UGA Football All-American Sounds Off On His 2024 Season
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ATHENS - It’s easy to see why Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs did everything they could to flip five-star KJ Bolden on Signing Day in December of 2023.
Bolden is a special player coming off an eye-opening freshman season where he helped lead the Bulldogs to another SEC Championship. The playmaking safety earned Freshman All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America and was also named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
Bolden played in all 14 games for the Bulldogs last fall and made starts against Florida and Tennessee along the way. He finished fifth on the team with 59 tackles, had two TFLs, one sack, one INT and one forced fumble.
Of course, it wasn’t always as easy for the former Buford (GA) standout. Bolden spoke with Dawg Post about his “Welcome to Georgia” moment, playing in the SEC, learning from Malaki Starks, and more.
“My first welcome to Georgia moment came early”, Bolden said. “We didn’t even have the pads on yet. We had an early team run and my back locked up. I couldn’t move. I was stuck. They looked at me and said ‘keep running kid’. I called me mom that day and said ‘Mom it’s way different up here. It’s way different.’”
But Bolden pushed through. That’s what he does. After seeing the field in his very first game against Clemson, Bolden admitted that he had a bit of a setback the next week up in Lexington.
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“I didn’t enjoy my Kentucky game”, Bolden said. “I was doing a lot of arm tackling and not putting my body on guys. I was down on myself after that one but I knew I had to step up the next week and work on my tackling. It’s difficult playing on the road in the SEC. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing. The fans are going to come out hot. Home field advantage mean everything. Even against Kentucky, that was a dog fight. You have to bring it every day.”
Week after week you could see Bolden’s progress on the field. It wasn’t surprising because he had a chance to learn from veterans Malaki Starks and Dan Jackson throughout the season. Starks, who also came to Athens as a highly-ranked five-star safety, made sure Bolden was prepared when his moment came.
“Malaki is both my brother and a mentor”, Bolden said. “He leads by example. He’s always loving on me and asking me questions. He made sure I have everything. He’d correct me when watching film.”
Starks had a lot to say about his freshman teammate towards the end of the 2024 season.
“His growth is crazy from when he first got here in the spring to now. He just wanted to continue to grow, and he’s not really a freshman anymore – no one is – at this point in the season. Playing, especially if you’ve been starting all year. Just keep playing how you’ve been playing. You don’t have to change anything up or do anything special. Just be you. You are special. You’re a good player. Play your ball.”
Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann lot to say about KJ Bolden too.
“I just think his poise and his composure in those moments has grown as he's gained experience. He's obviously a talented individual and he's earned the right to be out there. He's made some really big plays and I think he's got a calmer demeanor. Nobody gets to Georgia without being a really good athlete. But I think sometimes that confidence, the experience, the game slowing down has helped him all year.
After an outstanding first season, it’s safe to say the sky is the limit for this promising Georgia defensive back. His best football is still way ahead of him, and if he continues to improve and develop over the next six months, Bolden should be one of the best safeties in college football for the 2025 season.