Gaillard carries confidence after settling in at center

Throughout his first few years at Georgia, Lamont Gaillard couldn’t get settled on a single position.

The 6-foot-2, 288-pound junior started out as a defensive tackle and then saw the move to offense at the guard position – which he was “uncertain” about for a short while.

After starting each game at guard in his sophomore campaign and thinking he was settled, it happened again. The latest switch isn’t as drastic, but Gaillard now finds himself at center and is tasked with getting the ball into the hands of quarterback Jacob Eason.

“I’m comfortable now,” Gaillard said. “Before, it gave me a lot of trouble and I had my ups-and-downs. After a while, it’s muscle memory and I have it down.”

Gaillard’s latest shift is due to the departure of Brandon Kublanow, who manned the center spot in 2016. The Bulldogs have shifted their offensive line throughout preseason practice, but head coach Kirby Smart feels like the starters have come closer to solidifying their spots.

As of Thursday’s practice, Gaillard is flanked by Isaiah Wynn at left tackle, Pat Allen at left guard, Solomon Kindley at right guard and Andrew Thomas at right tackle.

As Gaillard is set to start the season opener against Appalachian State on Sept. 2, his work with offensive line coach Sam Pittman has brought along significant progress.

Unlike the unique snap of Kublanow, Gaillard is sticking to the traditional spiral technique.

“I’ve learned a lot and gained over these few months; working hard on my craft and technique,” Gaillard said. “I’ve been trying to get everybody on the same page so they can follow me and trust me with the calls.”

Along with receiving instruction from the coaching staff, Gaillard puts in persistent work with Eason as the center-to-quarterback exchange serves as any play’s foundation.

Gaillard shows confidence in his unit, and expects Eason to reward his pass blockers if the signal caller goes through a game without being sacked.

If Gaillard suffers an injury at any point, Georgia would likely turn to Dyshon Sims or Sean Fogarty to fill the role. Gaillard feels as if both of his replacements could be successful if called upon.

“We work every day,” Gaillard said. “Of course during practice, and after practice if we need to if our snaps weren’t working so good that day. Jacob would say ‘let’s get some snaps.’ That’s fine with me if we can perfect it.”

Georgia’s offense didn’t meet expectations in a number of areas in 2016 as its passing offense ranked 97th nationally and the rushing offense finished with the 50th-best mark.

Pittman will likely fill his vacancies with two underclassmen – Thomas and sophomore Ben Cleveland are still competing at right tackle. Nevertheless, the offensive line carries lofty expectations and looks for drastic improvement.

“We need to be better and bring that pride back to Georgia,” Gaillard said. “This offense can block and we can run the ball. We can’t give up sacks or let our running backs have less than 100 yards per game. We want them to have more than 100 yards.”

As the games draw closer, Gaillard believes the offense can be better in every aspect – not only amongst the line.

But with the production beginning at the line, the Bulldogs’ playmakers see improvement which could lead to greater output in the second season under coordinator Jim Chaney.

“They’ve been helping us tremendously and have done an awesome job,” junior receiver Terry Godwin said. “They’re staying low, blocking and giving Jacob enough time to pass the ball and create holes for Nick and Sony.”

This story was originally published August 24, 2017 at 8:48 PM with the headline "Gaillard carries confidence after settling in at center."