nolan smith georgia football transfer

Nolan Smith has always been a passionate person. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when asked why he stuck it out at Georgia, he gave a thoughtful and nuanced answer.

Smith arrived at Georgia as the No. 1 overall player in the 2019 recruiting cycle. Many would’ve expected to play and star immediately. That wasn’t the case for Smith, who saw Azeez Ojulari and Jermaine Johnson emerge as NFL-level talents.

Smith is proud he didn’t run from the grind and stuck it out at Georgia. He feels he’s better because of it.

“I’m not like other guys. Some guys, I wouldn’t say take the easy way out but when things don’t go their way, especially like in life now, guys transfer, guys leave,” Smith told reporters in Indianapolis at the NFL combine. “That’s just not how you do it. You stick in your program, you work hard and you prove to your coach that I should be on that field. I had to sit back. Guys in front of me were better. Azeez Ojulari, man. I would just watch guys work. A lot of people don’t say that.

“I was a young kid. I had a lot of learning to do. I didn’t know the system, I didn’t know the plays. If you don’t know your plays, your coach can’t put you out there. That’s where a lot of people fall off at. I just worked hard and never doubted. My mom always told me, you never had it easy in life so keep working.”

Smith eventually became a major contributor for the Bulldogs, as he helped lead Georgia to back-to-back national championships. He took note of the fact that he was back in the same city where Georgia took down Alabama 33-18 to win its first national championship in 41 years.

That game ended with Smith sacking Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. Both players are possible first-round picks and strong performances in Indianapolis could greatly help their draft standing. Smith stated he does plan to do on-field drills at the combine, just over four months after suffering a torn pectoral injury that ended his senior season.

While Smith could’ve begun prepping for the 2023 NFL Draft, Smith once again wanted to remain at Georgia and find a way to help the team. He did so with his vocal leadership, often acting as a coach.

Being one of the more vocal and louder players on the team, his teammates certainly understood his message. The Savannah, Ga., native hopes future Bulldogs do the same with regard to working through adversity earlier in their college careers.

“Kids need to hear this. Stick it out,” Smith said. “Just because things get tough, don’t run away from things. In life, when things get tough, you’re going to quit on your wife, you’re going to quit on your kids? You’re going to transfer on your wife and kids when things get tough? If you’re married to your wife for 10 yards and she gets cancer, you’re just going to get up and leave? That’s how I think of it. You be a man of character no matter what you do and that’s how my mom raised me.”

To be clear though, Smith isn’t against the idea of transferring altogether. He was asked about his former roommate Trezmen Marshall, who will play for Alabama this coming season after leaving the Georgia program.

Smith stated he believed Marshall went about the right way of transferring.

“I know certain times guys been in the program for a long time,” Smith said. “He’s been in there for four years and he got his degree. He only has one more year and I feel he did it the right way. He talked to coach Smart and said, ‘Coach Smart, if I have other opportunities at other places would you let me go.’ And they said of course, we want you to play because we got new young players coming in as well. It’s a certain way you do things and that’s what I learned at Georgia. There’s a certain way you do everything.”

Marshall is expected to start for Alabama, while he most certainly would’ve been behind Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Smael Mondon who return as starters for the Bulldogs.

Georgia had 10 players transfer out of the program this offseason. To date, eight of them have found new schools, with all of them coming at the Power 5 level. Of those to transfer, only Jaheim Singletary and Jacob Hood had not completed at least two years in the Georgia program.

Smith is one of 12 Georgia players at the NFL combine this week. He will work out on Thursday.

Nolan Smith shares strong response about transferring

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