“Coach Schumann, great inside backer coach,” Jalon Walker said. “He’s a very attention to detail guy. Glad to call him my defensive coordinator and one of my position coaches. He’s a very smart individual. He’s always scheming something up for the benefit for not only me but for the team.”
