The week according to Kirby Smart: 3 best quotes from Tuesday’s press conference

Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart met with the media Tuesday evening, where he was on a roll about various topics. It was the first time the coach talked with the press since Georgia’s first scrimmage, and it was interesting hearing him talk about it.

From individual player to position questions, Smart gave brilliant answers and even some great zingers to be his usual blunt self.

The fact that he isn’t afraid to tell the media how it is has to be one of the best things about him.

Kirby Smart never falls short of giving good quotes, and here are his three best from Tuesday.

Georgia has just 10 days until the annual G-Day game, so until then, the speculation will be flowing, and fans will be itching to get more insight.

However, it seems, despite reports, some things aren’t what they seem about this team, and that is also exciting. This spring has to be one of the most anticipated because Georgia is the defending national champion, so what will they do about it?

Smart doesn’t open up or give too much, but what he does provide is plenty. So while we’re all wondering what this team will look like, he isn’t going budge on things.

Tuesday’s press conference showed that, but it still provided some great quotes. These are our three favorite quotes because they show his personality and call out some people.

"“You say stand out—I mean, there’s nobody that stands out—not compared to who just left that room,” Smart said during his Tuesday press conference. “There are guys filling a role and there’s a difference—there’s a standard at Georgia when you play inside linebacker and outside linebacker and we’re probably not playing to that standard right now.”"

The one position Georgia probably lost its most production and talent had to be at linebacker, so this quote is Smart challenging this year’s group. He isn’t being rude or anything but pushing them to be better because the Dawgs do have massive expectations for their linebackers, and that is one of the most important positions on the team.

Smart continued to say it isn’t that Georgia doesn’t have the talent, but it’s the lack of experience. Nolan Smith and Robert Beal Jr. are two guys with a lot of reps, but after that, they really didn’t get a chance to because there were so many in front of them.

However, now they have a wide-open opportunity to earn a spot, so freshmen or seniors can take the bull by the horns and earn significant playing time. He mentioned Xavian Sorey, Jalon Walker, Chaz Chambliss and MJ Sherman as a few names that are getting a lot of reps in, but that they still have a way to go, and that’s okay. It’s April, not August.

The next quote is about what Smart has learned about this team.

"“What I’ve been very pleased with thus far is I don’t feel like we’ve had poor practice,” Smart said. “We’ve had really good energy. A lot of really good teaching and learning, which, especially in the positions that we’re young at, that’s what you need. You need to teach, learn, get them reps. It’s so valuable to get young players reps in the spring. They learn from mistakes. They have to make a mistake a certain amount of times to get it, and we’re going through those growing pains right now.”"

Growing pains are a great way to put what this team has to go through to get past what last year’s team did. This is a new group, and they need to find their identity and what they will be known for, which starts during spring practice. Not to mention, this team is relatively young, and with 19 early enrollees, there will be a lot of working through mistakes.

Players grow from mistakes, and making them right now is far better than when a game could be on the line.

To hear a coach discuss good teaching and learning things is fantastic because they are teachers. They are there to grow players, develop them and help them achieve not only team goals but also individual ones.

And the final quote follows right through on the growing pains and the early enrollees. Smart called out some people in this one, and it’s understandable because we don’t know what kids will do. We can only speculate, which can put pressure or give them too much confidence, but still funny to see him call out the media.

"“Nobody, really. If I do y’all will anoint them. Like y’all are going to do anyway. Y’all take word of mouth; there’s stuff written about guys in the scrimmage that are so far from the truth, but whatever,” Smart said. “I mean, I think those guys are coming along. I can’t sit here and say that anyone, not midyear-wise, stood out.”"

Again, it’s not that he is being mean or suggesting that none of these early enrollees are doing good things — Smart just wants them to remain humble. He wants them to earn their successes and not have anything handed to them.

The biggest things about being a part of the Georgia football team are working hard, being disciplined and staying focused. There is nothing wrong with complimenting players or anything like that, but it’s also essential to keep them humble, so they don’t get inflated heads.

Smart talked about the mid-year guys and how the staff wanted them to have some anxiety going into that first scrimmage. He wanted to see them squirm a bit because it was their first time in Sanford Stadium and hitting like that.

They want them to fight through the anxiety because it’ll be there this fall, especially during the game against Oregon.

However, it’s also funny because Smart called out the media for talking about these mid-year guys. It’s not the first time he has called out the press, and it sure won’t be the last. He hates speculation but understands that writers have to do it, especially now — it’s springtime, and there isn’t much to discuss.

Georgia football has a lot to work on, according to Smart, and we like hearing that. There is no slacking, no hitting cruise control, but instead pushing the players to their limits. Smart and his staff know they have a target on their back, so there will be no slacking this offseason, especially as the season inches closer.