Justin Williams path to Georgia influenced heavily by Glenn Schumann, LB tradition

Georgia landed five-star linebacker Justin Williams on Monday night but there was a time, a little over a month ago, when he was headed elsewhere. In an appearance on DawgsHQ’s Bark After Dark live show just minutes after he announced his pledge to the Bulldogs, Williams said that he was once sold on Oregon.

The nation’s No. 1 linebacker per the On3 Industry ranking took an official visit to Eugene on July 16. By the time that weekend was over, the Pacific Northwest felt like home. Williams was going to be a Duck. Dan Lanning, a former Georgia assistant coach who helped build and mold the program into what it is today, had all but secured a commitment from the play-making defender.

There was just one problem. Georgia was set to get the final official visit the following weekend. Williams was set to be in Athens on June 23 where he would spend the weekend with Oak Ridge High School teammate and heavy Bulldog lean Joseph Jonah-Ajonye. Williams was also going to get to spend more time with a specific assistant coach who has developed quite a reputation for developing linebackers — Glenn Schumann.

“I would say Coach Schumann played a huge part in my recruitment,” Williams said Monday night. “I think if coach Schumann wasn’t there, it’d be a different story. God obviously put him there for a reason. Coach Schumann, he’s a great developer. We hop on Zoom calls all the time to talk ball, talk football, and stuff like that. He really plays a great part in developing you as a human and as a player.”

The LB who solidified the “LBU” title…

Schumann, 33, has an undeniable track record in just seven seasons as an on-field coach. Georgia has two Butkus Award winners in school history and both were Schumann pupils. He has produced two more Butkus Award finalists and another semifinalist. Other accomplishments include two first-round draft picks, a trio of third-round picks, and Tae Crowder, a two-star running back/receiver turned linebacker turned seventh-round pick.

The guy who got it all started was Roquan Smith. He won the first Butkus Award, He was a unanimous All-American for the 2017 season. Georgia had been successful at recruiting and developing linebackers for 15 years prior to Schumann’s arrival, but it was Smith who brought big-time attention to the program. Williams, a Chicago Bears fan due to his family’s ties to the Windy City, knows all about Smith. The Bears took Smith with the No. 8 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft he’s one of several players who have inspired the five-star linebacker over the years.

“Roquan, he’s the best to every come through UGA, I feel like, linebacker wise,” Williams said. “He paved the way when people weren’t really looking at Georgia. So I think Roquan, he’s great, very downhill, type of person to go make a play. I feel like me and Roquan, we’re very similar.”

Williams knows one speed…

Now the focus shifts. After a couple of years of communicating with numerous coaches and well over a dozen visits, Williams will lock in on his senior season. He and Jonah-Ajonye will work to lead their Oak Ridge team to a championship with one of the most talented defenses in the country before enrolling at Georgia in January.

Accomplishing that goal won’t be easy, but Kirby Smart wants to see it happen. Pointing out the team accolades for Georgia’s signees has become customary for Smart when he introduces the class each December on the first day of the Early Signing Period. It’ll take a lot of hard work and effort to make it happen but those two things are not foreign to Williams, who has just one gear.

“It’s definitely true,” Williams said with a laugh when asked about his reputation for going too hard in walk-through style practices. “My coaches get on me all the time. There’s a couple of times (when it’s not full speed) that I was just taking it full speed. I don’t know how to slow down. Every since I was little, I just never like to slow down. I just think why can you stop? Just keep going.”