ATHENS — For Richard LeCounte, this spring has been about details.

It’s his third time going through spring practice at Georgia. The junior safety enrolled early in 2017, so he came into his first spring camp fresh out of high school.

He spent his time learning his assignments and figuring out how things worked. Spring 2018 was the same.

But now, he can work on the small things. After a season spent starting 13 of 14 games, he can focus on improving his form tackling, keeping the ball in front of him and not letting blockers overtake him.

“As I was coming in earlier, it was just so much excitement built up around the season, and now I know everything I need to do,” LeCounte said. “It’s been a different type of vibe from my first two years here.”

In his 14 games of action in 2018, LeCounte broke out as defensive star. He led the team in tackles with 74, including one tackle for loss and three pass breakups.

In the SEC championship game against Alabama, LeCounte picked up his first career interception, which he returned for 29 yards.

LeCounte realized in that game how much he’d developed throughout the season. Since that game, he’s never felt the same.

“Whenever I step out on the field, I feel confident in playing,” LeCounte said. “I feel every time I go out there, ever since Alabama, it’s like, ‘You’re here to play ball, let’s do it.’”

But LeCounte’s 2018 success wasn’t enough for him. He saw room for improvement, and missed tackles from the season weighed heavy on him.

So he devoted his offseason to bulking up to become a more physical tackler. He’s put on 12-15 pounds since January, and he feels a difference.

“I feel more confident in my strength and things like that,” LeCounte said. “I feel that I put in a lot of work to be able to change that problem that I had last year.”

LeCounte hasn’t escaped feedback from his biggest critic, head coach Kirby Smart. Smart has been open about his criticism of LeCounte. LeCounte sees it as a positive challenge.

“Every day, it’s something that I need to learn, no matter what position I’m in,” LeCounte said. “I just take that as a stepping stone to be able to listen to criticism, and listen to my coach, because I know at the end of the day, it’s going to help me and it’s going to help my team.”

LeCounte has also challenged himself to lead a secondary that lost a great talent in cornerback Deandre Baker but retained safety J.R. Reed, who started alongside LeCounte in 2018 and chose to stay for his senior year, waiting to enter the NFL draft.

“We always laugh and joke and talk about, ‘He’s the old guy here now,’” LeCounte said. “And now that this class came around, I’m the old guy. So now, it’s just like we’re back there trying to help those guys out as much as we can, like having two extra coaches on the field.”

Understanding the young guys isn’t hard for LeCounte, who came to Georgia as a highly-touted prospect from Liberty County. Two years ago, he was just like them: an early enrollee just finding his footing, not quite ready to focus on the details yet.

“I just knew I had to step it up regardless of if (Reed) was leaving or not,” LeCounte said. “This offseason, I tried to be more vocal with the guys in the room, because I was definitely in a lot of guys’ spots.”