NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kirby Smart stepped to the podium and collected himself, a live network audience tuned in, hundreds of media before him ready with questions.
Georgia football, the two-time defending national champions, were once again front and center with Smart in position to provide perspective on the past and provide insight into the future.
“It’s great to be back,” Smart said, sounding and looking very much like he meant it.
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Smart proceeded to take ownership for well-documented off-season challenges that played out while turning attention to the future.
“We know we’ve got a tall task ahead,” said Smart, who two hours earlier revealed to Georgia media insiders his quarterback remains in flux. “But it’s one that we’re excited about.”
The coaching staff is in place, the same as a year ago, which Smart correctly pointed out to be a rare occurrence among championship teams.
Leadership at the top is not an issue and Smart explained why he doesn’t believe it will be a problem.
This, even though the locker room no longer features the positive on-and-off-the-field influences of Nolan Smith, Kenny McIntosh and Christopher Smith.
“A tragedy can either divide or unite us,” Smart said, referring to the loss of Chandler LeCroy and Devin Willock in a Jan. 15 car accident. “It has definitely brought them closer together and united our team and our family.”
Leadership, Smart noted, does not come easily.
“I think anyone can tell you the benefits of great leaders, (and) anybody can tell you what it looks like,” Smart said. “They can tell you what leadership can do for you.
“If we truly want to be honest and up front about leadership, you can’t ignore the costs of leadership.
Great leaders are willing to accept those costs.”
Smart outlined three costs of leadership:
• Number one, you will have to make hard decisions that negatively affect people you care about,
• Number two, you will be disliked despite your best attempts to do the best for the most,
• Number three, you will be misunderstood and won’t always have the opportunity to defend yourself.
Smart said the players he brought to Nashville to represent the program — Brock Bowers, Sedrick Van Pran and Kamari Lassiter — are three of many UGA players who represent Georgia leadership.
“They accept those costs, and they embrace those costs,” Smart said, “and it’s not hard for them to see the benefit of those costs as leaders of our team.”
The Xs and Os and competition battles will soon play out in fall drills as Georgia works toward what would be a historic three-peat.
But for Smart and his Georgia football players, it’s one day at a time, a “better never rests” manta, with leaders at the ready to hold teammates accountable.
“What drives us for this season is intrinsic motivation — we’re not going to be controlled by outside narratives and what people say and who’s going to be the quarterback,” Smart said.
“This team, the 2023 team, is still defining itself. We don’t know where that goes. That happens over the course of the rest of the summer and fall camp, but I like where it’s at.”
From the time Smart spoke at the podium to the moment he exited the Grand Hyatt Hotel, a smile on his face, that much was evident.
