Georgia Football looking for their veterans to step up
Georgia Football head coach Kirby Smart made it very clear that he wants some of his veteran players to step it up in practice.
Going into his third season, it’s safe to say Kirby Smart doesn’t make comments for no reasons. So when the Georgia Football head coach calls out some of his veteran players to the media, it’s safe to say that he’s trying to get a message across.
A couple of things really stand out from this press conference. Firstly, he started off saying that he does have good leadership in this team. That’s a good thing. It shows that Smart feels like he’s probably found the leaders he wanted for this 2018 season. Secondly, however, it sounds like some of the other senior players are quite simply not playing as well as they should be. As Smart says, that would be ‘scary’ if it’s still the case when we get into the season.
I’m not going to speculate which players are leading and which are struggling. That being said, Smart also makes it clear that those players that are struggling need to improve and quickly. There is a tremendous amount of talent that’s pushing for playing time and is going to be right behind some of these veterans. Smart is making it clear that he’s prepared to move on from guys who aren’t working hard enough.
It’s still very early days in camp. But Smart is right about practicing the way that you play on game day. Last years team often talked about how easy they found games because of how hard they worked during the weeks. That’s something that this year’s team needs to do as well. While it’s disappointing to hear that some guys who were on that team are not reaching that same level right now, it’s also not the end of the world. Smart is clearly using his media platform to get a message across.
How those players respond to this message is what’s important. This spring, Smart called out Sophomore Richard LeCounte for not reaching the level that Kirby and his coaches wanted. Fast forward to now and LeCounte seems to have taken a big step forward. Smart mentioned he still had room to improve but he certainly got on a soapbox and stood up for his guy.
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The one thing that Smart seemed to mention on every question was the need for consistency. Whether it’s from the offense, defense or even the punters, that’s what he’s looking for. It’s understandable that early in camp that remains hard for a lot of players to find. But one thing is for sure, those that reach that point are going to find their way on to the field. No matter what their experience level, Smart isn’t playing favorites with this team. That should hopefully make everyone who is a part of it even better.