CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: GEORGIA VS TCU

January 7, 2023

Glenn Schumann

SoFi Stadium

Georgia Bulldogs

Press Conference

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: We expected them to use tempo. They did a great job alternating how they played the game, which is part of every game you play. They are going to be packages for every offense that pick up the pace and things where they check with me. They did a great job throughout the game. I think any time you play defense in today's day and age of college football, you better be ready to handle tempo.

Q. (Inaudible question regarding substitutions.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: You get to sub when they sub. So you're prepared that, hey, when they don't sub, then you either have to get them on extremely quickly or you have to play with the guys you have. And when they sub, we were able to sub. We just had to follow the plan from that standpoint.

Q. (Inaudible question regarding Michigan and Ohio State difference in their offenses.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: You've got to do what your personnel dictates. So both of those teams kind of play to their strengths. Obviously, when we played Michigan, they had a lot of great tight ends, the offensive line, and they would take shots down the field. And then when we played Ohio State, they had great quarterbacks and receivers and really skilled players throughout the board on their offense as well as the offensive line. So they threw it around more.

Offenses that make it to this part of the season, just like TCU and what they've done to get here, they play to the strengths of their players and they use them well. That's what every great offense does. Yeah. Those two teams were different stylistically, but they were the same in the way they made sure to get the ball in the hands of their play makers. That's what you have to do.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: There's structural things in terms of personnel groupings, in terms of certain coverages that you play, ways that you line up, adjust to formations. But we've evolved a lot as I'm sure they have. There's kind of a base structure. It's like you go into your pantry at the house, there's all kinds of spices and ingredients, different foods. You can make whatever dish you want as long as you have them in there. So a lot of the base structure is similar, a lot of the defense is different.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: I think attention to detail, discipline, work hard on a day in, day out basis. That doesn't change. That's what you have to do to be successful.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: I think every successful organization in the world has a high standard for how they do things. And it starts with great leadership.

Q. Coach, as you prepare for TCU, does it remind you of anybody you've already played this year? (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: They're really unique in the sense that there are passing game concepts that carry over from Coach Dykes' history in terms of the air raid background. When you see them open it up and spread it out, a lot of the concepts match up with maybe what Mississippi State did with Mike Leach and things of that nature. But they run the ball extremely well. And they're committed to running the ball. And they're really good at what they do in terms of the counter run schemes and the zone run schemes they play with.

I think that makes them unique because they can really run the ball well. The quarterback adds to that element. The backs are really good. And on top of that, when they do spread you out, they have the ability to go air raid when they want to. So there's not an exact fit in terms of matching them up that way. But you see elements from other people.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: He's been making great runs all year. He's an explosive back that breaks tackles, makes people miss the second level and has home run speed. You just saw that come to fruition against Michigan as he had more opportunities. If you watch the explosive play reel -- and they are an extremely explosive offense -- and you just watch every play over 15 yards on the season, he shows up all over it, whether it was last game or the first game of the season. I think it's easy when you watch the tape, regardless what the stats or carries show, to have a lot of respect for that guy. He's a really good back.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: I think when you have a team that's been able to make it to the college football playoff, the national championship, that all their guys are big game guys. And every game is a big game if you approach it the right way. I think he's been consistent throughout. But there's been obviously some games where he's had more explosive runs. So I understand why you say that.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: His ability to extend plays. His competitiveness. He's extremely physical. When he runs the ball, he is running to gain yards. He's not running to give himself up and slide. He is seeking contact. I think that you have to prepare for that at a high level because a lot of quarterbacks slide. A lot of people don't -- there's hidden yardage throughout the game where if you don't tackle him like a running back, then you can let a second and 7 turn into a second and 3 in a hurry. And you can't play the game that way.

In addition, I think he does an exceptional job on his deep balls. He throws a very catchable deep ball, really accurate. And he trusts his guys on the outside to go up and play the ball. And I think that's what is unique. His ability on the run game, when you try to take the backside of the game, he can make you pay for it. He's done it time and again. When he scrambles, he scrambles to run, and he adds yards at the end of the run, which extends drives.

