NFL Coach Gives Huge Praise to Kirby Smart and UGA Football

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ATHENS - “You get a Georgia guy, you’re getting an NFL player.”

That’s what Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said about the UGA Football program this week. He had huge praise for what Kirby Smart and the Georgia staff does to prepare their players ahead of going to the NFL.

The Texans drafted former Georgia cornerback Kamari Lassiter in the second round of this past NFL draft.

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“For Kamari (Lassiter) you can tell he is built for this. When it comes to the mental toughness piece that plays a lot into being a football player at this level, you have to be mentally tough, you have to have that next play mentality and at Georgia, Kirby (Smart) has done a great job of raising them the right way. Kirby has done a great job with all of those guys, having guys NFL-ready to go. One thing you see from Georgia year after year since he’s been there is that those guys are ‘plug and play’ type players, and it’s a credit to him and his program and how they run things there. You get a Georgia guy, you're getting an NFL player,” DeMeco Ryans said.

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This is not the first positive comment towards Georgia coming out of the Texans organization. General manager Nick Caserio explained back in April that part of the reason why the Texans drafted Lassiter was because they believed Smart, along with Nick Saban, was the best at teaching technique to secondary players in college. 

Both Saban and Smart have an impressive track record of helping defensive backs get drafted to the NFL. 

In just the past few drafts Georgia has had Kamari Lassiter, Tykee Smith, Javon Bullard, Kelee Ringo, Christopher Smith, Derion Kendrick, Lewis Cine, Eric Stokes, Richard LeCounte, Mark Webb and Tyson Campbell all hear their names called. That is 11 defensive backs in four drafts. 

That trend is only going to continue as Malaki Starks is projected to be a first round selection in the 2025 NFL Draft. If other secondary players that are eligible to leave after this season have a productive one, they will hear their names called too.