ATHENS — Georgia has now completed two-thirds of its spring practices.
The Bulldogs conducted their first spring scrimmage this past Saturday and will hold another this weekend.
Below are Kirby Smart’s full comments on how his team is doing through 10 of Georgia’s 15 spring practices.
Kirby Smart provides updates from first Georgia scrimmage, GOES OFF on NIL, Transfer portal concerns
On his biggest takeaway from the 1st scrimmage…
“That we got a long way to go. That was the consensus. I did think that cooler temperatures prevailed, which made for less adversity in terms of, can I push through? It’s more game-like to me the cooler it is because they have fresher legs, they can play more snaps. I think it was a faster game. I sometimes like it when it’s one of those, how hot can it be? Who’s going to push? And it becomes a toughness battle of the mental part of can I push through this? Can I make it through this? Can I play this game in these conditions? It was not like that.
“I know you’re asking about, like, specific, who did well? Who did this? Who did that? That’s really not important right now. Like, it’s more important that we can execute a play on offense and defense.
“We have got more new people in new positions than in the 10 years I’ve been here. And every year that is probably ratcheted up a little bit. But it is to the point where you almost have to start like no one knows anything, make no assumptions, don’t assume anything, and start all over and go ground up because we had a lot of mistakes, a lot of sloppiness. This used to be the first fall camp scrimmage, but when you get 25 mid-years and six portals or whatever the numbers are, I don’t know exactly, like, that is the first fall scrimmage. So it was not what it needed to be.”
On how Zachariah Branch and Zion Branch have fit in at Georgia…
“Well, they both love football, and that’s the number one quality you got to have at Georgia. You better love it and be passionate about it. I do believe that. They love football. They’re still adjusting to the speed of practice, tempo of practice, volume of practice. It’s all the things that they wanted to come here for, which is the intensity, the competition, the good-on-good, the grind let’s call it. And they embrace that.
“They’re both learning. Again, they’re not like freshmen because physically they’re way past freshmen. They’re both physically developed. They’re both really good athletes. But the mental part for both of them is they’re working through that curve of, hey, look, we’re in practice number 10 and I’ve seen this before. We’ve had many a guy come through here and they get it with each and every practice and they get better.
“[Zachariah] has extreme quickness, and he’s an explosive playmaker that we got to find ways to get him the ball as well as all the guys around him in the offense.”
On how Zachariah Branch is as a leader…
“I think he’s very capable of leading. Both of those kids in our skull sessions are vocal, not afraid to talk. I think they’re still trying to find their place amongst the team. You don’t just walk in a team here and just say, all right, I’m a leader. You earn that, and he’s in that process. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do to get better at that and continues to develop.”
On stopping the run and running the ball in Saturday’s scrimmage…
“Spurts of each. I mean, we had a couple of explosive runs. We had a lot of two- to three-yard runs that one guy misses an assignment and one guy makes a play. I think the energy level and the passion on the defensive side was ahead of what the offense was in the run game, but, still, the offense dominated the red area. The third down was like 50-50. It was a toss-up in a lot of the other periods.
“But it’s not where it needs to be on either side of the ball, to be honest with you. We don’t run the ball well enough or stop the run. I think a lot of that comes from a physical mentality.”
On Earnest Greene’s spring and his work at right tackle…
“Yeah, Earnest, he’s had a few bumps and bruises. He’s dealing with a — I don’t know which finger it is. He’s got a dislocated finger and he’s having to wear a club, so it’s frustrating for him because he can’t use his hand. I told him it’s going to be a chance to get a lot better because when he comes back with his use of his hand he’s going to be a lot better.
“He’s practicing hard. I feel like he really tried to play hard Saturday in the scrimmage. He and Micah tried to lead and push people. So I’m pleased with his toughness because he’s got a club on his hand and he’s out there competing and getting better each day.”
On if one side of the ball is more difficult to teach to younger guys than the other…
“No, I think it’s the same difficulty on each side of the ball. It’s not easier one way or the other. Young players are young players, and we’ve got to grow these kids up. A lot of them are going to push for playing time or be in your depth. And we learned last year. I mean, we’re out there playing with a couple of true freshmen all over the field: KJ Bolden, Nate Frazier. Other guys had to step up and play. And Chauncey and those guys had to play. So I don’t think it’s easier one side of the ball or the other.”
On freshman QBs Ryan Montgomery and Hezekiah Millender…
“Yeah, I haven’t been able to see much with Ryan. You know, he’s coming off an ACL. That’s not something for a kid with a long career to be able to do. We’re not asking him to do that. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. He gets to throw some ball drills to receivers, but I can’t judge that. I mean, that’s not a real play.