And he's really become -- when you watch him this year compared to the way he was when you go back and watch film earlier in his career, he's really evolved as a passer. And I think he's leaps and bounds better. Credit to him for the work he's put in and their staff for developing him. But he throws the ball extremely well down the field, which is why they've had all these explosives this year.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: You know, my best memories from that year are about the guys who embraced what we were doing and who had a vision for what we've been able to accomplish now and wanted to be a part of that.

You know, there's always difficulties in transition years. I would bet that if you asked -- if you asked Coach Dykes that there's -- there have been difficulties that they've managed to overcome this year and been extremely successful. And a credit to them in their first year to be able to do what they've done.

But my main memories from that year is honestly about the guys who ended up becoming the leaders in that program and who laid the foundation for what we are doing now because you could see that from Nick Chubb and Sony Michele. You could see that from Isaiah Wynn, Lorenzo Carter, Devin Bell, Roquan Smith, so many guys beyond them. I can sit up here and waste my next 30 minutes naming all the guys who were so important to this foundation. And that's really what I remember is not necessarily the guys that didn't want to get on the same page with us but the guys who did. And a lot of credit goes to them for what we've been able to accomplish now.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: I think the postseason practice that year to get ready to play TCU in the Liberty Bowl. I think you saw guys approach that game -- even though it was the Liberty Bowl, no disrespect to that game, but it wasn't a New Year's Day bowl. It wasn't a playoff game. But the way those guys I mentioned, in addition to the rest of the team, approached that game, they approached it as it was the first game of the next season and not the last game of the previous season. And that really sticks out to me because they went about it the right way.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: The first thing we do on Sunday, no matter what the scoreboard says, is be extremely critical in our write-up of what we did in the game. And we go from things we did well to things we did poorly to preparation errors to personnel errors. Maybe we weren't in the right personnel grouping or we mismanaged a substitution, whatever it was, and then other comments on the game, things that you would do the next time you played that opponent. If you were playing the game tomorrow, what would you have changed.

And the list of things we did well, no matter if we're playing Sanford or Ohio State, is always much shorter than the list of things we did poorly in our preparation errors because we try to be as critical as possible of what we do no matter what the scoreboard says.

So I think you approach things the same way. Let's be really critical of what we need to fix, look at it, assess whether it was schematic, whether it was coaching base, whether it was excuse base, whether it technique base. And sometimes you're in good position and you give up a play. And that's football. They work hard 365 days a year, you know, the way we do too. So I think you've got to look at it that way. And you've got to focus on what you can do better yourself as a unit and as a team and as a coach or a player. And we try to approach it that way. That's how you continue to get better and have success.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: He's an outstanding player. What is great about him is his ability to not only get on top for the deep balls but his ability to extend plays and get balls after catch. So I think you look at how does he create his plays and then present that in terms of here is what we have to do to limit him.

So on deep balls, we have to win our fair share. We have to get him cut off and not let him get on top of us because he has great speed. So when he is on top, Duggan does a great job of putting the ball out there for him to run under it. And then on the intermediate throws or the short throws, the screens, the slants, things of that nature, we've got to get him on the ground and limit yards after catch because he does a great job making you miss.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: I hate to do the comparison game. I know that it would be -- he's unique. There's a reason he was a Heisman man finalist. Right? And he does a great job with his legs and finishing runs. And he also does a great job in the passing game, especially on the deep balls. And that makes him unique because he's not just a runner. And he's not just a designed quarterback run guy. He's not just a guy who pulls the ball in zone read. He has over 500 yards on quarterback runs. He has another I believe 170 yards on scrambles. And then he throws the ball really well down the field. So I think you have to be pretty unique to be a Heisman man finalist. I would say he's just -- that's what he is. He's unique in and of himself.

