What Was Said: Kirby Smart shares new team motto as spring enters second week
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia is on to its second week of spring practice, and head coach Kirby Smart had plenty to share in his meeting with reporters on Tuesday. Everything Smart said, plus links to interviews with the four players made available can be found below.
Kirby Smart Opening Statement…
“Excited about where our team’s headed, really excited about this group. We’ve had three practices — two shorts, and then one full-pad practice on Saturday, and we’ll get to be in pads today and keep things rolling. A lot of competition out there. As a whole, the overall feels probably a little younger than what I remember in the past. Maybe it’s the total number of new players. In terms of midyears, I think we’re up a little bit in midyears. We’ve broken a new record every year with more and more midyears, and then the addition of the portal guys. It’s just a lot of new faces out there. That’s the biggest difference. But they’re progressing well and practicing well. We’ll have our first scrimmage Saturday and looking forward to that.
We’ve got a huge coaches clinic going on this weekend. I think we’ve got over 700 or 800 high school coaches that still enjoy coming to our clinic and get to enjoy that. That’s a big piece of it.
A lot of spring sports. Exciting moments going on. I know our women’s swimming program’s about to have NCAAs, a lot of tennis going on, baseball, softball’s doing incredible. A lot of spring sports right now competing we can all support as Bulldogs.”
Smart on his relationship with the Coaching Clinic speakers (Jamey Chadwell/Willie Fritz) and any working together this offseason…
“I know Coach Chadwell really well. I think he’s a great guy, great coach. We were lucky to be able to get him in here, excited to be able to get him in here. I think more than us studying them, there’s a lot of high school coaches that try to implement philosophies he has on offense. There’s a little bit of option carryover, a new-age offense in terms of the ability of a quarterback being able to run the ball, run the option from the gun. They do a really good job of that. He’s done that since Coastal and Liberty. We try to gear our clinic towards benefitting high school programs in our footprint, not just our state, in a five-hour radius. He certainly does that, as well as Coach Fritz, who I have a lot of respect for. He’s going to be at our clinic as one of the keynote speakers who did an incredible job at Georgia Southern, an incredible job at Tulane, and now will do an incredible job at Houston because he’s just a good football coach.”
Smart on weight-loss progress of Georgia’s freshmen offensive linemen…
“I don’t know. I’ve recognized a large group of that group. That group as a whole has been tremendous at weight loss. I don’t know if any of them are, maybe a couple, are right at 330. Nyier’s had the greatest loss, going to 396 to — I don’t want to quote, but he’s lost 40-50 pounds, somewhere in that window. Daniel Calhoun’s lost a tremendous amount. Easley’s lost a tremendous amount. Uini has done a real good job there, too. Toliver probably had the least to lose, so he didn’t really have to lose a lot. He is having to play center, a new position that he’s developing at. That group across the board, it’s unique to have. Most of the time, midyear, you have two or three O-linemen. Having five is very unique. You don’t really want all five of them there at once because you have a recipe for disaster, but you’ve got five players who are getting better a lot faster, and we’re trying to integrate them into different parts of the practice, and not all at once because it’s hard. The largest jump in all of sports to me is to go from a high school offensive lineman to a college offensive lineman.”
Kirby Smart on Jalon Walker’s ability during his recruitment to play both roles…
“Well, he played both. He played a little bit of what we call Sam/Star, played out in space. He did rush off the edge. He’s still a really good edge rusher. He knows that was part of the development plan because he had seen Quay do it. He had seen other football players in our program develop as an off-the-ball backer and into a linebacker. He does both of those things really well. He missed last spring to develop at inside backer. He’s using this spring to springboard himself into a better all-around football player. But it was not a hard sell because he’s got wonderful parents, wonderful siblings. His dad is a college football coach, has been for a long time, knows football. It’s great and soothing to have a conversation with somebody that understands the development process, and nobody better than his dad and his mom to realize how far he had to go, but he has been on a journey. He’s much more than a football player. He’s one of our best leaders on- and off-the-field, in a lot of organizations on campus. He represents the student-athlete the right way.”