“Buddha has done a good job. There’s a lot of information coming at him and Colter and even Ryan for that matter in meetings. But I like Buddha’s attitude. He doesn’t get down on himself. He has a positive attitude. It’s easy for a freshman quarterback, whoo, to live in a moment of like, what am I doing here? Am I out of place? And the analogy of drinking water through a fire hose comes to mind when you think of a freshman quarterback. And we’re just trying to taper down that water pressure.”
On Joenel Aguero in his third year and his reaction to three transfer DBs…
“Oh, man, I don’t think he cares about that. I mean, he wants to win. If you want to win, you want good players. So I think there’s a societal emphasis on if people come, then that’s dangerous to me. I mean, if people come, that’ll make you work harder. People don’t look at it the way I do. We got a lot of kids who chose to go to other schools, and they started earlier, and they finished there. Then they’re not playing any more football.
“Then the guy we got over the guy that we wanted comes in, doesn’t start, plays a lot of football in year two and three, and then goes on to be successful.But the kid over here that went to the other school never got any better. He played as a freshman. So I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t see it that way. But I see Joenel getting better day by day and he’s working hard. He’s becoming more vocal, which is tough on him. He’s not a vocal kid. He doesn’t like to talk and open up. But he’s getting better at it.
On safety transfers Jaden Harris and Adrian Maddox…
“Flashes, but flashes don’t win games. Consistency does and we’re looking for some more consistency out of those positions. I mean, y’all tell me how many snaps we’ve lost. I don’t know. 2,000. I mean, we probably took 1,000 snaps last year on defense. And if we did 1,000 snaps, Malachi and Dan took 1,000 each. That’s 2,000.“I know KJ played a good bit, but there’s a lot of snaps missing out there. And these guys are coming into a defensive system that requires heavy communication. We’re not going to let the offense dictate to us. So we have a lot of things we do to create an advantage when an offense does something and you’ve got to be able to communicate to do that.”
On how unique it is bringing brothers in at the same time like Zachariah and Zion Branch…
“I don’t think it’s unique. We look at them as separate players. So we don’t bring them in…it’s like we’re looking at Zion and say, where does he fit in our safety roster? We look at Zach and say, where does he fit in our receiver roster? And then they’re both good players. They’re both in positions of need. We need depth.We need good players. “I don’t know that I’ve had two sets of brothers. Maybe I have, because we’ve had some walk-on guys and things that have been out there between Stetson and his brother. Yeah, and even Jones has had some of those guys. I mean, it’s been several that have worked there. But Micah and Dylan are there, and the Branch brothers.”
On if the team had any injuries in the 1st scrimmage and updates on Brett Thorson and Isaiah Gibson…“Brett is still coming off of the ACL, right? So that won’t be until somewhere around fall camp slash first game, somewhere in between those two. He won’t be ready at fall camp, but we think he’ll be ready by first game. “Isaiah Gibson’s dealing with a little bit of an injury that he should be back from here shortly. Saturday, I think Drew Bobo had a little bit of a hyperextension of a knee. He should be back shortly. He wasn’t able to go today. I can’t remember anybody else. I mean, I’m sure y’all know.“Y’all have checked all your websites and got all your inside sources. I don’t know why you’re asking me. Because all y’all do is just go get the information. So if there’s somebody specifically you’re asking about, but it’s not a secret to me, because y’all just go out and get all the information for people y’all solicit.”
On the team’s process with the hard cap of 105 roster spots for fall camp lingering in the air..“Yeah, that’s up in the air. I’m not sure 100% we have to get to 105 by fall camp. As we understand it, it’s going to be by the first game, which is a big difference.“So we would be able to practice camp like we want to. I think everybody’s got to take a big pause right now and say, deep breath, because of what’s going on with basketball right now is crazy. And we don’t know everything that’s going to come out with April 7th, which might be April 7th, might be the settlement date, where we get a lot more information.“But everybody’s on pins and needles because we don’t know exactly what’s going to come out of this. What I do know is that we’re going to continue to recruit people who love football, who are passionate about football, and that don’t put money as the number one answer. Like I’ve never met a really good player that that’s all they care about.“So like the 105 number, the NIL number, what’s the cap number, what is this going to be? There’s stuff going on right now, guys, in college football. I mean, there’s people reaching out to have a Zoom call and present all the players they represent that are on teams, including our teams. And they want to invite people to the Zoom so they can watch and see who’s going in the portal or shopping who’s in the portal before the portal.“You want to get on the Zoom and look at all these players? I’m like, well, what if some of them are mine? I mean, it could be one of the most legendary moments in all of college sports with what’s coming up on this ruling and how people are going to try to manipulate a cap when all we’re trying to do is make for competitive balance. And it’s really unfortunate that I don’t know if competitive balance is going to come out of it. You know, like I don’t know if the kids win in this model that we currently have if they win long term.“Like long term, when we have to cut sports and cut other things, are the kids going to be the winners of this? I don’t know. College sports has been around a long time and given many an opportunity. And by all means, I want these kids to make money.But what’s going on right now is not good for anybody.”