Q. (Inaudible question regarding TCU's offense.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: I think they run the ball extremely well. They are really physical up front. They have creative scheme in terms of ways to create issues for how you want to play certain runs. They're not going to let -- they know the answers to what you're going to do to them in the run game, and they have plans for your answers.

So I think it's a mark of credit to their coaching staff and credit it to their players for, hey, taking the plan in terms of, okay, when you do this when we're running counter, here is our answer. When we're doing this when we're running read zone, here is our answer. And they have some really unique runs as well.

And they do a great job of -- like I said, vertical passing game is huge for them. But they find ways to get the ball to their play makers in space in the short part of the field with room to run. So eliminating yards after catch is critical. But they're going to find ways to create space in their scheme so that the guys have yards to run after catch. And we've got to do a great job of getting to the ball every hat we have to take that away.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: They -- you know, obviously, when you look at Coach Riley and Coach Dykes' roots in terms of offenses, you can see the background where some of the passing game, especially when they're opened up -- their opened up passing game you can see air raid style. Right? You can see that whole tree of offense.

When you go look at their game when they have the tight end in the game, you can see a lot of that that has carryover and similarities from what Garrett's brother Lincoln does in terms of that part of the game. And then their run game is really based on the personnel that they're in. So I think that obviously Coach Ricker, who's their offensive line coach, he does a really good job in terms of scheming up the run game that they're going to use as well. So I think it's unique in that regard. But they're really good at what they do.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: So it's interesting you make reference to -- we used to call it a rover. And I really think the rover position is -- I don't want to say dead. It's not dead. But the way that has been played as a rover has changed. That's why the star is its own entity. A guy needs to be able to be able to play like a slot corner. So you need a guy who's able to play man to man because so much of the RPO game, so much of the spread game requires you to win isolated match-ups. You can't just spot drop and play zone. And back when you think about a lot of rovers, when people would play with a rover, they were rushers or spot droppers a lot of the time.

The star --

Q. (Inaudible.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: Correct. And now when you look at, you know, 80 percent of the NFL is playing nickel defense because you have to match up to all the 11 personnel and the slot receivers. And that's carried over to college football and the way the game's played. So what you need there and what those guys have to do to be successful is they have to be able to impact the game as a blitzer, right? Which Javon and Tykee have done a great job of that. They have to be able to -- when they go to the perimeter screen game, they have to be able to hold up out there, which a lot of that, you're right, those guys aren't the guys with the most height, bulk, length. But what they do have is the tenacity and competitive toughness and leverage to be able to -- if they strike people the right way, they get under them and play with good discipline and toughness, they can still leverage the ball on the perimeter. Okay. So blitz, leverage the perimeter, screen game and run game. And then they've got to be able to win in man-to-man coverage at the end of the day because slot receivers are so good. Slot receivers are not where you put your third best option now. In some offenses, slot receiver is the first or second best option. So you have to be able to win there. And it's a really unique position. And recruiting now, you don't necessarily recruit a star, per se, but every guy you say -- whether he's a corner or a safety -- can he play star. And it's a huge value recruiting a guy who is a corner with enough toughness in size that can play star or a safety you're recruiting that has enough man-to-man coverage ability to slide down there. And the more guys you have who can play star, the better you'll be on defense.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: Every guy who plays DB needs to have a secondary position in our mind, whether that's a nickel or a dime or a guy who you think could play safety and corner. You want to have a guy who can be really versatile scheme-wise. The way we love to sub, you don't want to have a guy who can only do one thing. One, for their career -- it's important for their career if they want to have longevity to be able to be versatile. And, two, for us to be able to match up with all the different offenses we play. Because week to week, the style of the offense changes. And then what we're going to ask each position on the field changes, so to speak. That's -- it's a really important position.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: I think that what's unique about Jalen is his ability to impact the game, both in the run game and pass game, and his level of athleticism. Sometimes you have defense linemen that, hey, they're great run defenders, they're great when they're stationary but they're not good when you move them. Or you have the smaller, quicker D-linemen that are great when you move them and gap them and penetrate them but they can't hold up when they get doubled. Or you have the guys that are your first and second down only guys that can't play on third down or the third down guys that really you don't want them in there on first and second down. And so he can do all that. He's extremely well-rounded. If you want to move him, he can move. If you want to ask him to go strike and play two-gap and play technique, he can do that. And he impacts the game on third down at a high level. And he's a true, shoot, four down player. Because as much offenses go for it on fourth down now, you can't just be a three down player, you've got to be a four down player.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: He's really good. You won't get a ranking out of me. That's out of fairness to him and out of guys that we've been around before. But he's really good. His best is really, really good.

