Georgia football: Fast and physical defense is the standard

Georgia football has a high standard for its defense; after 2021, that expectation is even higher. While it’s hard to duplicate what the defense did on the field last season, the standards set for them are something the 2022 squad can accomplish.

With head coach Kirby Smart, he is a defensive genius, and we’ve seen him coach some of college football’s best modern-day defenses. He was a powerhouse for Alabama and then came to Georgia, where he brought all of that knowledge with him.

Smart knows what goes into having an elite defense, and the longer he is at Georgia, the better those units get. He continues to surround himself with talented coaches and even up-and-coming coaches to help him evolve.

A good defense can be a loose term, as it isn’t always about shutting down an opponent to under 14 points. There are a variety of ways to define it, but at Georgia, there are two standards that correlate with having a “good defense.”

Georgia football has high standards for its defense.

For Smart, his defense has to be two things — fast and physical. Considering how he and his coaching staff recruit defensive players, those two expectations are prevalent. The players they continue to bring into the program are highly talented and understand that to play for the Dawgs, and you have to be those two things.

Even with so much success, the Dawgs still have to sell the program yearly. Smart knows he has had some success with defenses at Georgia, but history doesn’t always mean continued success.

"“We don’t like to change our standards. We know we’re going to have a good defense year in and year out,” Smart said at SEC Media Days. “We’re going to have different strengths and different weaknesses.”"

Smart mentioned some negative recruiting at SEC Media Days about kids getting told Georgia wouldn’t be any good so that they wouldn’t pick the Dawgs. There is no telling why kids get said those kinds of things.

The Dawgs need fast and physical kids in every recruiting class, so getting told that a team isn’t going to be good does nothing but make the staff work harder to land the right players.

Georgia needs to recruit players every year that can contribute to the team’s success. If the Dawgs can land those fast and physical players, they will continue to have a good base for success.

Smart has been in the game a long time and is heading into his seventh year with Georgia, so he understands handling reloading positions well.

Fast and physical is the game’s name if a player wants to come to the University of Georgia, and Smart will hold every player to that standard.