If there is an official sign that “talking season” is closing out and that we won’t have to rely on the financial-flexibility-obsessed Atlanta Braves to help pass time much longer, it arrived with Wednesday’s opening of preseason practice in Athens.
Before then, of course, Kirby Smart offered his thoughts with gathered media on a wide-range of topics.
On the phases of the off-season
“We talk about the phases of our football program. We have an off-season phase, a summer phase, and a mini-camp phase. The mini-camp phase was probably
more productive this year than it’s ever been, in terms of onboarding new players and trying to get guys understanding how to practice. Then, we kick off what we call training camp. What is the purpose of training camp? To subtract some things from your life, so that you can add some things. Everybody’s heard of addition by subtraction. I’m asking each player to have some addition by subtraction. What are you going to do for the next 12 to 14 days that you’re technically in camp? Camp is really longer than that for us, but those are the number of days that you’re not in your normal bed. You’re away, you’re locked in, you’re focused, and school starts. We’re still in camp mode, but you get ready for what you do. We’ve shown a lot of examples of pro players, what they do for camp. Pro teams, what they do for camp. Our history of camp here, and how you can improve your team by gaining depth on your roster, is what we’re going to do.”
What goes into schedule-building?
“Everybody has their philosophy with what they go with. Historically, I’ve been a part of some really good SEC championships and national championships. I’m not just talking about Georgia, I’m talking about everywhere I’ve coached. I’ve been really fortunate to coach at really good programs: LSU, Florida State, Alabama, Georgia. The common denominator of those programs is you play really good teams year in and year out, whether it’s in conference or out of conference. The thing is are you trying to appease the fans? You want to have a really exciting schedule. They enjoy the excitement of playing those schedules, versus the balance of risk of injury and wear and tear and the line probably lies somewhere in the middle. I do think the consumer matters. The consumer is the people that are coming to the games. They want to see exciting, competitive games. The sooner we get to a format where either more teams are in the playoff or more teams are rewarded for a challenging schedule. I think that’ll take care of itself. I think you’ll get people playing more competitive schedules and more competitive environments.”
What’s the point of emphasis for the running game?
“You cannot get away from that point of emphasis. That’s not going to change ever in our program. I would say we are coming off a year that we were subpar at that, when we really tried to drive that home. We’re not going to ever get away from that. We have to be able to run the football. Show me a good team that wins championships that can’t run the football. I mean, it just doesn’t happen. You look at the national champions the last five, six years. They’re effective at running the football and stopping the run. It’s one of the leading statistics over the last 10 to 15 years in national championship teams. They’ve all had really good run defenses, so you better be able to run the ball and stop the run. There’s not one particular thing we’re harping on. We got to generate more turnovers and generate more havoc. We got to be more explosive on offense. I could sit here till we’re blue in the face, but it’s not one thing that we can say.”
On KJ Bolden and how he holds other players to a high standard
“We’re having walk-throughs, and you’ve got some young safeties out there with Blake [Stewart], the points, all the young guys out there, even the guys that transfer in. He [KJ Bolden] understands and knows that he can help the with the finer points. He’s not afraid to confront and demand excellence from them. He’s not afraid to say, ‘Jog all the way off the field. Run to the ball,’ or to hold them accountable. When he’s doing it himself, it’s a lot easier for him to hold them accountable. There’s not one instance. He does it every day.”
Expectations for the tight end room?
“It’s awesome. They’ve got a tremendous talent in the room. But a few short, explosive plays, those are always the tight end room. We’ve got great tight ends, but they’re not guys that are hitting 22 or 23 miles an hour. They’re guys that they can do all kinds of grunt work. They can catch balls in the flats, they can block people, they can play on special teams. They can be explosive if we can run the ball, and explosive passes for tight ends usually come off of play actions. Play actions only work if you have the ability to run the ball. So our ability to run the ball allows us to utilize what may be one of our stronger rooms. But at the end of the day, there has to be buy-in from those rooms, and there has to be a culture and belief that if I’m 230 pounds, my advantage is I can bully people on the perimeter. And if they use that wisely, it makes our skill players, receivers, and running backs even better. But it is a talented room, and it’s an extremely competitive room.”