He is humble and quiet and he just loves football and he loves his teammates. I mean, if you -- you'll see him hang out with the walk-ons as much as you will the scholarship guys. And I think that's unique. He values everybody in the organization.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: I think it's exciting for him. It's exciting for everybody. We're on a five-hour flight out here -- I think we made better time than that. But the screen on the plane said it was going to be a five-hour flight. And when you're traveling and you're looking out the window, you say, man, the game of football has brought so many people together. And it's brought so many people a long way. And it's such a beautiful thing about what sport is able to do and this event in general.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: The most important stat right now to me in football when you're talking about coaching defense is eliminating explosive plays. As the explosive plays go up, the points go up. So I would say this is a really explosive offense. I believe they have the most touchdowns in the country over 50 yards on the season. And they have a ton of huge chunk plays, over 10 plays of 15 yards or more a game. So that would be number one is eliminate explosives, minimize explosives because as the explosives go up, the points go up. So if you don't want to give up points, don't give up explosives.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: Our goal in every game is to limit what the other team does as much as possible. We don't relax our standards based on who we're playing or what they're good at. We're proud of the way they competed, but the guys were resilient and never gave up. You all can look at the scoreboard and say we gave up way too many points, way too many explosives. But the guys on the sideline were resilient. They knew that we had to get one -- the next drive was the only drive we control. So if we get one stop, we get the offense back the ball, and we try to get another stop. And the guys did that. And I don't know how you can say you're disappointed of somebody when they never quit. And they were resilient.

And as a coach, you preach all the time about playing without a scoreboard. And they did that. Do we want the results to be better? Absolutely. Okay. Nobody shies away from that, players and coaches included. But you can't be disappointed of people who never stopped chomping, never stopped focusing on what they had to do for us to win.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: Size. You start with the makeup. Right? Size and speed. Obviously, special in those characteristics. He's able to win on vertical balls. The guy has a ton of go balls that he wins on release and then he stacks guys, which you have to be able to get off the line and get off press. And he does that. And when he gets off the line, he does a great job of putting himself into a position where the DB struggles to recover.

But beyond that, he's not just a vertical threat. He does a really good job yards after catch. Make a lot of people miss. I believe he has 18 forced missed tackles is what our quality control guys totaled up for us. So I think he can hurt you in the short game. He can hurt you in the screen game. He can hurt you on the vertical balls. He's just really well rounded. In addition to the fact that he has size and speed. Those are all the traits you want in a wide out.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: When you play in championship games, there's one-on-ones all over the field. And great players, they embrace the challenge of one-on-one match-ups. So I think our guys are excited.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: So Stetson does an excellent job of -- you might fool him on something once. You don't normally fool him again. He's really smart, not just in terms of his natural intelligence as a person but in terms of football savvy. You know, people would describe that as instincts. He has a great feel for where things are coming from. You know, it's like when you're a little kid, you're playing -- and you have -- I have a 3-year-old, right, and they have the card you put upside down and you're matching them and you flip them over and you find where they are.

