Kirby Smart: "There's As Much Pressure From Year 1 To Year 7"
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ATLANTA - Georgia Bulldogs and coach Kirby Smart are getting ready to take on Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2022 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in the College Football Playoffs.
Here is everything Kirby Smart said at the joint head coaches press conference on Friday morning:
KIRBY SMART: Tremendous honor to be in this bowl game. I've been part of this bowl game multiple times as a player and coach. I think Gary Stokan and his staff do a tremendous job, first class in every phase of it. Our players have enjoyed Atlanta, a lot of them from this area. Very convenient, like Ryan said. I could remember bowl games where it's 30-minute rides, 20-minute rides from location to location. You never deal with that here. So the efficiency of things has been tremendous.
I think the players have enjoyed some of the events they get to go to. I think that's key from an experience standpoint and get their mind off the game some as well, especially early in the week.
We've had a good week of practice and excited and ready to go.
Q. It goes to both coaches. The term physicality gets brought up a lot when Big Ten and SEC teams play each other. What does that term mean to you, and what does it mean to the success and the winning of this football game?
KIRBY SMART: I think physicality is part of this game. It's a major part of every football game. When you look across the board and you do studies on these semifinals and final playoff games since the playoff started, physicality at the line of scrimmage has been really critical.
You look across the board, teams that run the ball well tend to win these games. Also, red area, third down, and explosive plays are indicators, but the line of scrimmage play and physicality, but physicality can be a lot of different ways. It can be on the perimeter. It can be on special teams. It can be a lot of different ways of looking at it.
I've got a lot of respect for both conferences because, when you play in a bowl game, you get to watch the other conference all the way through. You get to see all these teams they play, and you have a lot of respect for the conference that you're playing. They have great physicality in that conference, always have, and we respect that.
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Q. This question goes for both coaches. These two programs have a lot of history, and they are often in the same circles, recruit the same caliber of players annually in the top five, but haven't matched up in awhile. What does it mean to both of you to finally be able to step in between the lines and have these programs face off against each other?
KIRBY SMART: I'm excited for our kids and our opportunity. The two brands of both programs speak for themselves. I think everybody in the country knows the kind of football they've played and we've played here recently. It's really about them. It's not about us as coaches. It's about the opportunity for the players to go out and play in what's going to be an incredible environment, and that's what you choose to go to Ohio State or Georgia for is to play in games like this. So I'm excited and happy for them.
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Q. To both coaches, could you talk about the standards and expectations of your respective programs and how you've adjusted to the pressure that's involved with that task?
KIRBY SMART: There's always been pressure, so I don't know that there's an adjustment to pressure. There's just as much pressure from year 1 to year 7. The expectations don't change. We embrace that.
The standards that are created are created through the players that play there, and we've had a really good leadership kind of over the last six, seven years, and they've created a standard for the younger players to emulate, and that's going on now.
I talk every day to our guys about, if you're a freshman or sophomore, find the guy you think works hardest and does it the right way and emulate him, and this success will continue. There's no entitlement, and you work really hard at what you do. But the standard doesn't change. Players change. Each year maybe your identity changes, but the standard doesn't change.
Q. Kirby, we keep talking about how some of your guys have been here before. What have you seen from the guys that have kind of been through this playoff run? And maybe you've noticed leadership characteristics you've seen from them this week.
KIRBY SMART: The guys that came into this season as leaders that have played quite a bit, they've been that way throughout. I don't know that it's been any different from the 28 days since our last game. They certainly have a lot of experience.
I don't know that there's an Ohio State player or Georgia player right now that doesn't have experience that's played in 12 or 13 games. The season is your experience.
Coming into the season against Oregon, I would have said we're an inexperienced team, but we have experience now and so do they. So you draw on those experiences in playing your interconference rivals, and both teams have done that.
Q. You guys are obviously strangers on the field, but you bump heads all the time on the recruiting trail. C.J. Stroud, most notably, Damon Wilson as of late. What have you learned about your opponent on the trail, and what's something that you admire or have taken from them?
KIRBY SMART: That's a tough question. When you're recruiting against someone, you don't take much from them in terms of style of play or anything else. Respect would be the number one thing that I have for people that we recruit against and play against.
You mentioned C.J. Stroud, what a tremendous young man. I was so upset in my assistant when I had to fly all the way out to California to go out there. I was like are you sure we're going to have a chance? It wasn't my favorite travel trip when you have to go all the way to Cali, but it was worth it when you got to sit down with that young man and his mom. He was very impressive.
He returned that trip to come back and see us. Usually when you get him on your campus, that means you have a shot. I certainly enjoyed getting to know him and the relationship with him because of the young man he is.
But as far as what you learned about the other team and other programs we're recruiting, I don't think there's a lot there.
