Last week Georgia transfer Amaris Williams went viral for all the wrong reasons.
Someone outside of Georgia’s practice facility happened to be recording from the parking lot to hear what Kirby Smart was saying over his microphone. Unfortunately for Williams this was the exact moment that Elyiss Williams beat him bad on a play, and Smart let him hear it in a way only he knows how.
Smart was asked about this viral moment during his press conference on Tuesday, and after reviewing the play he changed his mind and actually defended Williams.
“That was a play where he stepped on someone’s foot, and he slipped. When you step on someone’s foot, and slip, you know sometimes you get your ass whooped, and sometimes you slip,” Smart said via x.com. “So it probably isn’t a fair assessment.”
Kirby Smart came to the defense of transfer Amaris Williams
It’s worth pointing out that no video of this play has been released to the public. So there is a chance that Smart is saving Williams from public embarrassment because he actually got beat, but that doesn’t sound like Smart at all.
The story Smart is telling is that Williams stepped on someone’s foot during the play which caused him to fall. When it happened it probably looked like he got best bad, but in reality it was just a fluke mishap.
That is good news for Georgia because the hope is that Williams will be able to fix UGA’s pass rush struggles this year. He is a transfer from Auburn who recorded 14 tackles and two sacks last season, and during his time at Auburn he showed a lot of promising signs.
Georgia will hope for more production out of him this year, but an increased role in their defense should be enough for him to excel. Add in the tough coaching from Smart and the sky is the limit for Williams in Athens.