Georgia coach Mark Richt has been top dog in Athens for nine years.
Richt’s strong defenses, especially his forceful defensive lines, have been key to his 50-22 record as head coach.
The Bulldogs’ 4-3 style of defense produced NFL players like defensive linemen Charles Grant and Johnathan Sullivan.
But when Georgia fired defensive coordinator Willie Martinez after last season, the Bulldogs were ready for a change.
New defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, who coached the defensive line for the Dallas Cowboys last season, was hired and shook things up, bringing a 3-4 scheme to Athens.
“When Coach Grantham came in, he wasn’t sure where everybody would fit,” Richt said. “He had our graduate assistants break down film and try to get 30 clips of all of our players so he could study them and place them in the right spot.”
Georgia has been learning and adjusting to the 3-4 defense since Grantham installed the scheme during spring practices.
“We made a few more adjustments as we went,” Richt said. “We’re trying to get everybody in the right place. We think we’ve got them placed in the right spot.”
The new system is aimed to match up against the trendy spread offenses in college football.
The 3-4 scheme relies on bigger defensive ends who have more responsibility to be run stoppers and leaves some of the pass-rushing to the outside linebackers.
“The thing that’s important is your personnel, how well they understand what you’re doing and how well they can execute what you’re doing,” Richt said. “It comes down to leadership of your team, staying healthy, all that.”
Georgia joins defending national champion Alabama as the lone Southeastern Conference schools to implement a 3-4 defense.
“If somebody does something and wins with it, wins on a consistent basis, I think more and more people will gravitate to that style,” Richt said.
To run the new scheme, the Bulldogs will need to find a dominant nose tackle like former Alabama defensive lineman Terrence Cody.
Georgia defensive ends Justin Houston and Demarcus Dobbs are returning starters, and junior DeAngelo Tyson is set to take the reigns at nose tackle.
The 6-foot-2-inch, 295-pound defensive tackle played in 13 games last season for Georgia and was named most improved defensive tackle at the conclusion of spring drills.
Richt said his new defense will get an early test Sept. 18 when the Bulldogs face the potent Arkansas offense.
“Hopefully we make some gains on defense and make some strides that will help try to disrupt it,” Richt said. “But they’re gonna make their plays, score points. We just got to try to find a way to minimize that and do our share.”