Glenn Schumann is entering his ninth season with Georgia football, the only assistant who has been with Kirby Smart for his entire run as Bulldogs head coach.

At 34, he’s still the second youngest Bulldog assistant coach behind only outside linebackers coach Chidera Uzo-Dirbie who is 32.

Schumann took over as defensive coordinator in 2022 when Dan Lanning left for Oregon. Schumann shared the co-coordinator title with Will Muschamp that year and now is paid handsomely ($2 million a year) for running the defense.

Muschamp last winter moved into an analyst role and Travaris Robinson, hired from Alabama, stepped in as co-defensive coordinator.

Schumann and Robinson met with reporters this week. Here are three takeaways from what they had to say:

Progress report on five-star DBs KJ Bolden, Ellis Robinson

Georgia’s defense added a pair of five-stars to its secondary last winter.

Safety KJ Bolden looks to be in position for playing time if not a starting role.

Cornerback Ellis Robinson IV may not have as clear a path to playing time with returning starter Daylen Everette and sophomores Daniel Harris and Julian Humphrey more seasoned.

“Being a freshman, no matter how much success you have, whether you're instantly successful or whether you have to go through some of the growing pains that guys have gone through in the past, just the transition from going to high school to college, it's hard on a normal student, right?” Schumann said. “And what separates guys that are able to help you when they're young versus guys who would take some time, a lot of times doesn't necessarily have to do with ability, it has to do with maturity and their prep.”

The 6-foot, 185-pound Bolden drew notable praise from Kirby Smart at SEC Media Days as being ahead of where Malaki Starks, now a two-time All-American, was at this point as a freshman.

“KJ is really doing a good job with the reps that he's getting,” Travaris Robinson said.

He doesn't have experience on the college level, but that doesn't mean he won't see the field early.

"I think in terms of how he approaches his business, he's had a maturity about himself since he's been here, and if you match that up with ability, you continue to grow, you have a chance to be a good player," Schumann said. "He's been very serious, and that's focused on the task at hand, which is what you need to do on a day-in and day-out basis.”

Dan Jackson, who has six career starts, could still get the call ahead of Bolden in the opener.

"There's going to be some new stuff show up in the ball game that you have to have your experience," Robinson said. "You got to have guys that have been in the fire, that've done it. That's why it's a little hard to play at that position, but we have guys do it every place I've been."

The 6-foot, 185-pound Robinson who played at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla, has stepped it up in practices this month, Schumann said.

“I think that he's attacked his personal conditioning and everything else to be able to maximize his ability,” Schumann said. “And I don't mean that to say that he wasn't, but there's a lot of demands on that position to be able to be at your best every snap. I think the way that he's approached that has given him an opportunity to compete in camp, and he has to continue to do that.”

Gabe Harris another 'position-versatile' Bulldog

There’s been plenty of chatter this offseason on expanded roles for versatile defensive players Mykel Williams as an outside linebacker and defensive end and Jalon Walker as inside and outside linebacker.

Not as much has been made of another Bulldog defender who also falls into that category.

That’s Gabe Harris, who was recruited as an outside linebacker but has also been used as a defensive end.

The 6-foot-4 Thomasville native is now listed at 260 pounds, up 15 from last season.

“On game day, their roles are based on what we think is best to win the game,” Schumann said. “As these guys have matured and grown and have been able to go through this learning process multiple times, they can take on more, and it makes it easier to play them in a variety of roles. Guys that can do multiple things, you obviously want to find ways to highlight them if they're productive.”

Harris flashed in the spring game, dropping running back Roderick Robinson for loss and making three solo tackles. He had 3 tackles for loss last year as a freshman and 9 tackles in 11 games.

“Gabe has become a position versatile player that was really just a hand-down D-end before, and now he's a much more well-rounded out player,” Schumann said.

Smart after the spring game that Harris is “twitchy, he's hard to block,” but sometimes plays out of control.

“Sometimes you don't know what you're getting with Gabe,” Smart said. “But you do get great effort and you do get great toughness. I love that."

Where the starting cornerback race stands entering preseason week 2

Closing in on three weeks before the season opener against Clemson, Schumann isn’t ready to talk about the corner spot opposite Everette as simply between Harris and Humphrey.

“That whole room is still in competition,” he said. “When you play corner in college football, you have to be able to not only be a guy that's a man-to-man cover guy, you have to be able to show up in the run game, perimeter block destruction for bubble screens and be a good tackler. So that's really what we need out of that position in general, is to be able to be successful in man-to-man, play the ball down the field, and still be able to be a factor in the perimeter block destruction game and tackling. And I think that those guys flash in each of those areas."

Humphrey and Harris haven’t started for Georgia, but played nine and six games, respectively last year. Humphrey played 169 snaps in the secondary last season and Harris 80, according to Pro Football Focus.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Three things about Georgia football defense entering preseason week 2