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Georgia Football

Kirby Smart Transcript from SEC Spring Meetings

May 29, 2018
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Would you like to rotate Auburn and Georgia Tech to a home-and-away in the future?

Absolutely. If we would get a chance to fix that and return the favor that we paid to them (in 2013). I hear about that a lot. Obviously I wasn't (at UGA). I think it would make things more consistent and balance things out. It would probably be helpful in the long run. I got a feeling there is more to it than just us and them. There's always so many moving parts. It would be nice if we could do that. 

In theory the soonest you could do it would be 2019, but it is as simple as the two schools decide. But would you like to see it happen sooner rather than waiting to something like 2026 when the next (SEC) schedule comes out?

If we could fit it from that perspective and it would help from not having two road games like that back-to-back in the situation we had like this year with Auburn and Georgia Tech back to back. I understand there are priorities and difficulties about it. Especially with the SEC and the conference having to do it. The way I understand it, the reason it happened the first time was because of the addition of the two teams (Texas A&M and Missouri).

Should SEC teams be able to dictate where (their) transfers go?

I think everybody has their preferences. If you polled the SEC who knows where it would fall. Philosophically I think if a person graduates from undergrad then they have done their graduation work, and they choose to go somewhere else - football activist could say they are only doing that for football. But there are 560 student-athlete at Georgia. There are tons of other 
student-athletes at other sports that they may actually be going to pursue a graduate degree. Most people - do they get their graduate degree where they got their undergraduate degree or somewhere else? Usually somewhere else. So if they are going to graduate school for that purpose somewhere else then I don't see the issue once they have graduated and they have a year of eligibility left if they want to do that they should be able to do that. 

I would certainly be concerned about people trying to recruit seniors. I don't know how you police that and manage it. But if a kid graduates from your school - usually when they are looking to leave its because of some specialty graduate school or something like that.

What would you say to coaches who object to it for the fact that a player spent three or four years playing and growing...

You mean just like we do as coaches right? Just like I left Alabama and all of the secrets I learned while I was there I took with me. And (Will) Muschamp took all those secrets from LSU. Jimbo Fisher took all those secrets from LSU, and now Jeremy (Pruitt) has all of the secrets, and I don't. I just don't see it that way. 

Kirby, what is fair in the transfer discussion? How far should it go?

I think it is tough. I think it is a really hard situation especially when you are designating undergraduate transfers. It is easy to sit on the other side of it. I certainly see it from the student-athlete's perspective. When I watch high school programs, and I see the deterioration of high school football a lot of it has come from transferring from high school to high school. It creates a little bit of a problem. That's why it is so important to me that if a kid got a degree, he should be able to do he came to get what he wanted to get, and he got it. But I also understand the part - people would argue: a coach can go anytime he wants should a player? I get both sides of the argument. I have seen a lot of kids leave after a year or two, and in numerous occasions those kids came back and regretted that decision because they just didn't push through the hard times. 

I remember like it was yesterday. I wanted to come home my freshman and sophomore year. I am glad I stuck it out at this point.

Kirby what would you say to a new head coach in this league? 

Its tough. It is competitive. I don't think there is a new head coach in this league who doesn't already know what they are getting into. Its pretty standard operating procedure - it is tough to recruit in this league. Its pretty competitive on the field. Look at the production of the NFL. It speaks for itself. I am not here to give anyone advice. 

You are a position to recruit a talented quarterback every year. Is it hard to keep two, much less three, talented quarterback on a roster?

I think you can see what we are going through on our roster now, and what a lot people are going through. These high school quarterbacks - a lot of them are doing the same thing in high school. They are positioning from eighth grade and ninth grade: where can I be the quarterback in the ninth grade? When they go shopping and searching they find the place to go. Some of them start for three and four years. It didn't used to be that way. So now it is kind of trickling up to us. So you don't see the guy, I will used Hutson Mason as an example, who kept getting better and grew. There just is not a lot of that. If you are a parent, you would say: Where is my son going to get the best development? He ought to get the best reps and learn to play quarterback like it is in the NFL - not necessarily play first, but where is he going to learn how to play the position. It is in the meeting room where they teach you protections. The things you have to learn for the next level. They don't draft you at the next level just based on play performance. They want to see what system you played in. How you played. Did you grow as a player? Have you learned? It is tough keeping them around. 

On recruiting elite quarterbacks: Do you have to keep in the back of your mind 'If they don't play they might leave'?

I don't think that's true for elite quarterbacks. I think that's true for any quarterback. You know what we are going through with Stetson (Bennett). I mean, we want to keep Stetson there with us, and coming out of high school he was looking to play. You have to do the math. Y'all tell me how many Division I schools there are out there. 130? There are way more quarterbacks than that. You would like to have three deep. That's 390 or something like that. It is a "me now" society. They want to know they are going to play. It is different than any other position on the team. Every other position on the team, other than maybe kicker, they know they can have another role. 

How much does that play into your decision of who to start, knowing 'Ok, I have this young guy a 5-star freshman if I don't start him right away he might think about leaving.'

I don't think you let that play into the decision. Then you are being manipulated and dictated to. You have to do what's best for your team, and you also have to do what's best for each young man on your team for their development. Whatever that development is is what you are trying to do. Its about the team. You can't be just about you - even though there is a me generation and me society. When you explain it to them: 'This is what's best for you'. And you can help them understand why you are doing what you are doing. 

You guys brought in (Ahkil) Crumpton late last year before the pre-season. Is there a quarterback you could bring in this year that's in the market for a team? Is there anyone out there?

Do you know of any? You are always looking to make your roster as good as you can. This has been an ongoing thing from us. We have to be able to forecast - see it coming form a long way away. We were recruiting multiple quarterbacks last year for the idea that we might sign two. It never came to fruition. We thought we had a really good one in the situation we had with Stetson. Yeah, we are always open to that. Is there anyone I am looking at specifically? No. 

What's the latest on DeAngelo Gibbs?

Same as it was the last time. He's got to do the things he's got to do, and we will see how things go from there. Its not something I am dealing with day to day. It is something he's got to handle, and he has to come to grips with. 

As far as your incoming freshmen are concerned, do you expect everyone to be eligible?

I certainly hope so. We will find out next week.

 
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