When he sees defenses, a lot of times, he may miss the first time, but he finds the next time. There's moments in good on good scenarios where we go ones versus ones where he figures out exactly what we're in and -- you know, and he gets the offense in the right play. And I think, obviously, he's extremely athletic. He's a competitor. He does a really good job pushing the ball down the field. And he's clutch in critical moments. But in addition to that, he's so savvy in the game of football. And that helps him, I think, always know where to go with the ball and what he wants to do with it. I think that's -- to be a great quarterback, you have to do that.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: The physical skill set you noticed early in terms of his ability to extend plays and cause problems. It's well-documented going back to when we played in the Rose Bowl that he gave our defense fits when he was emulating Baker Mayfield as a scout team quarterback. That physical skill set he had in high school. If you go watch the film at Pierce County, he's running around all over the field and making those throws. You don't really know what level of processer somebody is, what level of football instincts they have until they're out there. And, man, he's so impressive in that way. In addition to he has great physical tools in terms of his athleticism and ability to extend plays. And he throws the heck out of the football.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: It's a national championship game. It's different every time you get to play in a game that has more stakes -- and every game has stakes. Right? But, I mean, our guys do a great job of approaching the prep the right way. They go out there -- today we're going to follow our blueprint for what we do two days before the game. Right? It is two days. Right? Correct? Okay. Just making sure.

When you end up playing a game on Monday -- it was great in the semifinal because game's on Saturday. Day of the week tells me exactly where we are. But they've got to approach it as such. There's a reason we prep the way that we do.

Obviously, we're in -- we're out here in California with you-all. And the stakes are as high as they get in college football. But our guys do a great job of focusing on what they have to do to be successful. And from that standpoint, it is different. Everybody knows that. We need to play our best game. But the prep is what got you here, so we can't abandon the habits that have helped us be successful.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: You know, I've been -- I've been so far into what we need to do to limit their offense that's exceptional that I have not been able -- obviously, I'm familiar with how they line up and what they do stylistically, and we try to do the best job possible with our scout teams here. And we have a lot of coaches committed to scout work. And they're helping the best way that we can to help our offense. But if I started making comments about the TCU defense, it would be without enough research because we've got our hands full with their offense.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: This team has understood that they have to continue to get better to be where we want to be, where we are today. And they've embraced that in prep. And I think -- not that -- I mean, last year's team for -- credit to them for all the talent that we had, they always wanted to continue to attack the day and become the best version of themselves. But I think if you were to say what's different is how far some of these guys have had to come to improve. They have a great skill set or they wouldn't be at the University of Georgia. Anybody that gets recruited to play here has ability.

But there have been a lot of guys who have had to grow significantly, whether that's a guy who's played but has never been a leader guys that had to become a leader, guys who are young who had to step in starting for the first time or guys who are older who may have been role players that have had to really step up and play a lot of snaps for us. I think that's the biggest difference is just -- I love these guys for how they've completed and the strides that they've made to get where we are.

Q. (Inaudible question regarding game plan.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: So when you start the process of building a defense in the off season, starting with spring ball, going through summer to fall camp, you build a library of tools. You try to prepare yourself to have answers for every type of offense. And that way, you have a good bank to work from.

And so when you start on Sunday -- let's say Sunday even though it wasn't a Sunday this time -- of game prep, you look at your whole menu of what our players already know and say what fits this offense. And then you say, okay, where are the holes based on what they do that we need to have answers for what they're going to do.

So it's not a whole new defense. We haven't played the same -- there are certain calls that have carried over to every opponent we've played this year. And there are certain calls that have showed up for one opponent and disappeared forever. Then it just stays in the bank until we need it again. So there will be things that carry over, and there will be things that we do in this game that we've done earlier in the year for similar challenges. And there will be things that are new specifically for our opponent. And that's kind of the recipe we follow.

Q. (Inaudible question.)

GLENN SCHUMANN: You have to account for them every play in terms of run game, in terms of scrambling, in terms of ability to throw the ball. I mean, that guy makes them go in every phase of their offense and has really talented players around him. But I think you have to be really sound in what you do because you can't not account for him.