Georgia football is officially back. Thursday marked the beginning of fall camp for Georgia as the start of the regular season is officially less than a month away.
Kirby Smart had a chance to speak to the media, and during that time he was asked about his biggest worry about his team this year. Smart was quick to share that the amount of first and second year players on their roster is the thing that concerns him the most.
“It is 54 percent and it’s a lot, and it worries me as a coach, but it’s not like it’s different anywhere else… We’ve done more with these kids than we’ve ever done before. Post-spring we said we’re going to do 30 minutes a day of football school. We’ve used every minute allowed. We’ve onboarded guys in the past and we’ll do it in the future.”
Asked Smart if anything changes for his staff with so many first and second year players…
— Graham Coffey (@GrahamCoffeyDC) July 31, 2025
“It is 54% and it’s a lot, and it worries me as a coach, but it’s not like it’s different anywhere else… We’ve done more with these kids than we’ve ever done before. Post-spring we said…
Georgia’s lack of experience worries Kirby Smart
According to Smart, 54 percent of Georgia’s team this season is made up of first or second year players. It’s important to note that these are the players who are in their first or second year at Georgia, not in their overall college careers. So any new transfer is automatically included in this group.
It’s pretty obvious why this number would concern Smart because he is a coach who relies heavily on his upperclassmen to set the standard and hold everyone accountable for how things are done at Georgia. But that becomes a lot more difficult when over half the team is still new to the program.
Thankfully Smart and his staff have spent extra time getting these new faces up to speed this offseason. Smart also detailed how this “problem” is occurring everywhere else in the country, so Georgia isn’t the only team having to figure out how to move forward with a lot of new faces.
If Georgia is going to find success this season they are going to have to rely on a lot of new faces this year. Thankfully it sounds like all the extra work put in this offseason is helping every new player be more prepared for fall camp and the season ahead.