Georgia Coach Kirby Smart Talks Mike Leach, NIL, Ohio State and More
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ATHENS - Georgia Bulldog head coach Kirby Smart spoke with reporters today about Ohio State, the team’s latest injuries, NIL, development of younger players, and much more...
On the influence of Mike Leach on college football…
“His impact is wide and broad. He traveled all over the country to coach. He went from bottom right, Valdosta State, all the way to Washington State and coached all over the country.
“His impact is really felt more at the high school level, I think, because we see the vision that he had in terms of passing the ball, throwing the ball, from his young years with Coach Mumme all the way through now. “
“But what you don't see is the trickle down effect that he's had where we go watch a high school team play and the elements of his offensive system are pervasive. It's like all over the place.
“He changed the game from years ago when it was wishbone, triple option. You couldn't watch a high school game without Wing T, veer option, triple option, wishbone, to now you actually see more air raid elements than you do those. And he had a large part to do with that.”
“A special man and heartfelt feelings going out to his family, his wife and his kids.”
On the start of practice for the Peach Bowl and the status of Ladd McConkey and Warren McClendon…
“We've been practicing. Not specifically for Ohio State, we've been practicing to maintain staying in shape and making sure our guys are ready, sharp physically and ready to do things. So we've kind of been practicing ongoing. “
“I don't know when exactly we'll get those guys back. I don't know that. They're not practicing with us right now. They're conditioning, they're running, they're moving around, but they're not practicing just yet. We're still, I guess, 16, 17 days out.”
On Marvin Jones, Jr. and the status of Bill Norton…
“There's a set standard on that, so that's not really important. We're worried about the guys that are getting ready to play.”
“Marvin Jones has been great. He's run. He's conditioned. He's been doing a ton of conditioning things with us on the side. Probably going to be able to start practicing with us here soon, if not today.”
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On younger players impressing in practice…
“They all have. They do a great job working. It's great to put them at the forefront and let them get quality reps where they're not necessarily the scout team. They make up the twos and the threes and sometimes the fours in some positions that get a lot of reps and a lot of growth.”
“This is, at the end of the day, almost another set of spring practice. We get 15 practices for spring practice. We may not get that many in, but we get a lot of practices in, once you include walk-throughs. So I've seen these guys have exponential growth and really become good players before spring even starts.”
On realizing the potential of this year’s team and the decision to not take transfer players…
“Well, we didn't make a decision not to go in. We called and recruited several guys that fit our criteria. Number one, need. Number two, culture. Number three, we knew something about them out of high school. They'd been on our campus. But we didn't get any of those guys.”
“So it wasn't a philosophy. It was more of that's the way it played out.”
“As far as this team, I thought in the spring we were going to have a good team. We were a long way away defensively from where we needed to be during the spring, but I knew we had a good football team. I knew we had a good football team when the season ended last year because we have a core of good players.”
On Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison, Jr…
“All of those guys, really good receivers. Not just him, across the board very talented, probably one of the most talented groups we've faced. When you combine it with the talent of the quarterback, it really grows because he has the ability to get the ball to him all parts of the field -- vertically, horizontally, side to side. Really good job.”
“Historically, Ohio State's had great wideouts. When you play Ohio State, you know they're going to have really good wideouts. When you look across the NFL, they've produced really good wideouts, and that's no different than what they have on their roster right now.”
On Buster Faulkner’s status…
“We're going to determine that probably at a later date. Still in conversation with Buster and Brent. It's not something that's pressing right now because he doesn't really need to do anything at practice.”
“So we're practicing right now. He's a supplement to ideas with Coach Monken, and he can certainly still do that from the position he's in, and we'll determine that at a later date.”
On the growth of players such as Zion Logue and Jamon Dumas-Johnson…
“It's great. The maturation process, really Zion was already very mature and a leader before this year. He's kind of earned it and done it. He's been around here for a while. A lot of guys have stepped up to give us an opportunity to be where we are.”
“A lot of coaches have done a fabulous job. We took on four new coaches, had 13, whatever it is, guys leave in the portal, and we had a lot of guys step up.”
“We had a freshman class who a lot of them came in last year at this time and have been mayor contributors. I think we had the third most, or fourth most true freshman snaps, so we did a good job of onboarding our incoming freshmen to give us depth behind the guys we had on our team.”
“So I think that's a big part of college football right now, how fast you can transition your team each year.”
On facing offenses like Ohio State’s…
“I'm not sure who to relate them to. They're different probably than really anybody we faced maybe in years past. I can't say they're exactly like anybody we've played this year.”
On Stetson Bennett’s trip to New York as a Heisman finalist…
“It's a great honor for his resiliency. I mean, to be named one of the four finalists, I don't know anybody could have written a script with what he's done in terms of start to finish with trials, tribulations, ups and downs, highs and lows, throughout his career.”
“To have that be near the end of it is pretty special. It's special for Georgia. It's special for our program, our university, and it's special for Stetson and his family because he earned it by the way he played on the field.”
On strategies (NIL, insurance) used to retain players…
“Complicated question. I really don't know honestly how to answer it. Just not like pressing need. I mean, we have a process that we follow, so our process is step by step.”
“There's a day in the month of each calendar month that I go through and say, okay, it's time to do this. It's time to have this conversation. It's time to gather this information. It's time to educate our players on this in this process. I think communication is the key on that.”
“You reference Nolan, and I'm confused because Nolan is kind of done. He's through playing. If you're talking about this time last year, sure, we have conversations with every player that has eligibility remaining.”
“I think you're juggling a spreadsheet that I keep, we keep, that has what each guy's doing and where their eligibility is. And over here where each guy potentially that could come in. And you're trying to match in flow and outflow is essentially what you're trying to do.”
“NIL is a part of that, but NIL is not -- it may be dangled as a carrot at some places, but really it's about do you want to be part of this team? Do you want to grow and get better? Do you want to get a chance to do what Devonte Wyatt did? Do you want a chance to do what Chris Smith did? Do you want to have a chance to do what Jordan Davis did? Do you want to have a chance to do what Quay Walker did?”
“So there's great opportunities to move from a late round draft pick with your grade to an early round draft pick. That's not really what I'm concerned with right now. I'm concerned with making sure our football team is developing at all stages and phases. We have guys who are at the stage of, man, he's going to start next year. He really needs to get ready.”
“And the phase is offense, defense, special teams. How are we improving? That's my focus. It's really not on NIL, not on portal, not on those things, because the focus is on our team.”
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