Kirby Smart not interested in begging for higher attendance: ‘If our fans want to be great, they’ll do it’

With a seating capacity of just over 93,000, Georgia‘s Sanford Stadium is hardly the SEC’s largest stadium. In fact, the nearly century-old complex originally opened in 1929, has undergone multiple expansions over the years to add more seating opportunities, including most recently in 2024.

But if Bulldogs fans — especially those in the usually crowded student sections — continue to show up only to exit early like many did in Saturday’s 45-7 rout of visiting Marshall, thus leaving noticably empty sections throughout much of the second half, don’t expect any commiseration from Georgia head coach Kirby Smart.

In fact, Smart — an alumnus and two-time All-SEC selection at safety in the late 1990s — believes true Bulldogs fans should not only ‘love’ to attend games at Sanford Stadium, no matter the competition, but should inherently want to stay through the final whistle much like his Georgia players do. And fans can forget about any added incentives ahead of Saturday’s Week 2 home game against FCS Austin Peay.

“I don’t know that you incentivize the turnout. I don’t really believe in incentivizing things. I think it has to be a core DNA trait, a belief,” Smart said Tuesday during his weekly media availability. “You know, when we sell things as ‘I will do this if you do this’ and incentivize, I don’t think that’s great motivation. I think it’s intrinsic in who you are, I think people should love to (attend) a Georgia home game because there are only so many of them. There are limited opportunities.

“It’s the same thing with our players. We don’t incentivize them to run to the ball by saying we’ll go up in your NIL if you run to the ball. You’ve got to do it because you want to be great. You’ve got to do it because you want to be different. If our fans want to be great and different, then they’ll do it.”

Smart has officially thrown down the gauntlet. Will Georgia’s fanbase answer his call?

Georgia injury updates: Kirby Smart offers latest on Earnest Greene, Juan Gaston, more

Ahead of Week 2, Smart shared several injury updates. That began with defensive back Daylen Everette, as well as two offensive linemen, Earnest Greene and Juan Gaston. He would note that all three of them are dealing with what could be described as lower body injuries.

“Daylen Everette is dealing with an ankle injury,” Kirby Smart said. “Seems to be doing well. Was able to run and do some things yesterday, and should be able to crank it back up today and do more. Juan and EG, we’re hopeful to get both those guys back this week, but only time will tell.”

Daylen Everette is a senior who started in each of the last two seasons for Georgia. He’d be a Third-Team All-SEC selection last season, coming off a season where he led the defense with three interceptions, two of which were in the SEC Championship Game. in the SEC Championship.

On the offensive line, Juan Gaston was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2025. He became the first true freshman Georgia offensive lineman to start in a season opener since 2017. Meanwhile, Earnest Greene is a veteran who has been at Georgia since 2022 and played in 25 games while making 23 starts over the past two seasons. Later, Kirby Smart also shared an update on another veteran offensive lineman, Micah Morris, who has played in 32 games over the past three seasons. However, he now has a cast on his hand, and it’s unclear how long it will take to get back on the field.

“I’m not sure of the timeline on that,” Smart said. “He has the option of a hand cast with fingers out that he was not as comfortable with that he may be moving to. Kyron [Jones] is dealing with the same thing, but I can’t answer that. I don’t know when he’s going to be able to be out of the complete club.”

— On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this report.