Kirby Smart details his approach to balancing reps, recruitment of quarterbacks

Kirby Smart is fortunate to have a third-year starter and super-senior quarterback starting this year at Georgia. But come next season, he’ll be on the hunt for a new signal caller. So what’s his process for developing the younger QBs in the UGA program and recruiting the quarterbacks of the future, knowing only one guy will ultimately start the games.

At a press conference this week, Smart was asked about the quarterback position and how he develops and recruits it when he already has a seasoned starter. You can watch his answers in this video or read his comments in full below.

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Kirby Smart on developing, recruiting QB position

“You gotta win the football game. So the number one thing is what we got to do to win the football game. Number two thing is what do we got to do to stay healthy. What are we going to do to create confidence and keep rhythm in our offense? And there’s a lot of things that go into that terms of experience for the two. So there’s no perfect way to answer that question. Because every game, that’s going to be different based on who we play the next week. How did we play that game? Where are we? Who’s playing around them? What alignment are we in? So there’s not a exact answer to that question.”

Then, Smart was asked by a reporter whether he recruits the position differently than the rest. He answered:

“I don’t know that you recruit them differently. You do the same plan of attack. You certainly sell it probably differently. And there’s not a lot of quarterbacks out there who don’t think they can come in and play. So you’re not selling…come here sit on the bench. You’re selling an opportunity to develop. And I think with a proven track record like Todd Monken has — our offense has the ability of developing quarterbacks, of giving guys an opportunity to play in a system that they can watch play on Sundays — is pretty important.

“There’s developmental positions in recruiting offensive linemen. They’re probably the least-played position as a true freshman right along with quarterback. So a lot of those positions are developmental positions and you have to grow and get better. And I think that’s part of recruiting is telling them the truth when it comes to that.”