Kirby Smart Continues to set his Program up for Success from Within
On Saturday evening, the news officially broke that Georgia's defensive coordinator, Dan Lanning, had been officially hired as the new head coach of the Oregon Ducks football program. Since being hired as the team's defensive coordinator back in 2019, Lanning has done a tremendous job in coaching Georgia's defense and creating one of the most dominant defenses in the country for multiple seasons.
While Lanning becoming a head coach is a testament to what head coach, Kirby Smart, has built in Athens the process has also highlighted the type of environment Smart has instilled in his football program.
Shortly after the news broke about Lanning, Coach Smart came out with a statement saying Lanning would be staying with the team through the college football playoffs and that linebackers coach Glenn Schumann and defensive analyst turned special teams coach Will Muschamp would be co-defensive coordinator moving forward.
This is not the first time that Kirby Smart has decided to fill a staff position with guys from within the program. In 2019, Georgia quarterback coach, James Coley, was promoted to offensive coordinator following the departure of Jim Chaney and Dan Lanning became the team's defensive coordinator the same year when Mel Tucker took off for the Colorado head coaching job.
It has become apparent that Coach Smart values the people he has on staff and has created the opportunity to be able to promote staffers within the program as opposed to bringing in a new face unless necessary to do so. Having the ability to potentially keep a guy like Glen Schumann on staff as well as promote Will Muschamp, a coach who has an incredible amount of experience when it comes to being a defensive coordinator or vice versa is a major privilege to have within a program.
Being able to keep familiar faces around a program is not only great from a coaching standpoint as it provides consistency but also great for players to be able to have a familiar voice and a coach they have been able to build trust with calling the shots. Surrounding a program with consistency is a great way to maintain the success that a program has had and keep the train moving on the tracks.
So while Dan Lanning getting a shot at his first head coaching gig is a testament to the caliber of coaches Kirby Smart has on his staff it has also shown that Smart is always a step ahead of the game. Not only was coach Smart able to promote a coach within the program, but he also had the ability to pair Schumann up with a guy like Will Muschamp who has plenty of experience when it comes to managing a defense.
Coaches being plucked from your program is something you can't avoid when you have as much success as Georgia has had, but what you can do is soften the blow when those voids are created. Kirby Smart has built his program to be able to maintain success by utilizing coaches from within the program and it has played a huge part in Georgia consistently being successful each and every year.
