Georgia football: J.R. Reed’s comments cements the culture change

Georgia football defensive back J.R. Reed claims that Georgia’s goal isn’t to win the SEC, but to instead win the National Championship.

Once upon a time, winning the SEC Championship was the no. 1 goal. A National Championship was out of a team’s power because of fickle rankings. But a team could control their own destiny in the conference.

That’s no longer the case down south. Sure, winning any championship is fun, especially the SEC Championship. But National Championships are the be-all, end-all now. It’s really been the case for almost a decade now, Alabama’s just the only team to realize it with two National Championships in years that they didn’t win the SEC West.

Not anymore. The Georgia football squad, thanks to the coaching and the culture brought in by head coach Kirby Smart, have just one goal. That’s to win a National Championship. The SEC Championship is secondary, and certainly a welcome title. But it’s not the big one.

Recent comments by defensive back J.R. Reed show how the team has become engulfed in that culture:

"“The ultimate goal is to win the natty, and the SEC Championship doesn’t mean anything if you don’t win the national championship. So, that’s where we are right now.”"

Under Coach Mark Richt, the goal was to first win the SEC Championship, and then hope a shot at the National Championship follows. That’s not a criticism of Richt because that’s how everyone in the SEC thought besides Nick Saban. That’s why Alabama has been so far ahead of the rest of the conference for so long.

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Reed’s comments prove that Georgia is first in line to catch up with Alabama. The things that Smart is telling players, that he brought from Alabama, are setting in. Winning the SEC in 2017 felt great. It was awesome to see Georgia get over that hump. But everyone would trade the SEC Championship for the National Championship.