Georgia Football Buying into 'Fire, Passion, and Energy' Mantra
It is the fire, passion, and energy era of Georgia football. That has been the mantra of the offseason for head coach Kirby Smart, and it seems his players are buying into the message.
“So we are young, we’ve talked about that at media days, but we are hungry. We got a team that’s fun to coach. We go out to practice each day, they’ve been enthusiastic,” Smart said on Thursday. “They’ve been out there working out, just doing all the things you ask.”
Following the annual G-Day spring game, Smart reiterated that he wanted to have a “bonfire” of a roster that is full of players who bring that “FPE.”
It seems in Smart’s mind, having that fire, passion, and energy is just as important as having talented players. But it isn’t just the players who are bringing it; the 10th-year head coach is even seeing it from his coaching staff.
“Yeah, I feel it every day, because if you don’t have it, it’s hard to be successful. You can’t keep up,” Smart said. “Our staff has it. Our staff has great juice.”
Smart saw what he needed during the summer workout program.
“I see it in the players every day. And it starts with 110 heat index last week, seeing them out there running in that and facing it. And they don’t always have it all the way through that 110 heat index … but they do push and challenge each other,” Smart said. “That’s what I’ve enjoyed about this team so far, is they’re not afraid to hold each other accountable and get after each other, because they know that they’re stronger together than they are apart.”
That accountability and player-led leadership are what many of Smart’s best teams at Georgia had. Both of the national championship teams certainly had that, and while this roster doesn’t have many players left who were on either of those championship teams, there are still some, like tight end Oscar Delp.
“Yeah, I mean, just, I know how it was when we won games, and when it was work, when we won national championships, I was here for that,” Delp said. “So I just kinda share with them the standard and what those older guys were holding me to when I was younger. So I try to keep it the same, and just stand as a standard. You gotta do it certain ways to win championships.”
Delp returned to Athens for a senior season despite having the opportunity to enter the NFL Draft following last season. While the wait to see what he can do on the field in games for Georgia this season will continue, he’s already doing his part as a leader.
“He’s got one of our most improved boards in terms of work ethic in the weight room and the jumps he made,” Smart said.
Even with the SEC Championship and appearance in the College Football Playoff last season, there were a lot of things different about that Georgia team. They suffered from some very un-Georgia-like issues, and while it may not be fair to pin that all on one thing, inside linebacker Raylen Wilson already sees a difference heading into fall camp about the buy-in of his teammates.
“I feel like everybody’s more bought in to the fire, passion, energy thing because I feel like nowadays college football, mostly people care more about money and here we make sure that’s not the biggest issue,” Wilson said. “We focus on the passion and the love for the game.”