On Kyron Jones…
“We’re he’s been kind of on a pitch count, so we’re starting him in fall camp in the same mode. He’s been ramping up after of a resting period, and he’s been increasing as the summer goes. It’s not that he’s not 100% healthy, but he’s not taking 100% of a normal practice day’s reps. We’re trying to build him up more conditioning-wise and see how he feels. It’s a very sensitive injury, so it’s tough to monitor. He’s done a lot of rehab, so it’s been frustrating for him because when the team does a lot of conditioning, he can’t do it. He’s a very conditioned player and has to do non-impact cardio while the team is doing impact cardio, and I think that frustrates him. He has been a really good special teams player. He came in and started some games last year, and we wanted to give him a chance to compete for those spots and positions that our safeties play.”
What’s being looked for from the safeties?
“I’m looking at three critical factors: can they play man-to-man, can they tackle and can they play the ball in the deep part of the field. It doesn’t change from year-to-year. Can he play man-to-man? He can’t go on the field if he can’t. Can he tackle? He can’t go on the field if he can’t. Does he play the ball well in the deep part of the field, which could be a fatal flaw if you can’t. If you misjudge it, they’re going to score touchdowns. If you can do those three things, we can teach you what to do.”
How has KJ Bolden handled expectations?
“I think that every player that comes to Georgia, thanks to you guys, you hype them up really good. They have huge expectations on them, including KJ [Bolden]. KJ has probably managed those better than many players because he grew up and played in competitive environments in youth football, extremely competitive environments in middle school, and all the way up to Buford High School. He’s played some of the highest level football he’s been around, so it was never too much for him. How has he handled those expectations? Well, he started and played, and it was very effective as a freshman, so I think he’s handled that well. I think the greater side that he’s grown in is the maturity to understand what leadership looks like. He had the blessing of playing with Malachi [Starks] and Dan [Jackson]. He learned what it was to be a good teammate, and he has been an extraordinary teammate since being here. He helped so many guys in the secondary. I always hate coaching back behind me, being positive with guys, and being a leader. Those are the expectations I have for him, to be the best version of himself, not live up to everybody else’s expectations.”
What’s being looked for from the running backs?
“Dante [Dowdell]’s doing better. He is not with us. We don’t have a timeline for him, and that’s going to happen. The most important thing for Dante is himself, and that he can do functions and do daily, in and out things, not really worried about football right now. Dwight [Phillips Jr.]has worked his tail off. He’s one of the most explosive players we have on our offense. We’re going to be more explosive if we have to get guys that, when they touch the ball, big plays happen. Whether that’s a form of touches may change, but he’s got to touch the ball, because he’s been one of our most explosive guys, probably more so in practice than what you’ve seen in games. He’s had a great offseason. He works really hard. That room has a lot of a beat in it.
They really care about each other. The success of each other is more important than the success of one person and I appreciate the mentality in that room.”
The 5/5 Ruling and what it could impact…
“I look at it as a huge advantage because I don’t have to worry about redshirting players anymore. In the past, you got to game three or four, do I play him, do I not play him? He says he’s not going to play. He may be leaving. You got all these issues. That’s why the rule was put in place. It was put in place to make it where the pressure’s not on the coach to decide if he plays or not because you have five years to play five. You can play every game your freshman year, and you still got four more. You can play no game your freshman year; you got four more.”
How does he invest his offseason time?
“It’s definitely a balancing act on what you put your time and energy into. For us, we have had staff retention across the board, so it allows me to be over the top and decide where I want to invest my time. In relationships, motivation, and other areas that I am evolving in. We teach football here at a high level, and we want our players to focus on having incredible football intelligence.”
Expectations for Chris Cole
“I am excited about what Chris Cole will do this season. There is not a player of higher character on our team than him. He is the hardest worker, has the highest speeds, and has the most enthusiasm. He always lays everything on the line and embodies what we want in terms of effort and toughness. He has had an amazing off season, and I am excited for him to go out and see how he plays for our team.”
