Georgia linebackers coach John Jancek added the title of defensive co-coordinator to his resume Tuesday.

That lead to some bloggers and message board fanatics drawing conclusions that embattled coordinator Willie Martinez may have lost favor with head coach Mark Richt, that it was more of a demotion for Martinez than a promotion for Jancek.

Not so, Richt said in his Wednesday teleconference.

“Just to make it clear,” Richt said, “Willie Martinez is our defensive coordinator. It’s not like two co-coordinators on an equal basis. Willie is the tip of the spear.”

Martinez was criticized (rightly or wrongly) for the defense’s poor performance over the 2008 season, in which they allowed 312 yards and 24.5 points per game.

Jancek interviewed for the defensive coordinator job at South Florida over the weekend, but opted to stay at Georgia. But it doesn’t mean his job will necessarily change much.

“This is really a situation where his role is not going to change a whole lot because he has been very involved in game planning with coach Martinez,” Richt said. “He’s been having an awful lot of input over the years he’s already been here … We’re basically just making public notice of it.”

On the biggest question going into spring practice, which starts Mar. 11: I don’t know if we have anything that’s glaring. I’m really Interested to see the competition at tailback. There’s certainly an answer, or answers, within the group we have right now, or even with Washaun Ealey coming in. I don’t think there’s any question that we’re going to have production from our tailbacks, it’s just going to be interesting to see who comes to the forefront.

On if the rash of injuries will cause him to limit contact drills during spring practice: We will limit contact not so much in having contact less days than we’re allowed necessarily, but maybe the amount of time on the practice field on any given day that we will have contact . We’re going to decide beforehand how many reps each young man should get in any given drill, and if we’re like seven and a half minutes into it and everybody got enough reps . then we’ll just stop the drill and move on to the next period. We are going to be more conscious of counting repetitions of contact rather than going by the clock because if we have less guys practicing than we’re having more contact than we really want to for those guys.

On if all of those injured players missing spring practice will be ready to go during the summer: The only one that may not be as ready would be [offensive lineman] Josh Davis. He’ll probably end up having a second surgery on his other shoulder. I think the start of the season would be a question for Josh, but we think everybody else will have at least two months of full-speed action to get strong and get in the kind of shape that they need to be in.

On who will cover kickoff duties in 2009: That’s a great question. That probably is the biggest question is kickoffs. I think Blair is a very fine extra point and field goal kicker, and I think he’s got the potential to be a good kickoff man also. We do have Jensen and Lindley still there competing but we never really found an answer . It’s not always finished as far as people coming to your program through the walk-on process. Most of our best kickoff men have been walk-ons. So there are guys out there that I’m sure will come in and try and throw their name in the hat.

On if tailback Carlton Thomas will get a look returning kicks: Oh I think so. Carlton is super quick, he’s got great balance, he’s very tough. He’s strong. He’s a tackle-breaker. I think he would be a very, very good candidate for our kickoff and punt returns. Some guys fit one of the other better, but I think he’s fast enough, strong enough, agile enough, sturdy enough to go ahead with either one of those things.

On what he expects out of early enrollees Dallas Lee, Zach Mettenberger and Aaron Murray this spring: The biggest thing they’ve got to learn, is they’ve got to learn what to do. They’ve got to learn the Georgia way of practice and meetings. There’s so much they’re learning, and just learning to become a student at the college level . specifically in the springtime I want these guys to get a greater understanding of what’s expected of them, and then have a chance to learn enough to show what they can do and at least show the potential of what they can do. Because more than likely there will be times when they’ll do it just right and you’ll say, oh my goodness, when this young man becomes consistent he’s going to be a special player. So I’m sure we’ll see signs at times where we’ll get a glimpse of what they’ll become. But I don’t think there’s any way they can become that without just living through it and having some experience under their belt.