Kirby’s Pitch to Avoid Opt-Outs—Let the Facts Speak For Themselves

When people like Jamie Newman, Micah Parsons and Ja’Marr Chase opted out of the 2020 season in August, I didn’t blame them.

If there was a year to sit out, this would be the one. No NFL franchise is going to blame you for skipping out on what has become maybe the most logistically challenging season in NCAA history. 

But that was a different scenario than it is now. Before the ball got rolling, those players (and many others) decided to take both feet out of the ring. Now, we’re seeing another wave of players opt-out, this time with only a couple of games left on the schedule.

So far, Georgia hasn’t had any, and that may speak to Kirby Smart’s strategy as to how to keep kids committed to the season.

“We’re not recruiting them like people will say,” Smart said. “What we want is to arm them with information.”

After that, it seems as though Smart lets that information speak for itself. It isn’t the sales pitch he gives to them when he’s in their living room years prior. It’s cold, hard facts. 

As a player with professional aspirations, it may not seem worth it to finish out a season that doesn’t possibly end with a conference championship. But facts don’t lie.

The biggest one, which Smart shared a few weeks ago, was that to back out now would be a worse look than it was before the season. Again, before the season, the decision is acceptable. Now though, you are backing out of a commitment you made just because the result wasn’t what you wanted. 

Sure, that might not be a huge red flag, but you want to avoid a red flag of any size going into the draft.

Secondly, the opportunity to improve more in the NFL simply isn’t there—at least not if you’re on the bench. Practices are much lighter for pro teams, especially compared to the game-like practices of a team like UGA.

“They can not develop in that league,” Smart said bluntly. “There is no ‘coming to OTAs and I’m going to get you better.’ You’re there, and you’re either going to be good enough, or you’re not. We can still develop players… They don’t have the freedom to get them better.” 

All of this comes down to a simple goal for the players—get drafted as high as possible.

“100%, the higher you get drafted, the longer you are able to stay,” Smart said.

And that’s the kicker. Even if it’s the difference in one round, your odds become thinner and thinner each pick you go down. And maybe opting out is only the difference between a few picks. 

But the goal is simple. Get drafted as high as possible, and opting out at this point in the season is counter-intuitive to that goal.