Smart on early impressions of ILBs sans Smael Mondon…
“Young. That’s the first impression. A lot of youth there. A lot of reps. Raylen and CJ are way ahead in terms of play time than a second-spring player — because this is their second spring — would normally be. In a perfect world, we would like these guys to be coming into playing time. That’s not the case. They got thrust into it and had to learn kinda trial-by-fire. The guys behind them are even younger than them. Between Smael and the next guy, there’s a big gap there. Part of that gap was created because the two young guys played well and were good last year. If you’re sitting behind that, sometimes you start questioning what you should do. The guy that’s had a good spring so far has been Bowles. He’s done a good job. He’s picking things up. He didn’t get the benefit from his high school not letting him go midyear. He didn’t get the benefit of coming in with those guys, but he’s just as good an athlete as those guys. He’s going to help us special teams-wise, learning the defense. The other three guys that are here midyear provide good depth, and they’re learning.”
Smart on Trevor Etienne so far…
“I think running back is one of the positions that you can pick up really quick. There’s some similarities between our offense and theirs, a lot of the same runs, a lot of the same words in some cases. He’s not struggling to transition that part. I think getting comfortable in the offense, there’s nuances. I’ve met with him about difference in the way we do things and the way they do things offensively that he’s picking up on. He’s very bright. Not going to be a problem for him. There’s been some mistakes and things, but nothing that can’t be corrected. In terms of his effort and practice habits, we’ve encouraged him to give great effort, run the ball past the last defender. He’s a sponge. He’s absorbed that. He’s enjoyed getting pushed. He’s enjoying the competition of that room because there’s guys he’s competing with in that room. I’m very pleased with where he is and hope that he’ll continue the trajectory he’s on.”
Kirby Smart on Oscar Delp’s work ethic as the veteran in that room…
“Oscar’s really physical. He does things his way. He’s not Brock. He doesn’t try to be Brock. He’s a quiet leader, similar to Brock, but he’s really physical. He’s tough. He knows the work ethic it requires. The guy’s taken a lot of reps since being here. He’s been durable. He’s doing a good job leading in that room, as well as Luckie is and the two young kids.”
Smart on the transfer wide receivers…
“Well, they’ve been a little banged up. Colbie’s been a little banged up. He’s had an ankle, happened right before we started, or right before we went on break. He’s been able to practice some and do some things. He’s actually gotten better with each practice, probably did the least with any of his practices his first practice. He did a little more the third practice, and then hoping today he’s able to do some more. He’s very bright, transitions smoothly. Michael Jackson’s showed up and made some plays, and so has London. London is really in his second year of college football. I think a lot of times you take a guy in the portal and think of immediate — RaRa, Dom, those guys had played in our conference a lot — London had played in our conference, but probably a young player that’s developing. The other two guys are a little bit other, but very pleased with all three of those guys. I don’t sit here and put expectations on top of people of having super high expectations. I want them to fit into our culture and buy-in to special teams and practice hard and learn how to practice in the spring. And then come back fall, they should be conditioned and smarter and be able to benefit us more. Each one of them’s done that.”
Smart on tight ends as a whole and the addition of Benjamin Yurosek…
“Well, experience. Size and speed. With the knowing Pearce’s unfortunate situation, we were going to be short there. We felt like we were getting a really talented, intelligent, experienced, mature body type. We need that at that position. Lawson’s having a good spring so far. Oscar’s a proven player with toughness. We’ve got to bring the two young kids along really fast. Jaden Reddell’s been dealing with a little bit of a hamstring. We’re trying to get him back out there best he can. They need all the reps they can get. They just need to go out there and take a ton of reps and keep getting better so they can grow. We’re not where we need to be from a health standpoint in that room. It would help to have Ben here, but he’s not, and he’ll be here in the summer.”
Kirby Smart on if all three units have gotten better and the ‘get-better’ mindset…
“Just being detailed in what we’re attacking each day. Don’t go out there without a purpose. I try to have the coaches each day go in and give a few points of emphasis because, if we’re not careful right now, there’s so many things to correct that you can’t see the forest through the trees. It can be overwhelming to a young player, so we try to narrow their focus on small things. We’ve got 15 opportunities to get better, and so far we’ve done that in the first three. I have full expectation they’ll come out there today with intentions of growing and getting better.”
Smart on Carson Beck playing with more confidence…
“Yeah, I think one of the big challenges for him is being comfortable and trusting the receivers around him. He’s had the fortune and misfortune of Brock and Ladd and Marcus Rosemy being in the lineup, but he’s also had the misfortune of them not being in the lineup. As a quarterback, you ask any good quarterback, they like receivers they trust, they know, they have intuitive ability to think the same way. There’s a lot of change in that room right now. So showing confidence in himself and showing confidence in those players to do their job and trust them is a big part of it. That trust is not given. It’s earned. They’re earning his trust, and it goes both ways.”
