ATHENS — Kirby Smart knows he has to tread carefully when speaking about the transfer portal.

But it is hard for the Georgia head coach to hide his frustrations with the current system, even if Georgia is managing it as well as anyone.

“As coaches, we really just want to know what our roster is going to be for a year,” Smart said in an interview with 92.9 The Game in Atlanta. “I don’t think there is any coach that is saying kids shouldn’t be able to transfer or make money, that’s all out there and that’s a good thing when it is used the right way. It’s just unfortunate that it has gone as far as it has. It’s led a lot of kids to make, you know you think they’re the best decisions for them but they look back and most of our kids look back and say ‘Golly coach, I messed up. I just didn’t know any better.’”

Georgia saw 18 scholarship players exit the program via the transfer portal. That number could’ve been even higher had the Bulldogs not talked cornerbacks Daniel Harris and Julian Humphrey into staying. And those are just two players who made their plans publicly known.

The transfer portal this cycle hasn’t been a one-way operation for Georgia, as the Bulldogs have brought in five players from the transfer portal. Some have just a year of eligibility left, such as Miami wide receiver Colbie Young, whereas others like London Humprheys and Xzavier McLeod had multiple years of eligibility remaining.

Georgia has used the transfer portal more in this cycle than in previous years. It’s another sign of Georgia having to adapt to the times of college football.

Smart understands that it’s important for players to have options and the ability to make money off of their name, image and likeness. Coaches are afforded those same freedoms after all.

But Smart points out that coaches can lose their jobs and have their contracts terminated. It’s why he proposed an idea that keeps certain kids locked into their school, should they pick that option at the outset of their college career.

“I would be really comfortable if a kid checked a box before he came to school and said I’m going to be a student-athlete on scholarship and I get to keep my scholarship for four, five years,” Smart said. “Or if a kid said, I wanted to come in and have NIL, which is really pay-for-play now, I’m going to have this box but I can lose that and be terminated.”

“Most kids would choose the NIL path, but you’d have 15 to 20 kids a year that would say, you know it I’ll go take a full ride and take my scholarship and say I’ll make a commitment to staying there two, maybe three years. Can’t transfer for those two to three years and then after you’ve been in a program for two or three years, you’re free to go play out your eligibility somewhere else.”

Smart saw three players from his 2023 signing class leave the program after just one year, including talented cornerback AJ Harris. He announced on Thursday he would be transferring to Penn State.

Smart has always been an advocate for players having the ability to transfer. He just wishes it came after three years rather than just one with a program.

“That is what you need to develop a player. Two, maybe three years. When kids have been in our program for two or three years and they don’t see that they’re going to have playing time, most of the time they’re wanting to go somewhere else. And we’re comfortable with tha,” Smart said. “Because they haven’t blossomed all the way to the point they needed to. But most of the ones that make the decision to go quickly, they make it all about immediate gratification. And that’s the toughest part. That makes it hard.”

Eight of Georgia’s 18 transfers left the program after at least three years with the program. Another seven entered the transfer portal after completing two years in the program.

It’s unknown if any changes will ever come to the transfer portal. While the NCAA has recently passed new rules that will make NIL deals more transparent, the governing body doesn’t seem all that eager to place any further restrictions on either the transfer portal or NIL.

Smart made it clear after Georgia’s 63-3 win over Florida State that there was a problem with what the transfer portal and NIL has created. Smart wants it to get fixed.

The Georgia coach offered up a solution. We’ll see if any leaders emerge and take the next steps to try and change the current system.

Georgia football 2024 players in the transfer portal