Welcome to Good Day, UGA, your one-stop shop for Georgia football news and takes. Check us out every weekday morning for everything you need to know about Georgia football, recruiting, basketball and more.

Georgia football players discuss moving on from National Championship

In his first press conference of the spring, Georgia coach Kirby Smart made it clear there would be no title defense for the 2022 Georgia football. The Bulldogs lost too much from the 2021 team to adequately say they were defending a championship from the previous season.

Smart wanted to make it clear the 2022 team would be judged on its own merits. Like every season at Georgia, the goal is to win a National Championship, not reminisce about the previous title.

“When we came back and went to work for those six weeks, that’s -- we’ve put that to the side. We’re not communicating, talking about that,” Smart said. “We start fresh just like we did when we lost to Texas in a bowl game. We start completely new.”

For Stetson Bennett, he could have had the 33-18 win over Alabama be his final game as a Bulldog. The 2020 and 2021 seasons were trying for Bennett, bouncing between the bench and starting role at Georgia. He had discussions with the Georgia coaching staff about coming back and admits he didn’t like everything he was told.

Bennett in speaking to reporters this week made it clear. He loves playing football and he loves doing so at the University of Georgia. Sure going out on top would be nice, but there’s something even better out there in his mind.

“It’s about the daily grind, the daily competition … where do we want to be next week. Where do we want to be tomorrow? It’s those little goals,” Bennett said. “Shoot, why does anybody who’s ever won something do it again? Because it’s cool. So, let’s go do it again.

“Let’s see if we’ve got what it takes.”

Related: Stetson Bennett goes into detail about his decision to return to Georgia for 2022 season

This spring, Bennett is getting more first-team reps than he’s ever gotten in spring practice. The hope is that it will allow him to improve his game — specifically cut down on the number of turnover-worthy plays he made last season. That was on display in the fourth quarter of the win against Alabama, as a fumble set up the Crimson Tide’s lone touchdown.

But as he showed in 2021, Bennett also has the ability to improve. And with JT Daniels now in the transfer portal, there’s less tension surrounding the quarterback position at Georgia. That has allowed Bennett to take on more of a leadership role as well.

Smart has already pondered about where the leadership on the 2022 team will come from, given how strong the leaders were on last season’s team.

“I think me and JT did an unbelievable job not dividing the locker room,” Bennett said. “But there was that sense of I don’t want to create this branch and if I do will it create that. But anyways, it has gotten easier this spring, and the guy coming in expected to be the starter, and building a year of relationships being the guy, being back here, and seeing how far we can go this next year.”

Winning a National Championship got Bennett in a now-viral Good Morning America interview, a Jeopardy! question and even a Raising Cane’s advertisement.

So one can’t help but wonder what that title meant to the man who had the most iconic play in said game in Kelee Ringo. He who made the game-clinching interception, which was returned for a touchdown.

Smart cautioned against saying that was the game-winning play, and he’s certainly right. Football games can never be boiled down to one play. But in snarring a Bryce Young pass and returning it for a touchdown, Ringo created a play that will be broadcast at Sanford Stadium for generations to come.

“It’s pretty humbling honestly,” Ringo said of the play. “Yes, that was a big play in a big situation, but I feel like, ‘Man, what’s next.’ I’ve seen plenty of players do big things in big situations and they’re now on top of the mountain, so I feel like continuing to stay consistent and just continuing to do things that will help my team win, that’ll set me off straight.”

Like Bennett, more is going to be asked of Ringo this season. He’s the veteran in the cornerback room, as Derion Kendrick is off to the NFL and three other Bulldogs transfered away.

It’s a rapid ascent for a player who admits he did not know what he was doing at this point last spring.

If there is one tangible benefit for Ringo, both he and Smart recognize how much confidence that has given the redshirt sophomore. It’s an issue Ringo battled with last season, and even at times in the championship game.

“He was a guy that some teams went after more than DK (Derion Kendrick), and he had a chance to make some plays,” Smart said. “He’s starting to get some confidence. He can let that play live in infamy, or he can decide to make a lot of those plays, go be a great player and go make money to play in the NFL and develop. I think that’s the route he is taking.

Knowing that you can make a play like that on the biggest stage can go a long way in letting you know you’re one of the best players at your position.

“Things like that -- making plays -- can give you a lot of confidence and just playing within your game, you know, like learning new techniques and seeing different routes and things the receivers and the quarterback are going to do to you,” Ringo said. I feel like when you make plays, you’re definitely more comfortable.

“You’re confidence skyrockets, and I feel like you’re able to play better.”

Georgia will need Ringo and Bennett to be both confident and better in the 2022 season if the Bulldogs are to win another championship. This time around, Bennett and Ringo will need to play the role of Nakobe Dean and Zamir White.

Starring both as players but more importantly as leaders for the Georgia team.

“In terms of leadership, we are still working on that,” Smart said. “We are not where we need to be in terms of leadership and guys challenging guys.”

More Georgia football stories from around DawgNation

Dawgs on Twitter

Good Dawg of the Day