Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Story on Vols: "They're A Running Team That Chunks It Deep"
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ATHENS — University of Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart met with media after practice Tuesday evening and offered the following comments regarding the preparation for Tennessee.
On AD Mitchell, Amarius Mims and Kendall Milton…
“AD is not going to practice with us. He is working on the side. We are still hopeful to get him back. Amarius is working on the side. He has good flexion on his knee. He was able to do some sets, move around and left and hit some things but hasn’t practiced with us. Kendall practiced with us and did some reps today.”
On Dillon Bell…
“He has worked really hard to get his playing time. He didn’t get it just because of injuries. He is a good football player who has worked really hard to earn the opportunity he has gotten on special teams and at wide out. We have always like Dillon. He is a very bright, very sharp, and tough. He is still a freshman. When you are playing with freshman, you are going to have some errors and some mistakes. He made some of those each game. He is a very conscientious kid. It bothers him when he makes a mistake. He is going to be a really good football player.”
On Nolan Smith and the defense…
“He is a great leader. Unquestioned toughness. He has got great toughness. The guy has been durable. He has been here his whole career. He hits things so hard. He closes on counters. He creates an attitude of toughness that embodies our defense. He has been a very vocal leader this year. To be honest with you, the last two days, he is out there running to the ball, flying to the ball, coaching the guys, doing everything. It has been an incredible impact just on the energy of practice. I am very appreciative of all he has done. It is an unfortunate part of football, but it is a very common injury and surgery. Roquan (Smith) has one when he was here. Roquan had one in the NFL. He will make it back from it, and he will be fine.”
On Nolan Smith’s surgery and timeline…
“I think it is outpatient. I am hoping to have him at practice Thursday if they will let him. We want to get him back out there. He does a great job. He is like an extra coach because he is so enthusiastic and getting after it. He brings the energy. We are hoping to get him out there on Thursday.”
On the impact of other positions in Nolan Smith’s absence…
“The domino effect would have been on Saturday in the second half. Robert Beal played. Chaz (Chambliss) played. This is the next man up. That is what football is. We have got an outside linebacker room that we feel comfortable with. Those guys play outside linebacker. MJ Sherman and Marvin (Jones Jr.), those guys do a good job. Those guys will get reps there.”
On the expectation of the outside linebackers going against Tennessee’s offense…
“Tennessee is not necessarily a pass-happy offense. I don’t know if y’all have watched them, but they run the ball really well. I think you could say that statistically they have explosive passes. They are a running team that chunks it deep. They do a really good job with explosive pass plays. They commit to the run. There is a toughness there. Their backs run really tough. That is the next man up. Those guys have to play. They practice every day just like Nolan (Smith) does. They have to have an opportunity to go play. This is the next man up. The twos practice every day. Our threes practice every day. Our scouts practice every day. Those are the guys that will have to go play.”
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Sunday, November 20, 2022 || @ Red Zone in Athens
On planning the packages for this weekend’s game…
“We have sub packages. We have packages we have every game. It is hard to get them in. You have to be strategic on how you go about getting them in, but we have the packages that we carry into every game. We year-round practice subbing. It is not like this is the first time we have to sub with pace or sub when they sub. You have to have sub packages. You have to have those.”
On Jamon Dumas-Johnson as a leader…
“Along with the Nolan injury, he has become a very vocal person. He practices really hard each day. He asserts himself to the different groups. He demands respect with the way he plays and practices. That is really what you want out of your MIKE linebacker.”
On the scoring defense this season…
“It is just the standard. It is not like just because you lose good players does not mean you are not going to be good the next year. Maybe that is an expectation that some teams have, but that is not the expectation of any team I have ever been a part of. The expectation is that you are going to be good because you recruit good players and because you coach hard. The kids that were playing last year that are playing now, they were repping every day. They were out there practicing, too. They were getting better, too. They played hard. They play as a group really well. I am not going to say that we were as talented as we were last year, but they play hard. They have to continue to do that to have success. Humility is one week away, as we always say. We had two really good quarters last week then we had one really bad one. We have to stack those positive quarters together.”
On Marvin Jones Jr. …
“He has been great. He has really increased his toughness. He is a really good athlete. He has gotten do much better. I don’t think even he knew what he was getting into as far as contact, physicality and big boy ball. He has been down with the scouts. He has been with us. He closes and counters. He understands football. He has got really good instincts. He probably would have played more last week, but he was a little sick two days before the game. He has been repping and practicing hard this week.”
On preparing for Tennessee’s offense and how Alabama’s defense played against them…
“Not really. We have got Bama’s game from last year and our game from last year. We have all the games. We look at all the games. You evaluate how people have played them and what has been successful. They are looking at every game on us and trying to see where the explosive plays are coming from. They have certain plays they are going to run regardless of that. It is probably more different for us to play them because everybody they play plays them differently because of their offense. We don’t put more stock in one game over the others.”
On Jalon Walker…
“He has played a few more snaps recently and earning himself into more of our packages. He has done a good job. He has been playing on special teams. He is really fast. He is tough. He is a good player. The good players we have signed here have had some role as a freshman because we believe in getting them out there. His has not been a really huge role, but it has been a good role. When you think about the guys we have had leave here in the last couple of years, they have had some impact as a freshman. He is doing that now.”
On Jalen Carter coming back…
“We try to play a lot of guys. Jalen has played all of last week, multiple downs. Hopefully he will play this week multiple downs. There are other teams that can go tempo. Nobody can go tempo like they go tempo. There is nobody that can really compete with them. Ole Miss is probably the closest thing to that. Jalen has practiced hard and done good work.”
On Tennessee’s tempo…
“All I know is that they were number one in the country last year in pace of play and pace of play in a minute. They are number one this year. I would say that is it faster because everybody is back. Their offensive line has four or five guys back. Their quarterback is back. The backs are back. The receivers are back. When you get everybody back, it is like Stetson (Bennett) being back. You know how to do it faster. You know how to do it quicker and get it in and out of plays, which they do a great job of doing.”
On the linebacker spots and transitioning between JACK and SAM…
“It is not a problem. They sit in the same room. They are only on the field when we are in a regular package. When you are sitting in that room, you are learning SAM and JACK. Some kids have the knowledge to play both like Nolan (Smith). He has played both his whole career. Chaz (Chambliss) plays both. Most kids we limit to one role and teach them just one thing. If you are going to be in the room and are going to develop as an outside linebacker in football, you need to learn how to play SAM and JACK. They are really interchangeable in some defenses. There is not difference. In some defenses, there are a little more intricacies when playing SAM. It is important that you develop because in the NFL, they play with a SAM and JACK. There are very few schools in the country that still teach a SAM and JACK how to play because they all want to play Nickel. That is not what they want in the NFL.”
On his expectation for injured players…
“The expectation is that they get healthy. If they will return soon, they are in the training room and are rehabbing. There is nothing you can really do right now. [Nolan Smith] has great energy right now. I talked to him and asked to help left spirits and push. That has been his role when he is practicing, so I don’t want him to change now that he is not. He is out there flying around and helping us out. It is great to have him take that on. Not all kids do that. Sometimes you get dejected or down in the dumps. He is not like that.”
On practice this week…
“I thought it has been good. It was probably better yesterday than it was today. A little more juice yesterday. Today was good. It was a really physical practice. Our typical Tuesday schedule with some differences in there to prepare for Tennessee. I expect the guys to rebound and have a better one tomorrow. It wasn’t our best Tuesday, but they still got after it.”
