UGA Football: Frierson Chats With Nakobe Dean

By John Frierson
UGA Staff Writer

Nakobe Dean loved playing football, basketball and baseball growing up. The ultra-athletic Georgia football sophomore first dunked a basketball the summer before he started eighth grade.

A 6-foot and 220-pound linebacker from Horn Lake, Miss., just south of Memphis, Dean had a very good freshman season on the Bulldog defense, playing in all 14 games and finishing with 25 tackles.

During a Quick Chat after practice Tuesday, the Bulldogs’ second of preseason camp, Dean talked about what he’s been doing the past few months, what he could eat every day, dunking at a young age and much more. Here’s some of what he had to say:

Frierson: How close to normal do things feel these days now that everyone is back together and you’re practicing football again?

Dean: As far as camp, yeah, we’re all in our little bubble and doing everything that we usually do. We don’t usually get out during camp and I know that when we do get out, it’s going to be a little different.

Frierson: Obviously it was a very unusual spring and summer because of the coronavirus pandemic, so how did you use all of the time that you had? Did you do anything interesting or fun?

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UGA Football: Players Speak with Media Following Tuesday Fall Practice

Georgia players Azeez Ojulari and Nakobe Dean spoke with media Tuesday afternoon. They offered the following comments.

#13 Azeez Ojulari | Redshirt Sophomore | OLB

On who has taken the responsibility of keeping the team accountable to properly social distance…
“Yeah, definitely the leadership group has been preaching to the team to make sure they are wearing their mask at all times, in the building and everywhere you go—just keep that mask on for your protection—not just for you but the people around you. So, it’s been a big deal around here.”
On having the opportunity to have a more SEC opponents this season with the 10-game, conference only play…
“The SEC is a competition every week, definitely. That will be great for us—going to battle every week no matter what team it is. It is going to be a battle for sure. We have to bring our ‘A’ game every week.”
On what people should expect from a Todd Monken-style offense…
“Man, that offense is going to be good, man! We should come here working hard every day—we are following the coaches’ lead and doing whatever the coaches want us to do. So, they are going to go out there and execute and do what they have to do.”
#17 Nakobe Dean | Sophomore | LB
On how good it feels to go into fall camp this season at 100% after suffering an ankle sprain going into last season’s…
“It feels great. I’m definitely way further ahead. After going through last season, getting a whole year behind me, I think I have really learned the playbook and everything like that. It’s a great feeling.”
On his thoughts about the order of opponents Georgia will face this season/whether that changes how Georgia prepares…
“I’m grateful to be playing all the teams we are playing, but our focus is on us right now. No matter what the order of the games are, we’re going to prepare the same each week. As a team, we will practice hard. That’s what we do.”
On his responsibilities as inside linebacker and whether he feels comfortable taking those on/being the guy who calls the defense…
“I for sure feel comfortable— you’ve got to be comfortable. If you’re not and can’t be, [the coaches] will find someone who can. You have to be comfortable in telling everybody what to do. You’ve got to be able to be there vocally on defense.”
On the students returning to campus/if he has any anxiety about that and the effects others could have on the season regarding COVID-19 concerns…
“There are definitely concerns, just like there have been with everyone else returning to campus. I just want to challenge the student body and challenge my peers to wear their face mask, just like we all will be wearing ours in class and everything like that.”

UGA Football: Breaking Down the 2020 Schedule for the Dawgs

ATHENS —— Georgia will face three teams ranked in the Coaches’ Pre-Season Top 25 poll in its revised 2020 football schedule, according to an announcement Monday evening by the Southeastern Conference.

The Bulldogs will play Oct. 17 at #3 Alabama, Nov. 7 against Florida in Jacksonville and Oct. 3 at home against #11 Auburn.  The latter game is one of just four home contests for Georgia, the fewest in Athens since a 3-year stretch from 1965-67, when the college football season consisted of a 10-game regular season.  Additionally, every SEC game in the previously announced schedule for Georgia has found a new date.  That includes the annual clash with Florida in Jacksonville, which for the first time since 1991 will not be played on its traditional weekend of late October/early November.

A breakdown of the schedule follows:
Sept. 26 at Arkansas:  As announced earlier Monday by the SEC, the Bulldogs will travel to Arkansas for their season opener on Sept. 26.  Georgia leads the all-time series with Arkansas by a 10-4 margin.  The two programs last met six years ago, when the Bulldogs prevailed 45-32 in Little Rock on Oct. 18, 2014.  Their last meeting in Fayetteville occurred in the 2009 season, when Georgia won 52-41.  The 2020 game will mark the Division I head coaching debut of Arkansas’ Sam Pittman, who spent the previous four seasons at Georgia, the first three as the offensive line coach and the final year as Associate Head Coach in charge of the offensive line.

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