ATHENS — Georgia coach Kirby Smart has a championship framework in place, and now it’s about learning his team’s personality.
Smart opened Friday’s media day explaining the goals he has in place for the No. 3-ranked Bulldogs as they begin fall camp leading up to the Aug. 31 opener at Vanderbilt.
“When you think about training camp or preseason camp, for us, it’s about creating an identity,” Smart said at Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall.
“So we’re trying to get effort and toughness, all those intangibles, and you can’t get all those in one day.”
Georgia won’t be in full pads until late next week, but Smart said plenty of work will still be getting done.
“We can’t go out there today and create a lot of toughness and hit people because we don’t have pads on,” Smart said.
“But the biggest thing we’re trying to do is be the best conditioned team in the country, the most disciplined team in the country, and defensively, we’re trying to improve our pass rush and a lot of other areas.”
The offense figures to get a lift from the pending return of Zamir White, who Smart indicated was “cleared” on Friday.
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Smart said it’s up to him and his coaching staff to create the right kind of adversity to help build up the team and develop players.
“I think training camp is a grind, and I think it’s important that it is that way,” Smart said. “You create adversity in camp. It’s a grind and you go to the point of getting exhausted.
“You’re running 2,000 or 3,000 yards in the summer, to possibly running 5,000 or 6,000 in yards practice,” Smart said. “It takes what it takes and it takes hard work, man. It takes beating the heat and that’s what this is about.
“It’s finding out who has some grit within them.”
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