Arkansas Defensive Coordinator Hot Board 2.0

There were some rumblings around Fayetteville today with candidates emerging for the open Razorback football defensive coordinator position.

It seems that a certain Georgia defensive line coach as emerged as the leader early on in the search. If you read in the first edition of the DC hot board you would remember the name, Tray Scott. A Crossett, (Ark.) native who graduated and played college football at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville.

Per a report from Jackson Collier of Rivals Hawgbeat.com, the smoke around Scott’s name has turned into a fire.

Here is a short piece I wrote about Scott on Tuesday:

For a long time Scott’s name has been on everyone’s short list around Arkansas to bring the Natural State native home. The Crossett native has been with Georgia since the 2017 season coaching the defensive line which has been arguably the best position group in America during that time.

Under Scott, Georgia’s defense led the nation in rushing defense in both 2019 (74.6 ypg) and 2020 (72.3 ypg), in scoring defense in 2019 (12.6 ppg), and in rushing TDs allowed (2, UGA record) in 2019. The Bulldogs ranked 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in total defense in the 2020 and 2019 seasons.

Since his arrival at Georgia, Scott has coached 2018 freshman All-America and 2020 second team All-American DL Jordan Davis, 2020 freshman All-American Jalen Carter, 2018 second team All-SEC DE Jonathan Ledbetter and second-team All-SEC tackle Tyler Clark.

Another name to continue to keep an eye on is Glenn Schumann, Georgia’s current co-defensive coordinator.

The current Georgia co-defensive coordinator may be ready to take “co-” in off his position and jump ship to an SEC rival. He’s a young defensive mind at just 32 years old but has been groomed quite nicely during his time at Alabama under Nick Saban and working his way up under Kirby Smart at Georgia.

Schumann has contributed to the success of the Bulldogs defense being co-coordinator since the 2019 season. Georgia has allowed points at a premium since he’s been at the helm. His 2019 and 2021 defenses led college football in the category. While the 2020 defense finished 16th. This season after replacing six starters all over the defense, the Bulldogs still managed to finish second in the nation for points allowed.

Obviously, Pittman and Schumann worked together in Athens from 2016-2019 before Arkansas hired the ol’ line coach as the Head Hog.

Schumann is currently on staff with a salary of $805,000. If he stays on with Georgia he will earn a raise up to 855,000 on July 1, 2023. If he does want a quick bump in pay, he could make over $1 million at Arkansas in his first year.

It is very early in the process of hiring a new coach to guide the Razorback defense but like the report said he has emerged “the leader.”