Four takeaways that helped Georgia football nail SEC Media Days

Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart and the three Georgia players did a fantastic job on Tuesday for their 2019 SEC Media Day moment. Here are five things I took away from what they had to say.

The 2019 SEC Media Days was this week, and Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart spoke to the media on Tuesday. He brought Jake Fromm, JR Reed, and Andrew Thomas with him as team representatives.

This week is the week that fans, journalists, and most college football people know that we’re all in the home stretch of offseason before football season begins.

Fall camp starts for the Dawgs on Aug. 1, so it’ll be here before we know it.

However, Smart and his players had plenty to say on Tuesday about what the team’s been up to this summer.

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While he had plenty to say, here are my four takeaways from Tuesday.

Kirby Smart is now a chiseled veteran

While the other two takeaways are more about on the field matters, this first section is the fact of how cool, calm, and collected Smart looked on Tuesday.

This week is his fourth SEC Media Days, and he finally looked comfortable up on the stage talking to everyone.

Smart isn’t shy and some of the witty jokes and remarks he made allowed most people to see his personality and that he isn’t as cold as he comes off at times.

He cracked a few jokes during his opening remarks and even when he went on with the SEC Network.

Smart knows what to expect now with SEC Media days. However, I think what makes it interesting this year is his jokes. I liked how confident he was in his team.

He looked confident as soon as he stepped foot on the stage to speak.

I’m not sure if he knows something we all don’t know, but the look he has in his eyes tells me he’s hungry to get this team on the field. We could see something scary from the Dawgs this season, and I mean that in the most positive way possible.

My favorite part from his time was when a reporter started a question about how Nick Saban’s former assistants are 0-16 against him, and Smart cut him off and said that he was well aware, and nothing else.

Smart excited about George Pickens

With J.J. Holloman gone, one of the big topics of discussion this offseason has been who steps up and takes on his role. Well, George Pickens is a name that keeps getting brought up and discussed.

He just got to Georgia this summer, and as we approach fall camp, all eyes will be on this wide receiver group day one of camp.

Pickens flipped from Auburn to Georgia, and after the drama this summer, he could wind up being the best pickup in the 2019 class.

Smart said that he’s excited to have Pickens on campus and talked about his work ethic and his recruitment.

"We’re excited to have George. He’s come in this summer and worked tremendously hard. He’s been there from day one, grinding with our guys,” Smart said during SEC Media Days. “He came over to our place for several football games. He knew what he wanted. He knew what style offense he wanted to play in and he saw an opportunity when he saw two guys declare early for the draft in Mecole and Riley and Terry Godwin leave and then Isaac Nauta, there was a lot of touches there available, and I know he wanted to have an opportunity to play with a quarterback like Jake Fromm. We’re excited to have him. We’re looking forward to seeing him work and earn his opportunities.”"

Well, Pickens can be a guy they utilize right away, and if he’s working this hard in the offseason, I’m excited to see if he can pick up this playbook and learn it to get some significant playing time.

He also gives Jake Fromm another target to throw to, and a big one at that. Pickens will likely be one of the most anticipated freshmen on the offense for the Dawgs outside of what Zamir White will do.

He still won’t give us a direct answer on the Georgia/Florida game.

I did an article earlier this year about why the Georgia/Florida game should stay in Jacksonville, and that despite the last answer Smart gave the media wasn’t the best one he could have given.

Smart didn’t give a direct answer, again; instead, he gave the media another generic response.

"“I’m for what’s best for the University of Georgia and as a group and as a staff and as administration, and we’ll look at that internally and make the decisions based on what is best for our student-athletes and what is best for the university,” Smart said to the media. “I don’t get caught up in the emotion of this decision or that decision. I look at it from a perspective of 10,000 feet where I say: What is best for our program? And it’s that simple. And we’ll make that decision as I group and go with it.”"

While he didn’t come out and say no I want to move it to a home-and-home series, he didn’t say he wanted it to stay where it was either.

I didn’t like this answer because it is generic and doesn’t say anything outside of he wants what’s best for the school.

Shoot even Florida head coach Dan Mullen had more to say about the game than Smart, but then again that’s expected from Mullen.

Either way, I believe the game should stay put, and the fact that Smart won’t give a direct response says that we won’t know until the decision has been made about it.

Leaders continue to emerge for the Dawgs

One of the guys Smart mentioned on Tuesday as someone’s who becoming more of a leader is Monty Rice.

Smart talked about how hard he works on and off the field.

"“This is a kid that’s a very good leader on our program. He works day in and day out, really does a good job in the classroom,” Smart said during SEC Media Days. “He was banged up last year. He’s one of our faster linebackers, which we’re trying to increase some speed at that position. He’s been very productive.”"

Smart continues to inform the media about Rice and what he brings to the table.

“When you look at what Monty has done in games, ability to making tackles and close on people, we’ve been excited about what he does,” Smart said.

It’s good to see Smart call out Rice and say that he’s turning into one of the leaders of the defense. The Dawgs missed that guy last year, and with Rice now a junior, it’s his time to shine.

Smart mentioned Fromm and leadership as well, but the fact that when Rice was brought up in a question, he jumped to make sure people knew he was stepping up as a leader.

Rice is someone I expect to explode onto the scene, and it sounds like he’s on the right track.

Georgia nailed SEC Media Days

Between Fromm, Thomas, Reed, and Smart, the guys nailed SEC Media Days. They all gave away just enough and didn’t talk any trash like so many teams try and do.

There is a specific culture at the University of Georgia and Smart’s executing it flawlessly. He brought three players that embodied his culture and the message he has for his team.

Smart and the players nailed SEC Media Days, from their suits to how they carry themselves when doing interviews, Smart has his culture implemented. Georgia gave away just enough to make experts and journalists start making some bold predictions about this upcoming season.

Guess we will see how things go on Aug. 31.