Q. For many high school students playing football at a college level is a dream opportunity. What advice would you give to upcoming recruits looking to be recruited by a big program?
KIRBY SMART: Play hard, get seen. It's important that you understand what it takes to play at this level. I wouldn't kid you and tell you that it's going to be all intangibles because there's a physical nature of these two teams that some high school student-athletes aren't blessed with. They can do everything right, and they may never play at Georgia or Ohio State, but they can play somewhere.
There's enough football out there that everybody has an opportunity if they present themselves the right way and they work hard enough and persist. Nobody thought Stetson Bennett would be where he is today when he was coming out of high school.
Q. What have you been able to see from Ladd and Warren McClendon this week, and how beneficial have these last four weeks been for Amarius Mims and AD Mitchell?
KIRBY SMART: They've been great for those two guys. Amarius has gotten to play a ton this year. He's been a rotational player. If you remember, Jamaree had the situation some last year at the end of the year and even in the championship game where he had to move positions and play with some injuries and do some things to help us out. We're still hopeful to get Ladd and Warren back.
Q. You are neck and neck in recruiting C.J. Stroud. What attributes did you see in him, and what does he share with Stetson Bennett?
KIRBY SMART: He's a tremendous leader, and I think, when you play that position, you'd better be a leader. He was very quiet then, very humble, but very talented. He has great vision down the field, and he has great athleticism to take off and run. That's something he and Stetson both share.
They had two different kind of paths. C.J. was highly recruited. C.J. got to play relatively early in his career, and they both had success. I have a lot of respect for the way that both of them treat their teammates and make it more about their teammates than themselves.
Q. For both coaches, you guys have had to deal with injuries throughout the season, next man up mentality.
How does that change when you're at this point playing in the College Football Playoff when you need guys to step in for those guys who may be out for these games?
KIRBY SMART: Yeah, I don't think it changes.
Q. I'd like for both of you guys to address this. You're both leaders in your profession. You've had teams get to the College Football Playoffs several times and stuff. What is the fair, do you think, remuneration that players should be looking at maybe down in the future for playing in these games, sharing in basically the wealth, whatever you want to call it, a bonus. I would think you'd probably both be for it. What do you think would be a fair number?
KIRBY SMART: I don’t think you can put a number on that. I don’t think it’s fair for me to sit here and assess that number without studies or values. I think the NIL opportunities our players have gotten have been tremendous for them in terms of creating a lot of opportunities for themselves and a chance to help their families.
I think the CFP does a tremendous job, who gives a really handsome check to the families to travel to these locations that are extremely hard to get to. You’re talking about two-night minumums, and you’re talking about New Years Eve, and those are the things that I know when I was a player, the parents weren’t afforded.
So it’s come quite a ways, but to put a a number on that, I’d be remiss to try to answer that right now.
Q. This is a question for both coaches. What does the eve of the semifinals look like for both teams? Besides the walkthroughs, what are you doing together to get ready for the game?
KIRBY SMART: Very similar. We keep the same routine. We keep it home and treat it like a road game in terms of we would be arriving today. We want them to have a mindset of they arrived today. That’s one of the hardest things psychologically to prepare your team from being in the same place for six, seven days, sometimes in the same room.
So psychoilogically, we try to do the some things to help with that, and then we treat it like we arrived. We go do a walkthrough. We do a movie and prepare for a big day tomorrow.
Q. Coach Smart, what is your biggest concern with the Ohio State offense? And is this the best offense your team will face to dat?
KIRBY SMART: That’s hard to answer that in terms of is it the best that we faced to date because we haven’t faced them. When you look at them on tape, you certainlysee the talent. It kind of oozes off the tape, especially the wideout, the quarterback position. Two really good protectors. They’ve got talented players across the board.
A tight end, who I have a lot of respect for, I think is one of the best tight ends we’ve faced all year. They’ve got a guy that can distribute the ball and get it to them. So, it’s a very, very talented team.
When you talk about concerns, it’s a trite expression, but it’s the sameconcerns every game we play. How are we going to play? What are we going to do in terms of execution, playing the ball in the air. There’s going to be one-on-one matchups all over the field. You’be got to win those matchups.
When you’re playing Ohio State, you’ve got to be disruptive. You’ve got to affect the quarterback some kind of way. Because, if you don’t, he’s very accurate. He’s a very accurate passer who knows where he’s going with the ball. When you give them the free access with a quarterback like that, they can wear you out.
But most games come down to the same thing, turnovers, explosive red are, third downs. That’s what the greatest indicators of winning are.
Q. Kirby, last year I asked you and Nick Saban this question at the championship game. In the NIL tranfer portal area, about this model, the disadvantages that you have preparing for a game while maybe other teams are working in the portal or recruiting more aggressively, do you think this is a sustainable model, what you’re dealing with now with the transfer windo as well as the NIL dealings that are taking place for both coaches?
