Jackson Meeks earns 'special teams demon' title from Kirby Smart
ATHENS, Ga. — Special teams doesn’t often come with tons of glory, but it did on Monday in Athens. Just a matter of days after a pair of special teams plays helped spark the Bulldogs to a 42-10 win over Auburn on Saturday, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart shared his thoughts on sophomore wide receiver Jackson Meeks and his buy in to the importance of that third aspect of the game.
“Well, the No. 1 thing that he’s done is he’s been a special teams demon. You know, you guys don’t get to see it enough. But he’s taken over a role on special teams in terms of kickoff coverage, punt return,” Smart said. “He’s really been really good at what he does. He executes his assignment. He plays with great toughness. He’s gotten some opportunities at wideout. But he’s really physical. And, you know, that — the whole culture and team building and special teams being first, he’s really bought into that and brought kind of an era of toughness to that room that we haven’t had in a while.”
Meeks was a three-star recruit coming out of Phenix City, Ala.’s Central High School in 2021. The No. 99 wide receiver in the country and No. 635 overall according to the On3 Consensus, Meeks played in nine of 15 games last season as a freshman. He caught three passes including an 11-yarder versus Vanderbilt and a 27-yarder against Charleston Southern, however Meek’s biggest impact probably came on special teams in the win over the Commodores with a pair of tackles.
Of course Georgia plays Vanderbilt again this weekend in the annual matchup between the SEC East opponents. Meeks, a year after his big day on special teams against the ‘Dores, shared on the mentality that he has as an important special teamer.
“It’s an honor. This is a great organization and a great school, so any time I get to be a part of it and help my team win, I take pride in that,” Meeks said. “I take a lot of pride in special teams. Like my old teammate Channing Tindall said, it’s always an honor to go play. I’m a starter, special teams starter and that means I get to go out there and contribute.”
“I go out there and give effort like all my teammates do,” he added, reacting to being called a ‘special teams demon’ by Kirby Smart. “We all give effort and we all play to our best ability and go out there to help our team in the best way that I can.”
Meeks said that he’s on every special teams unit – kickoff return, punt block return, kickoff coverage and the punt team. As somebody that wasn’t as heavily recruited out of high school as some of his teammates, Meeks said that it’s really just a blessing to be able to help in whatever way possible. And his teammates can see the pride that he takes in special teams too.
“For me personally, I wasn’t a big recruited guy out of high school. It’s a blessing to be here, so any way I can help the team win, it’s an honor to help,” Meeks said.
“He’s a workhorse man. He puts in the work every single day,” Georgia safety Christopher Smith added. “He plays with a lot of passion, a lot of heart. He drives and pushes me in practice every day. The friendship that we’ve been able to build playing with each other, that’s my brother for sure.”
Georgia takes on Vanderbilt this Saturday in the homecoming matchup at Sanford Stadium. Kickoff time between the Dawgs and Dores is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
