Georgia Bulldogs RB Coach Dell McGee Talks About His Running Backs
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ATHENS - The Georgia Bulldogs have one of the top running backs coaches in the college football on the staff in, Dell McGee.
McGee has helped coach an outstanding group of backs in recent years, and he spoke with reporters on Thursday about his group this upcoming season, the freshman backs on the roster, recruiting, and much more...
On the current running back group…
“I’ll start with Kenny McIntosh, a senior, who had a really nice spring and showed a lot of leadership in the summer work program, and he’s doing a great job of mentoring the two young guys who had just come in in Branson Robinson and Andrew Paul. Kendall Milton, a junior, who has suffered some injuries each year that he has been here. He’s been very healthy this spring and he’s also been healthy this summer, so we’re looking for big things out of him and he also serves in a leadership role because he had a chance to be led by Zamir (Cook) and James (White), four-year guys, and Kenny. Those two guys, along with Daijun Edwards, who’s been a consummate student-athlete—he’s very unselfish, a team player, knows his role and fit—he’s going to be counted on as well this year because he adds value to our football team.”
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On freshman running back Andrew Paul…
“He comes from a good high school program that won a state championship. He’s six-foot, 220 pounds, great size, has good speed. He’s a great kid from a great family. Very quiet, hard worker, so he fits all the character of things we’re looking for in our football players. We also needed another running back. We always like to keep five in our roster. Our lineup number is six, but we’ve been kind of shorting that number because of the talent that we’ve had in the room. He’s just getting here—he wasn’t a mid-year, so he’s behind from a mental standpoint. We’ll get a chance to evaluate him further in the scrimmage on Saturday, which I know all of our guys are looking forward to it.”
On securing a late commitment from a highly-coveted recruit in Paul…
“He has family from Georgia, so there was a connection there. The running back tradition here speaks for itself. That tradition was developed way before I got here. Just getting in there late in the month of December and January allowed me an opportunity of getting to know him and his family and him getting to know me, and just what he wanted in goals and aspirations. It just fit coming to Georgia.”
On Branson Robinson…
“Branson, the way he’s built, he’s built like a brick house. He doesn’t have a neck. He’s very similarly built in the shoulders like one of my old teammates, Takeo Spikes. Nick Chubb was a good-looking student-athlete as well. Branson is more than just muscle. He’s very dedicated. He works hard in the weight room obviously, and in strength and conditioning. He’s a sharp young man with a lot of promise this year.”
On recruiting non-running back prospects…
“As a staff, we have to go out and recruit other positions. I’m only signing one or two running backs. I’ve got a great relationship and rapport with high school coaches. I feel like I can talk to any parent, any race, any socio-economic status. I try to fit in where I can to help get the best players here. I’m one of the longest-tenured coaches here. That’s part of what Coach Smart wants, and whatever he wants from me, I’m going to do it.”
On Daijun Edwards’ impact…
"He's really quiet, he's not going to be a boastful guy, he doesn't talk a whole lot. What you are going to get is what you see, based on what you've seen. He is very unselfish, he closed out a lot of games, he wasn't a guy that was pouting because he didn't get in earlier in the game. He has value and has a role on special teams and that's a very, very important component of our success on the football field. He is going to be a competitor and he is having a great camp thus far and he had a great spring too so, we expect great things out of Daijun. He has graduated to a level where he is, level where he is going to get snaps."
On how things have changed since the first season …
"First off, we don't have to take that fifteen-minute bus ride to the solar panels, the only thing we lost from that was little a connection piece, you got to talk to the players before and after practice on those bus rides. But the facility speaks for itself, it's the best facility in the country. Our kids are well deserving, and they are treated very, very well and it adds to our practice efficiency on a day-to-day basis. Other than the fact our fields not being side by side, I think that is probably the only drawback, the distance you have to travel from one field to another. As much as we practice two spots, will add yards, unwanted yards, is not needed and can cut the efficiency of practice at times."
On Todd Monken’s impact on the offense…
"First, it goes back to recruiting. We recruit very, very well on the offensive line, so everything starts up front. Coach Monken, he is a very, very smart detailed-oriented, consistent coach. He demands a lot from the coaches, and he also demands a lot out of the players. I think he does a great job identifying the personnel, what fits certain plays, trying to use the dynamic of each individual player to maximize their abilities on Saturdays. I will say his NFL system gets us, he didn't come in and try to change every single thing, and he is also open to ideas, and that gives us a lot of input. When talk about adding Mike Bobo, a twenty year plus coordinator, Buster Faulkner, who is an eleven plus coordinator, and Bryan McClendon who has been an offense coordinator as well, you have a lot of knowledge and experience, and he leans on that too. I think it is a real joy to work with Coach Monken, I learn a lot from him, he is very particular on details, so small things, the little things and he holds everyone accountable."
On deciding the running back rotation for games…
"Decisions are made during practice, so you have got to show that you understand the details of the assignment and then you have to execute whatever plays coming up during practice. I think, through practice, you build days up and stack days, you build confidence, and the coaches try to find roles for those guys. Everything that we do and make decisions about all come from how you do at practice and execute those assignments."
On the sacrifices of being a collegiate coach...
“You have to have a strong wife at home to kind of choreograph the days of the kids and bills, I don't even know what's in my checking account, I don't do anything in regard to house or insurance. So, I think having a great leader at home is big, then stressing to your kids that this is a sacrifice. It's tough at times, but Coach Smart does a great job on relying on us to get back home and spend time with our families. The biggest time consumptions are right now while we are at camp, but once you get into the season, you get into kind of a routine. You know from Saturday after the game all the way until Wednesday you are going to grind, you get off and go straight home after practice on Wednesday, we kind of have our day, Wednesday as a family. Thursday it's the same, sometimes that's not the case for myself or non-coordinators because on Thursdays sometimes we have to get in place to recruit and watch prospect players on Friday night. But it is part of the job, I love the job that we have, it's us giving back."
