ATHENS — Even with it being a holiday week, Georgia coach Kirby Smart is still razor focused on what lies ahead for the Georgia Bulldogs.
The team completed their second practice of the week on Tuesday, with part of it being moved indoors due to inclement weather in the Athens area.
Smart still liked what he saw from his team as it prepares to take on rival Georgia Tech.
Below is a full transcript of what Smart had to say ahead of Saturday’s game. Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET start.
On how practice has been so far this week...
“Good. They’ve responded well. We didn’t do a lot [Monday]. We tried to get our legs back getting back from Knoxville. We went over some special teams things and worked on some situational football stuff and then got after it really good today. We did have to go inside, but we had a good practice. Physical. I thought both teams tried to get better. We need to have a better day tomorrow. I mean, it wasn’t our best Tuesday but it was a good work day. They had good energy.”
On what Ladd McConkey and Rara Thomas have been able to do so far this week...
“Not much. Ladd’s still recovering. Trying to get him back. Hasn’t been able to do much. We’ll find out more tomorrow or the next day. Rara hasn’t either. We’ve been keeping the weight and the pressure off of it, but hoping we can get him back as well. We’ll see.”
On what advantages Smart has as an alum of the team he coaches...
“I think an understanding of the academic world, navigating the campus, knowing what’s going on on campus. You know, the alumni base, which is a part of fundraising, the letterman base in terms of the guys you played with plus the guys that played before you and the guys that played after you and in between. There’s a connection there. It’s not that you can’t have it if you didn’t play there, but it certainly puts you a little bit ahead.”
On Jordan Hall’s development...
“Yeah, he works really hard. He’s one of those guys that goes down to the scout. The defensive line, he takes reps down there every day against our offensive line, and that’s just a grind. I mean, I’ve seen kids now for eight years go down there and develop callouses, get roughed up, play hard. With Warren’s injury, he’s been getting more snaps and I can see the benefit of going against our offensive line like he has. You know, we’re a little thin on the defensive line — thinner than we’ve ever been. He’s been a big part of getting better and growing up on that side of the ball.”
On not wanting Bloody Tuesday to be done inside and Georgia Tech having natural turf...
“They had turf when we played there last time.”
On if it matters much practicing on grass versus whatever you actually play on...
“It’s only a big deal if you make it a big deal. I mean, we would be outside today — even though we play on turf there — if we could be. We went inside because we wanted to have a good practice, and we did get to practice on turf. Our turf is not exactly like their turf, but it’s turf. It’s probably a little more tiring on your legs to go on the turf. We try to stay off of it more often than not, but at the expense of not having a good, crisp practice, we go in.
And as far as Bloody Tuesday, it doesn’t matter. I mean, our guys practice hard. Sometimes we have bigger collisions in there. We have better speeds, and temperatures and things like that are under control in there.”
On how much Tate Ratledge and Warren Brinson have been able to do this week...
“Warren took some reps today. I thought he did a good job pushing through. Tate’s much better, moving, running, but didn’t take reps.”
On the Georgia Tech offense...
“I think we know that every game. It’s not like they’re running new plays. They’re running new formations, new ways to window dress. They do a good job of that. they change it up each week with the way they go about it. They look and see what has given us problems and they’ll run some of those. But there are similarities for sure. A lot of the things Buster did here he does there. There’s overlap. But they’ll have a different way to present it. It’ll be who can respond to that, acknowledge it, adjust to it and what they do off of it.
On Kendall Milton...
“He’s high character. Pain tolerance is high. He works really hard. He runs tough. He seeks out contact. He’s a good leader and done a great job. The last game, the thing he did so great that people don’t talk about is the pass pickups. I think he had about four really big pickups in pressure that allowed Carson to stand in the pocket. That’s not the backs favorite thing to do but he did it like a stud.
Why Dillon Bell is a wide receiver for Georgia...
“I think the longevity of that position projects a little better. I think the NFL is constantly looking for guys like Dillon. They seek that because it’s a value add for them, a guy can go play back and they don’t have to spend money on him. He’s durable. He has good bulk. That’s the reason we signed him. He’s over 200 pounds. He’s got multi-purpose ability. Why does he want to play wide receiver? He likes to play wide receiver but he’s good at both.
On if he has a good handle on roster management with the transfer portal opening relatively soon...
“Yeah, I don’t know anyone that has a good handle on it because you don’t know what the truth is. You don’t know where the truth lies. We communicate, we try to keep open lines of communication, we meet with our players perdoically. We have an open-door policy to come talk about things. We’d rather be in the know than in the dark. Sometimes we’re in the dark, sometimes we’re in the know. All you can do is be as transparent as you can and try to find out. Are you asking if we have a grasp on it or a handle on it? I don’t think anybody has a handle on it. I think you prepare the best you can and you try to have plan A, B, C, D, E and you put them in motion when the time comes.
On if he thinks Georgia-Georgia Tech will continue...
“I don’t have any clue, Seth. I mean, that’s so probably above my scope. I’m just walking off the field from a Tuesday practice to prepare for Tech. I can’t even fathom a world where we wouldn’t play them. I guess it could happen, but that’s just probably out of my scope. Do I want it to happen? Absolutely not. It’s a great rivalry game. It’s great for our state. It’s great for both universities. I mean, it’s a long-standing tradition, so no, I don’t want it to happen, but I don’t know what the foreseeable future has.”
On the play of the OLB room...
“I’ve been pleased with those guys. They’re really hard workers. It’s been tough because early in the season we didn’t get a whole lot of opportunities for those guys. They’ve done a good job of being really physical at the point of attack. We ask them to do a lot of different things. In the game against Tennessee, we were in a three-down front a lot of the time and they were dropping in space and rushing some. You’ve got to be a jack of all trades to do that. We stack them back and make them play inside ‘backer some. They’ve done a lot of things, and I’ve been pleased with those guys.”
On what he remembers about playing Tech...
“I was here five years, 4-1 but I redshirted so I guess you don’t count that one but I was still part of the team. I don’t remember much, just that they were tight, really close, last possession type games. The last two I was in came down to the last possession, and it seems this rivalry has been that way for a lot of years I’ve been around.”
On Lawson Luckie...
“Oscar and Brock are ahead of him, and those guys are playing pretty good if you ask me. We don’t have a 13 personnel with him because we’ve got pretty good wide outs. You want Dillon on the sideline or Ladd or Marcus? Who you want to take out? It’s about finding out best personnel. I’ve been very pleased with what Lawson has done. When Brock’s out, for us to go 12, Lawson’s got to go play. He’s getting better, but when they’re both available, he’s got to beat one of them out or be better than the third wide out. We’re trying to use the strength of our team, and he’s only a freshman. I don’t know how many freshman wide outs are out there playing, so the fact he’s been out there playing tells you he’s a pretty good football player.”
On Amarius Mims...
“He knows how to work, knows how to rehab. He was here early and stayed late for all his rehab sessions. He was committed to that part. He cares about his body. He’s one of the lowest body fat guys we have on the team. For that size, it’s crazy what his body fat is. You can tell, he takes care of his body and knows that’s important. It was the same way for the rehab process. He was committed to it.”
On his familiarity with Brent Key...
“The circles, we would see each other at conventions and always were on the road recruiting. I was not at Bama with him. I think he was at Bama right after me, but we always connected through that, had mutual friends. A lot of the guys that came to us from UCF had been on (George) O’Leary’s staff. He had been on O’Leary’s staff, so a lot of common friendships. I’ve known him, and he played at the same time I did too. Known him a long time.”
