Everything Kirby Smart Said At SEC Media Day
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Georgia fans re-connected with head coach Kirby Smart at SEC Media Day on Wednesday. Smart took the podium and answered questions for the first time since winning a national title in January.
Smart addressed several topics ranging from the current state of his roster to NIL to defending a national championship. Several quotes from his presser garnered internet attention, so we laid out everything Smart said in his interview.
Georgia lost multiple contributors on both sides of the ball this offseason, meaning the 2022 team will feature several new faces. Additionally, the team will likely adopt a new identity. Smart was asked about what this identity would be and the early indications he had seen from this football team.
"Hungry. I talked about it earlier. I mean, there's a hunger among this group. A lot of guys want to prove that they can replace the other guy, and they don't want to be the other guy. They want to be the next guy."
This offseason marks the first time Georgia will prepare to defend a title in over forty years. Smart went back to his days as an assistant at LSU to contrast the difference between attempting to climb the mountaintop and remaining there.
"I go back to my first year at LSU. People don't realize they were coming off a national title. I was not part of that. But we had a tremendous team coming back, like uber talented, lot of draft picks. That was probably one of the toughest jobs because you had complacency. You had guys that were going to be first round picks no matter how they played off of how they played the year that won the national championship. You have experience right now on our staff at Georgia. I have a tremendous staff, probably the best staff I've ever had since I've been there in terms of continuity. Okay, we had four coaches change, but the four new coaches we've gotten have really jumped on board grab things. They know how to manage this situation."
He continually emphasized that this coaching staff is exceptional and actively avoids complacency. Smart praised offensive coordinator Todd Monken and inside linebackers coach Glenn Schumann, explaining they are working hard to ensure Georgia improves over the offseason.
"I give a lot of credit to Coach Monken and Coach Shumann, both those two guys, they love getting on Zoom. They love talking to NFL coaches and figuring out a new way to do it. How deep do you play your safety? How do you run your mesh route? What's something new you're doing on the inside zone? We're constantly looking to get better, and our staff does a lot of projects."
On Arik Gilbert's development:
Well, I expect him to give us a an A effort every day. And when you give him a great effort, and you get the talent that he has, it's a great combination. You know, he's a tremendous athlete. He's he's had to do some extra conditioning. He's a little heavy for the spring and he's worked really hard on bringing that down. He had a really good year academically, which was a big hurdle. He had to focus on his academics upon coming to us from LSU. And we expect him to do that. He got a great opportunity this spring. You know, people forget, Darnell and Brock were both out. So the opportunity he got he sees that opportunity to grow and develop, he will have to continue to do that. To be a major contributor for us. And he's bought into doing that and being a team player. There's a lot more to being a tight end than just catching the ball and he's bought into that.
On Mykel Williams:
The number one thing that stands out about Mykel is his work ethic. You never hear anything about him academically. I look out my window and I see him out there do an extra after every practice, left work the other day on a Sunday, and he's out there hitting a sled on Sunday. So guys, when you got a freshman that's out there on Sunday on his own on turf, 115 degrees out there, and he's out there striking a sled, something special, and he's talented. I'm excited for him. I can't say what his role is going to be right now. Because I don't know fully what which way, we'll use him where we'll play him, but he's a great athlete. He's a great young man. He comes from a great family and great program
Stetson Bennett's physical limitations are a frequent topic of conversation in college football, but Smart dismissed any criticisms and backed his quarterback. He explained the thought process behind keeping the ball in Bennett's hands down the stretch of the national title game despite a slow start to the second half.
"You're not going to hide behind your quarterback and win a national championship; you've got to let him play... Stetson is one of the least respected good players there is in this country. And guess what? We get to see it every day. The kid is a tremendous athlete. He's got good arm strength. People just keep doubting him, and that's fine with me."
Fans are curious as to the quarterback depth behind Bennett. This will be his final season of eligibility, and Smart spoke on the young gunslingers that sit behind Stetson.
"Carson Beck's been in the program, done a lot of good things. He was a guy that won a state championship in high school and did a tremendous job. Brock Vandergriff is a tremendous athlete who has got tremendous upside. He's gotten better and better. Those two guys are growing rapidly because of the number of reps they're getting. And then Gunner Stockton spent spring with us; he's a good athlete we're excited about. I feel really confident about our quarterback room."
On Scott Cochran's return to the program and sobriety:
Well, we're we commit to having conversations and the commitment to Scott was that he's committed to our program and getting better. And you look at what he's done with our players I, I don't think you'd find we got a lot of exceptional people in our organization, Jonas Jennings, Bryan Gant, Scott Sinclair, I could go on forever. But Scott Cochran spends a tremendous amount of time with our players on a personal level. And they value the relationship that he creates with them, he spends time with them, meaningful time with them. And I think a lot of our players saw the human side with Scott and that we all know, addiction is real. And it probably affected me as a leader of the organization for the first time to have someone on your staff be involved with that. And I got a lot of help from outside sources on how to do it. And I'm so proud of what he's done, and how he's fought back to bring himself back and be the husband and father that he's always been. And he's a tremendous husband and father, and that's first and he's a mentor to the players on our team. And you know, he's got tons of players from the planet Alabama, that still reach out to him and talk to him. They come and work out at our place and come see him because they value that relationship that he had with him. And he's a special person has meant a lot to a lot of people. So we've stood there by him and supported him and we'll continue to do that.
On the expectations for the defense:
My expectation for our defense is to be fast and physical. Look, we don't shy away from the fact that we've had success on defense. And I can't I can't tell you how many times I've gotten to recruit a kid and they said, well, they told us y'all aren't gonna be any good on defense this year, you're losing everybody. They said that two years ago, they said that last year, they're saying that this year, look, if you go recruit really good football players, and they're fast and physical, you'll play good defense. I mean, you play good defense. And good defense sometimes is a loose term in college football right now. Because giving up 20 sometimes is a good defense. And we don't like to change our standards. And we know we're gonna have a good defense year in and year out, it's just going to be different. We're gonna have different strengths and different weaknesses, but no one will certainly be a big part of that.
Kirby shared his thoughts on NIL, as every college coach that takes the podium does. However, instead of criticizing the process as some do, Smart opted to boast and discuss the revenue stream his players pull in.
"We have 95 players right now with NIL deals that are on our roster. That's incredible. The depth of that, there's so much good there. We may have had the highest-paid defensive lineman last year in NIL in Jordan Davis. We have the highest-paid tight end in Brock Bowers. Kelee Ringo, I would argue is probably one of the highest-paid corners."
Smart also shared the mantra of this team moving forward. Many national title teams get caught sleeping by resting on the glamour of their accomplishment; Smart made it clear that will not happen at Georgia.
"People have asked the question, how does it feel to be hunted? We will not be hunted at the University of Georgia, I can promise you that. The hunting that we do will be done from us going the other direction. It's not something we're going to sit back and be passive about"
