Georgia Bulldog LB Smael Mondon's Confidence Is Where He's Grown The Most

DON’T MISS OUT: Get our insider newsletter today!

ATHENS - Georgia Bulldog LB Smael Mondon said his confidence has grown, but it’s been gradual. 

Mondon led the team with eight tackles in the Dawg’s 45-19 win at Mississippi State.

Kirby said Mondon has become more mature in handling mistakes but also plays with more confidence. 

“This is a really good defense,” Kirby said after Mississippi State.  “It’s hard to do what they’ve been doing.”

Mondon said Georgia’s defense has grown a lot since game one but emphasized they still have a long way to go. 

“Whoever is No. 1 in November, it doesn’t really matter too much by the end of the year,” Mondon said. “We’re not really worried about the ranking and just keep doing what we’re doing.”

Mondon faced an injury in the win over Missouri in October that kept him out of games against Auburn and Vanderbilt, but he’s the team's third-leading tackler with 41 total stops. He said the bye week was hard for him but finally felt ready to go at the Florida. 

Although Mondon and Jamon Dumas-Johnson play together more, he said his relationship with Dumas-Johnson goes back before playing together.

“We’re playing together a lot more, so there will be times where I’ll know what he wants to do and he’ll know what I want to do without us even saying it,” Mondon said. “I know what he’s comfortable with and he knows what I’m comfortable with so we really bounce off each other.”

* Exclusive Event: UGA DB Kelee Ringo Autograph Signing *

        Sunday, November 20, 2022 || @ Red Zone in Athens

Coming from Paulding County, high school head coach Van Spence said the most unique part about Mondon is he never really was a guy that did recruiting things that high profile guys do but was a 5-star prospect, plays at UGA and won the National Championship as a freshman. 

“He had goals and he worked hard to attain them,” Spence said. “I am extremely proud of him.” 

Coach Spence said Mondon was a lead by example player in the weight room, on the field and in the classroom.

“He was the standard,” Spence said. “He worked extremely hard and that rubbed off on our kids.” 

Mondon said he used to be moe worried about not messing up, but now he’s more concerned with what he can do to help the team out as a whole. 

“The sky's the limit,” Mondon said.