Detroit Lions General Manager Had a Big Message About UGA Football
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ATHENS - Executives in the NFL continue to praise how good of a job Kirby Smart and the UGA Football program is doing to prepare players for professional football.
The latest higher-up in the league to share positive words about what is happening at Georgia was Detroit Lions executive vice president and general manager Brad Holmes. Holmes spoke well of Georgia in a press conference after the NFL Draft concluded a few days ago. The Lions selected three former Georgia Bulldogs in this year’s selection process: Tate Ratledge, Dominic Lovett and Dan Jackson.
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“Before I got this job, I was living in Atlanta, Georgia for a long time, just scouting the Southeast,” Holmes said. “And then, when the Rams moved out to LA, just kind of stayed in Atlanta. But obviously, have been to Georgia practices a lot, and been around that program a lot. It’s unlike anything else that I’ve seen live in terms of college practice, in terms of just the intensity."
The intensity of Georgia’s practices is becoming more and more well known. Georgia brought in 10 transfers this offseason. Some of them are expected to be starters and came from other high level programs, like wide receivers Zachariah Branch and Noah Thomas. They both spoke highly of the intensity and pace of practice at Georgia. Thomas said that it was the biggest adjustment he has had to make in Athens.
Smart has long been compared to his former boss and mentor Nick Saban. Saban ran Alabama similarly to the way that Smart has decided to operate things at Georgia. Homes said that Georgia now reminds him of Alabama under Saban the last decade.
“Saban at Alabama was very similar, but just the intensity, the physicality, the detail, the tempo, the whole thing, the energy," Holmes said. "So, when you can go through that kind of regimen and you practice like that, you know that they’re ready.”
The Lions took Ratledge in the second round and then snagged both Lovett and Jackson in the seventh round of this year’s draft. Other organizations have followed similar scripts. The Philadelphia Eagles have selected six Georgia Bulldog defenders in the last four drafts. The Green Bay packers took two Georgia Bulldogs in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
The verbiage from coaches and general managers when talking about the Georgia football program has been similar recently. They believe that former Georgia players are prepared for the next level.
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