In five years, Georgia Bulldogs' Tae Crowder has gone from low-rated running back to sensation for stellar defense

Georgia photo by Tony Walsh / Georgia senior inside linebacker Tae Crowder celebrates a defensive stop during last Saturday night's 21-0 blanking of Kentucky.
Georgia photo by Tony Walsh / Georgia senior inside linebacker Tae Crowder celebrates a defensive stop during last Saturday night's 21-0 blanking of Kentucky.

ATHENS, Ga. - Five years ago, Tae Crowder was an unheralded running back and receiver at Harris County High School in Hamilton, Georgia, who was on the verge of committing to Georgia Southern.

Today, Crowder is a fifth-year senior middle linebacker and the second-leading tackler for Georgia, which possesses the Southeastern Conference's top-rated defense.

"I just feel like it was God's plan," Crowder said after last Saturday's 21-0 shutout of Kentucky inside a rain-soaked Sanford Stadium. "I'm having a lot of fun. I love the guys I'm working with. I love the guys I'm around, so you can't beat that.

"I'm blessed that this has worked out for me."

Crowder was the lowest-rated recruit of Mark Richt's 15th and final signing class, receiving a late scholarship offer that resulted in an in-state switch from the Eagles to the Bulldogs. The 6-foot-3, 228-pounder spent his first season as a scout-team running back, and he began the 2016 season behind Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, Brian Herrien, Elijah Holyfield and Brendan Douglas on the depth chart.

The 2016 season also resulted in a change at the top, with Bulldogs alum and Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart hired to replace Richt.

"Tae kind of grew up as a receiver and kind of morphed into a running back as he got bigger and bigger," Smart said this week. "When I got to Georgia, he was in a backfield with a loaded, star-studded cast, and it was going to be tough for him to get on the field. I think he knew that, and we challenged him to create a role for himself on special teams.

"He started to compete on special teams, and you saw his athleticism. He had great ball skills, and we went to him and said, 'You're over here on the scout team running the ball. Do you want to jump in here and take some linebacker reps?' It took him a while to understand defensive football, but he bought into it."

Crowder moved to defense in October 2016 and made his playing debut in the next-to-last game of that regular season, a 35-21 win over Louisiana-Lafayette.

Though Crowder usually wears a big smile when interviewed, he becomes more serious when recalling those days. He had to put his trust in a coach he didn't sign with and play on the opposite side of the ball.

"Coach Smart helped me out a lot," Crowder said. "We talked about it. We felt like I had a shot at it, and I took my chance. When he came in, I didn't know where I stood. I was just lost. He saw something in me, and I started working.

"As it turned out, I've loved hitting people, and I didn't always love getting hit."

Perhaps only Tim Jennings in the last two decades had a steeper rise from obscurity to stardom with the Bulldogs. Jennings was a two-star cornerback prospect in 2002 who was headed to South Carolina State before receiving a late offer from the Bulldogs, and he wound up being the first Georgia player selected in the 2006 NFL draft, going in the second round to the Indianapolis Colts.

Crowder made five starts last year and has started all seven games this season for the 10th-ranked Bulldogs, who are 6-1 overall and 3-1 in SEC play heading into next week's showdown against No. 7 Florida (7-1, 4-1) in Jacksonville. Among this season's Bulldogs, only junior weakside linebacker Monty Rice's 41 tackles top the 36 compiled by Crowder, who has three tackles for loss, three quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery.

Georgia's defense is on pace to lead the SEC in both scoring defense and total defense for the first time since 1968.

"Tae and Monty take on a lot of ownership," Smart said. "We put a lot of pressure on our inside 'backers to understand calls and make calls. The offenses you face today seem more and more exotic every week with different motions and shifts, and they do a good job of putting us in the right call. They're the glue."

Said Crowder: "As a defense and as a whole team, we just want to stay together. We're not done yet."

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.

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