KIRBY SMART: Yeah, it’s sustainable. I don’t thinl there’s any question it’s sustainable? There’s nobody that’s going to weep and cry for the teams that are playing in the playoff because they’re playing in the playoff. There’s nobody that feels sorry for us. We get advertisement galor on ESPN. We get opportunities like this. Out kids get to play in front of the largest viewership.
The value you get in that in terms of recruiting or transfer portal, if that's what you choose to do, then you get plenty of time to do that. Everybody has time demands that plays in bowl games. And if you're not playing in a bowl game, you've probably got other problems that you're concerned with too.
The model is what it is. I think we can all complain about it and say there's things I wish were different, but it is what it is. I don't have the answer or solution that says what's better.
Q. For Ryan and then for Kirby as well, when you have multiple weeks to prepare a game plan in a situation like this, what are the similarities and differences to when you're preparing a game plan in a week's time during the season in terms of getting with your staff and building what you want to do on game day?
KIRBY SMART: Very similar to Ryan. A lot of it hinges on where Christmas falls and where your bowl game falls or your playoff game in that situation because you're going to have a time there that you'd like to get a little break.
I think the psychology of the players after 13 games, 14 weeks, you've got to be careful. They've got to want to play, and I think it's assumed that kids just want to play in bowl games or CFP, and you can wear kids down. They're not professional athletes. They have more burdens on them in terms of academic requirements, and they're younger.
So we try to do a good job of filling breaks in with hard work and sell them on the plan from day one and tell them how those 28 days are going to look and then try to go do it better than the other team does it.
Q. Kirby, this is for you. When you think about how Stetson has grown and developed within your program, what's the biggest thing that you reflect on and what you're most proud of?
KIRBY SMART: I'm most proud of the fact that he was persistent and he stayed the course and didn't jump ship when he was two or when he was three. He stayed the course and stayed with us. I'm very grateful for that persistence and resiliency he showed and his belief in himself that he showed.
I don't think any of those qualities had to do with myself or Coach Monken or anybody else involved with him. They were traits in himself that he loved Georgia and he wanted to prove that he could play at Georgia, and he created his own story by doing that.
Q. Coach, another Stetson question. How has his practices been in the days and weeks leading up to this game? As his head coach, what kind of comfort level does it give you knowing he's been through so much in his career?
KIRBY SMART: He's been very consistent in his practices. You worry sometimes when guys go off to events and
award shows, the walk-on award, the Heisman finalist, and doing all those things, but they don't affect the guys 25 years old probably the same way they do a kid that's 18 or 19.
He's very grounded in what he does. He's got a great work ethic. I think the quarterback position is easily the most critical factor in a game because the way offenses are now,
they put so much decision-making on the quarterback presnap, post snap. I mean, everything is on the quarterback.
So both these teams got really experienced, really proven guys who make good decisions. So when you have that, you're right more than you're wrong, and that creates -- usually creates scoring. I'm very grateful and thankful that we have a guy like Stetson who's played in games.
Q. To both coaches, this could be your final appeal to recruits in terms of what your guys are able to do on the field. What are you looking to send them in terms of a message of why they should come to your school?
KIRBY SMART: I don't really think of it as the recruiting appeal. I think of it as a service to the kids who are with us. The guys that are with us and have given so much, and I look at guys across the board, whether it's Sedrick Van Pran or all these leaders, Kenny McIntosh who waited his turn behind all these phenomenal backs. I look at it as an opportunity to go out and play well for them.
Most of the recruiting for this season is done. I know you're always looking to the next year. What those kids see in one game, there will be a small window. I do think it's important that we do this for the guys on our team, not necessarily for the recruits.
Q. Coach Smart, when you look at the Ohio State wide receivers, what do you see from Marvin Harrison, Jr., and the talent and depth of that group?
KIRBY SMART: Elite ball skills, play making ability. Those guys grew up under a system of wideouts that were just tremendous. You look at it and say, if I get to play behind some of guys they've had, you know the training they've had, you know who they've been able to watch.
Across the board, they've got size, physicality, ball skills, vertical speed, all the qualities you want in wideouts. They recruit wideouts at a high level, and you see why when you see the guys they're playing with now.
Q. Kirby, after you guys won the National Championship last year, did you reach out to any other coaches, maybe even in different sports, who had won a championship and asked them their approach to the following season, like how they approached it, that type of thing?
KIRBY SMART: No. We have a couple in-house sports psychologists that we talked about how the mighty fall and some business structures, the Blockbuster model, and some different models where ego got the best of organizations in the business world to corporate world, but didn't reach out to many coaches.
I had experiences at Alabama, and I knew the kind of year it would be. It's always a little tougher to bring everybody back to home base. It was much easier for us this year because we had so many players leave, and we had a hungrier young team.
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