Smart on Nick Saban’s comments about of state of NIL…
“I think the leaders are going to do a great job positioning us for the future in terms of what they do. The choices of each college coach is obviously up to the college coaches. There’s certainly higher stakes and higher pay than there’s ever been for college coaches across the board. There’s guys making money and making livings that coordinators can retire now. They don’t have to go get a head job. You look back even 10 years ago how much it’s changed for coaches. There’s no crying out there from my end. I want what’s best for the student-athlete. Sometimes I question if the system we have now, if it’s best for the student-athlete. It’s not necessarily best for the sophomore, junior, and senior. It might be best for the freshman. But it may not be best for the sophomore, junior, and senior. I would love to see a little more fair system for the players in terms of within the players. But I don’t have a lot of coaches complaining saying they want to get out of the profession. They enjoy their profession. They want the profession to be about relationships, developing talent, and rewarding positive performance both on- and off-the-field. That comes through what you’ve done and your body of work of being there, not necessarily where it’s a reverse system of the younger players sometimes getting more than the older players.”
Kirby Smart on Will Muschamp’s role and Travaris Robinson’s backfill…
“Will came and talked to me. It was really important that he continued to be a major factor in his son’s life. He spent a lot of time around young men in this profession, and he’s developed a lot of really good football players. He’s shaped a lot of boys into men. He’s got a lot of great relationships from the places he’s coached. He’s got players from Florida, Auburn, South Carolina that reach out to him all the time that he’s good friends with. He spent a lot of time developing those kids, and he wants to be able to see his son. He wants to be able to watch his son develop and play. He got to see that firsthand with Jackson here who did a tremendous job for us. Every day, Coach Muschamp got to go on the practice field and be with his son. I can only imagine what that felt like for him and the satisfaction of seeing his son each day. Now he’s got Whit who’s got an opportunity to go to Vanderbilt and play. He wants to be a factor in his life and be with him. That was a really easy transition. I thought he handled it very well. He communicated very well with me. Our ability to hire T-Rob was tremendous. He’s got tons of value in our SEC footprint. Recruiting value, football knowledge, leader of men. Anywhere he’s coached, his players really, really trust him and enjoy him. He’s been nothing but an asset for us in terms of knowledge, but also in terms of relationships. We’ll get a great benefit from T-Rob coming, and we’ll get a huge benefit from Coach Muschamp remaining part of our program to help us.”
Smart on defensive transfers Jake Pope and Xzavier McLeod and also the “assuming nothing” mantra…
“I’ll start with that. I didn’t choose it myself. I had some help. We get outside support with that, so I’m not taking credit for that. I have a close relationship with Nike and Phil Knight and been on a trip with him for 6 or 7 consecutive years. I have so much respect for him and his wife and what he’s done with his business that I thought it was really cool when the opportunity came up to study their success. You want to be successful, study successful people, and they have certainly been that. So that’s really where that came from, from outside sources.
As far as Jake and X, those guys are coming from SEC programs. They’ve been in those programs. They are more mature than our midyears. They’re intelligent. They’re familiar with our systems. They’re both developing and working hard and competing for playing time.”
Smart on Jared Wilson taking over at center…
“Yeah, I’m excited for the rest of the world to get to see Jared Wilson. This a guy that, No. 1, I don’t put a lot of high expectations on people and anoint people, he has a lot to do to be the best player he can be. But when you talk about athleticism at the center position, this guy runs faster than a lot of our defensive backs, believe it or not, our tight ends, our quarterbacks. His numbers, extremely athletic, over 300 pounds, can get to the second level as quick as anybody. Just really athletic. So he’s had the great fortune of learning from Sed. Unfortunately, that’s not a position that you rotate at a ton, so he didn’t get a lot of opportunities to go and play like maybe a Mims or Dylan Fairchild. They got to go in the game and play. He didn’t get the opportunity to do a lot of those things, but he is a really, really good athlete and even better person. He’s got a younger brother that’s going to be a really talented football player, as well. We just enjoyed his leadership, and I’m looking forward to the center being the leader of the group. Like Sed was, he’s kinda taken on a new role, and he’s doing it his way.”