On the journey from Carver-Columbus HS to Georgia…
"I wouldn't change a thing about it. Being a high school coach really taught me a lot, how to communicate with the kids, I constantly had parents that weren't involved and that I had to try to get involved. We definitely had a very, very low socioeconomic status of kids when I was at Carver, so resources weren't necessarily there. So just being connected to my players, communicating to my players and parents, saying the right things at the right time, really, really mattered and at the end of the day it's how you treat people, relationships that you develop and have with your players and parents. I still have continued relationships with guys I've coached in high school as well as here at Georgia, I think that is just as important. You get more than a coach when you get me, you are getting someone that is going to be, what I call, part of your lifeline forever. I get invited to weddings, ex-players tell me when they are having kids and things they are going through, they for advice, in the professional or even outside the professional circle. As a coach, you wear a lot of different hats, and being a high school coach, the only thing I do now is cut grass and line the field and fertilize grass and loads of things have kind of stopped. I love being around people, I have been part of the locker room since I was basically ten years old, so being part of that team component, that camaraderie, celebrating after wins in the locker room, that's part of my job."
On Kenny McIntosh’s ceiling…
“He can do everything. He can run inside tackles, he can run outside tackles, he’s really good on the perimeter. He has really, really good hands. Probably some of the best hands since DeAndre (Swift). He’s good at running routes, he’s a blitz pickup on third down, so he’s definitely a complete back. He’s learned a lot from James (Cook) and Zamir (White). He’s also a good example of, just like James and Zamir were, of staying the course, not being too anxious to enter the NFL or enter the transfer portal, just being patient. All of his hard work and his patience will come and pay off this year, but I think the sky is the limit for him. He’s definitely going to be an integral part of our offense and he will be relied upon heavily. He also adds value to our special teams as a kick returner.”
On changes from his first season …
“Well, I mentioned the solar panels, and if you think about it from the wins and losses, going from the Liberty Bowl to playing at the pinnacle of the National Championship in 2017 and then again in this past year, that’s what you strive to do as a coach. I think you can look at the fact that we only had one player drafted after that 2016 season, and now you come to this year and we had 15, so just a testament of the structure, what Coach Smart demands out of us as coaches in the recruiting philosophy, the everyday details and the staff that has grown, just creates competitive depth where our guys are competing and can’t get complacent it’s a pleasure, actually.”
On the inside linebackers …
“I think all the linebackers are capable. Starting with Pop, that’s (Jamon) Dumas-Johnson, his nickname is Pop. He looks like an old man, so we call him Pop. I think he’s done a great job. Smael Mondon Jr. is coming off an injury, I think he has a very, very bright future and will continue to develop. Xavian Sorey Jr. really, really fast linebacker that has great acceleration that has a great ceiling. Jalon Walker, who just got here as a midyear, possesses a lot of pass-rush ability. I think that’s probably a better question for our defensive guys, but all those guys are a handful to pick up on the blitzes. I know Coach Schumann and Coach Muschamp are going to do the best job putting them in position to make plays on our team. We’re only in day seven, so there’s a lot of answers that will be told once we scrimmage on Saturday, especially with our younger guys who haven’t player or just got here. We’ll see what we have from there, after that scrimmage.”
On the recruitment of Mykel Williams …
“It was definitely tough. He was initially going to commit to USC, but I was on his pops, his grandfather and his uncle for a long time, so we knew we were never out of it. We just stayed the course, stayed consistent, and it probably speaks for itself. Mykel is a Georgia kid that loves Georgia. I think he’s going to do things in an exceptional manner, which he has already. You can see the extra work and the attention to detail that he has as a young player. He actually came in and practiced with our team during the bowl week for a couple of days. He went through 14 spring practices and the spring game. Even this summer, you would see on off days he would be working. He would be working on Sundays, doing extra things to make him a better football player. So, we’re getting a very, very hard worker. Kind of unmatched from a hard work standpoint. That’s what you want out of a young player so they can influence their class as well as older guys, like, ‘Look at what Mykel is doing.’”
On the football success of the Columbus-Phenix City area …
“There’s a lot of talent in that area, down in Columbus and Phenix City. Of late, they’ve been really excelling on the football field. Had a lot of kids cross over the river a little bit. It’s just a great area. Always has been, always will be. Me being from Columbus, I’m definitely tied into the area and I’m in the know. I’ll know some of the kids before they even hit the high school marks, that, ‘Hey, this middle school kid I already know about. I’ve heard about the little league running backs.’ I have a little bit of a head start on everyone else, so we’re able to get those younger kids up to our camps and on campus. We’re able to build that relationship with those kids.”
On the progression toward being a head coach one day …
“Like I’ve said previously, I really don’t control that part of the process. I’m just very, very happy with being the running backs coach at Georgia. Coach Smart has been a blessing to me. I really want to thank him for affording me the opportunity to be the running backs coach here. Also the opportunities that he allows me to be in front of our football team, and in front of our offensive staff as well. Coach Smart has done everything as a mentor that you could do as a head coach and assistant coach. He’s very, very positive when it comes to his assistants moving on. We’ve had several assistants who have moved on to become head coaches and being a part of his pedigree is very special to me. But my main job is being the best running backs coach I can here. I feel like I am a head coach every single day, because I am in charge of the running backs and the special teams areas I’m in charge of, and I take all my jobs seriously, just like a head coach.”