Georgia Football: Notes from Kirby as Spring Practice opens
Georgia Football kicked off its spring practice today. In doing so, Kirby Smart gave us our first answers about a few UGA players.
The First day of spring practice is here everyone! Hooray, finally, we are back to football. That also means that Georgia Football coach Kirby Smart gave his first press conference since signing day. Dawgnation.com has the full transcripts of all of the questions he answered. But if you’re looking for a quick recap, here are the highlights:
Coaching staff roles decided
As expected, James Coley has become the QB coach and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney has moved to coach tight ends. Coley has also received a ‘co-offensive coordinator’ title as well to reward him for turning down Texas A&M this offseason.
Chaney will continue to call the plays, but Coley will be more involved with the game planning. Kirby spoke a lot about not getting comfortable and moving coaches around to try and get better. Chaney has coached tight ends several times before, including in the NFL a decade ago.
I like the moves. I think Coley will help Chaney be a bit more aggressive when it comes to the game plans this year. It’s also made room for Cortez Hankton who Kirby also spoke very highly of.
DeAngelo Gibbs to Return
Fans can probably start worrying about DeAngelo Gibbs now. Gibbs was a top recruit in 2017, but he fell out of the rotation later on in the season. He is also not currently enrolled in classes which freaked out quite a few people. Much like Trenton Thompson last year, it looks like Gibbs has been dealing with a shoulder issue. Kirby expects him to be fine and back ready to go in the fall. Gibbs is in Athens right now and will be around practice even if he is not participating.
Natrez Patrick is back
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While we’ll have to wait to see Gibbs, Natrez Patrick is back. After being suspended for the postseason after a failed drug test, Patrick has been through addiction therapy to start the year. He clearly had an issue and Kirby said that he’s done everything they want him to.
Having recently been named student-athlete of the week, things look good for Natrez who has hopefully put his past demons behind him. If he’s locked in and keeps himself clean this year, he could have a huge impact on the defense.
Two Offensive linemen will miss Spring
Kirby stated that Justin Shaffer and Sean Fogarty will both miss the spring after having knee surgeries. Fogarty was expected to compete for the backup centre spot and Shaffer had a chance to push at left guard. Their absence opens the doors for early enrollees Trey Hill and Warren Ericson to get more reps in practice if they are ready.
Jonathan Ledbetter is going to be a leader
Kirby was asked a bunch of questions about leadership after the departure of so many great players. One name kept being mentioned, Johnathan Ledbetter. There’s no doubt that ‘Led’ is going to be the emotional leader of the defense in 2018. He’s still very young to be a senior (I’m not sure if he’s even turned 21 yet) but he’s clearly someone other want to follow. Look for him to have a big impact on the team’s attitude this spring.
Strength and conditioning program is paying off
There is no doubt that Scott Sinclair has done wonders since he arrived with Kirby. Smart once again praised the efforts of his strength and conditioning team and said that his players were looking bigger and fitter than ever before. That’s a real testament to just how good of a job Sinclair and the rest of his guys do every day.
Jeff Sentell recently told Dawgnation readers that Trey Hill is down to under 330lbs right now. Considering he weighed over 360lbs a week before he arrived in Athens, that is a hell of a drop. It goes to show that if you put in the work, this staff will get you ready to go. UGA’s stamina was one of the things that set them apart from many of their opponents in 2017. Look for that to continue this season.
QB Battle is on
We couldn’t finish our first-day roundup without talking about the quarterbacks. Justin Fields was, of course, asked about and Kirby said the expected lovely things. Fields is a talented guy and he’s going to push Jake Fromm every single day. Kirby sounds like a kid in a candy store because he knows that right now, he has two alpha’s that have a very similar mindset. There is no doubt that these two players will make each other better.
I’m excited to see them both spend a little more time with Coley who played the position himself and has coached it before. I’m sure that Chaney will continue to be involved as well, but it will be good to have a younger guy help guide both of these players. One thing is for sure, we’ll be talking about this battle for at least the next month. G-day cannot get here fast enough…