On talking with the team about the House settlement…
“We’ve talked about the House settlement. The biggest thing going on is you’ve got two dates you’re operating off of. There’s a portal date. There’s a House settlement date. And there’s a lot of people doing not illegal things. They’re just manipulative money things to try to move this, move that so I can free up this. And what’s going to happen? There’s probably going to be a bubble or a spike. And then agents are literally trying to take advantage of that every minute they can. They want to get all they can for their client. But at the end of the day, it may backfire because there’s going to be a correction in the market at some point when this cap hits. If the cap is truly what the House settlement wants it to be, if there is truly a cap, if you just keep trying to front load and pay out people and what’s going on in basketball now and football now, people trying to beat a date, then what’s going to happen when those people expect that same money the next year? And it’s not there because you’re in a cap. There’s going to be a correction eventually. And I don’t think any of us know what’s going to happen.”
On Kyron Jones…
“Well, I’ve seen toughness, number one. He’s a thumper. He doesn’t always take the perfect angle. He’s raw in some things. But he is tough. He does love football. He does play hard. And he got to keep getting better. He’s a kid that we took a chance on because we said, he’s a really good athlete. He’s really fast. And he’s got size. But he had not played defensive back. I don’t think a defensive back is a position you can just learn one year. Go play. It doesn’t happen that way. Not unless you grew up playing 7-on-7 and played in the backyard. I mean, Malaki played some safety because that was his 7-on-7 home. But with Kyron, that’s been a work in progress. But he’s got toughness. He’s made some plays. And he continues to get better. And he is physical.”
On big personalities on the defensive line and how the group has developed…
“I’ve seen improvement from that group. I think Tray does a tremendous job with his group. We’ve not had Christen (Miller) out there, obviously, with the surgery. So there’s been a lot of young guys getting work. I’ve really been impressed with Nnamdi (Ogboko) and Jordan (Thomas) and Nas (Johnson). They’re working their tail off to get better. They’re buying in. They’ve seen what Tray has done with guys in their second year, with guys in their third year, and then guys in their fourth year really do well here. So they’re buying into that.
“As far as the personality part, no, I don’t think defensive linemen, I think it’s more rare to have that Jordan Davis big personality at defensive linemen than it is to have him.”
On if kids come on campus and ask Georgia to match a monetary offer…
“No, nobody does that. I think they want that. Deep down inside, that might be in the back of their mind. And ultimately, that’s the goal of every… It’s human nature. I think players have value, and they should be rewarded for that value. But at the expense of what? At the expense of us having three or four sports that can’t do anything to support anything? So because they get the television revenue and because they raise it, should they get first dibs on all that and let’s not have other sports? I don’t think that’s right. And there’s a balance to be had. But no, I don’t think kids come and I don’t have kids coming. If they come in and say that, then I’m going to listen to them and talk to them, but I’m scratching them off the list. I’m over that, because if that’s all that matters, you need to send out a bid like they do for jobs and say, supplement your bid, let me take visits, and I’m going to go to the bid and go to the highest bidder. I really believe there still does matter a relationship. And if relationship doesn’t matter, then I’m probably not going to have a kid that wants to play hard for Georgia. Right? So relationship matters. Work ethic matters. Like, do you want to be great? Do you have fire, passion, and energy? I’ll pay for that.
“But I’ll pay a premium for fire, passion, and energy, because in the market we’re in, there’s a lack of that.
“Kids are going to struggle the next 10 years. When they look back and somebody says, I’m going to go back and look at this and say, what happened to the kids that went to two and three and four places? I will assure you, we will not be happy with where those kids that jumped for greener grass went to. And I think the portal is a good thing for a lot of kids that are third, fourth, fifth year. But it also gives you a way out that I don’t think is good for kids right now.”
On Terrell Foster and Beau Gardner…
“I can tell you that they work as hard as anybody on our team. Terrell Foster takes snaps, competes, leads, loves Georgia, works his tail off. Just incredible. I mean, Terrell’s a kid that has earned NIL by the way he works.
“Beau is one of the best snappers in the country. Was up for the, I think it’s the Mannelly Award. And came close to winning that. Probably will have a chance to do that this year. He’s a tremendous athlete. Comes from a great family. And he does everything we ask. And he and Peyton, man, they are like a great team together. Very consistent in what’s a really high-pressure job.”
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