Georgia football and Kirby Smart take on SEC Media Day

Kirby Smart took SEC Media days by storm today. An already highly anticipated public appearance by most of the media, Kirby handled it very well. I know this probably sounds like a North Korean blog post about our strong leader, but Kirby Smart really shines when he is at SEC Media Days.

Georgia Football also has a new mantra. Over the past few years, Kirby has used media days as a synergy event to get the fanbase and players all on the same message. In 2021 it was “Pressure is a privilege”, in 2022 it was “We do the hunting” and in 2023 it’s “Better never rest”.

Smart has done something very few coaches in all of sports would do. That is to deal with complacency head-on. The mantra “better never rest” is part of that too. Many leaders of teams that have done what Smart and the Dawgs have done would shy away from the fact they are chasing history. Many would say “We don’t focus on that”. Kirby and his staff do focus on that, however. But, they do not focus on outcomes, which he said several times.

In sports, it’s hard to find leaders like Smart. There is really only one other person out there who is like him and that is Nick Saban. So this is all part of “the process”, which Kirby was a part of for so many years at Alabama.

Another thing that stood out to me was that many of the media’s questions were big-picture. It was not about individual players or things that have happened off the field. There was only one time that the question about players speeding was addressed by Smart. The players were asked similar questions as well about speeding. Thankfully, Smart and the players addressed it and said they are disappointed and needed to do better. I think that is all the fanbase wanted to hear.

I gave some predictions on what I thought were going to be the main questions asked to Smart and the players at SEC Media Days. I was surprised that there was not a question about The AJC article at all. Maybe, the UGA letter killed that story altogether. However, to be frank, I am glad we did not have to hear about it. It really has dominated the news cycle for the past month.

Will also say the players really handled themselves very well with the media. Sedrick Van Pran, a veteran on the team and at SEC Media Days, did a good job and I think it’s pretty clear who the leader of the offense is this year. Smart challenged the media in his opening statement to get Brock Bowers to speak more than three sentences. However, I’m not sure they accomplished that. Bowers did pretty well in the limelight and the conversation about the Heisman was brought up. Like I have alluded to before I think this is the start of his Heisman campaign.

There was not a lot of talk about position groups that was truly noteworthy. However, Bobo was mentioned a few times and Smart and the players said the same thing that they have been saying since Bobo was hired; the offense won’t change. Seems like Carson Beck is going to be the starter. Kirby did not flat-out say that, but the feeling around the QB competition is that it is Beck’s job to lose.

Overall it was a positive day for the football program. For much of the off-season, there have been negative vibes around Athens. For once it feels like we are finally all focusing on football and not off-the-field issues. As the week goes by there will actually be more topics to talk about that impact this upcoming fall camp and season.

Fall camp is just around the corner and that means the season too. The dog days of summer are almost over.