UGA Football: Smart, Players Discuss Spring Practice

ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart alongside redshirt junior offensive lineman Drew Bobo, sophomore inside linebacker Chris Cole, redshirt junior quarterback Gunner Stockton and sophomore inside linebacker Justin Williams spoke with the media this afternoon and offered the following comments.

Head Coach Kirby Smart
Opening statement…
“Several notes here to talk about. G-Day, one o’clock kickoff, still pushing in that direction as best we can. Wanted to talk about Daniel Calhoun. He’s going to miss the rest of spring. He’s got a foot injury that he’s dealing with. He was doing a great job competing for one of the starting guard spots, and it’s not a major injury. It’s just one that’s going to cost him the next three weeks to do that. And then the hiring of two of our assistants, new assistants on offense, both Phil Rauscher and John Lilly will be helping out Coach Bobo and his staff on the offensive side, as well as all of us. We’ll be there to help us.”

On the arrests of Nitro Tuggle and Marques Easley…
“Yeah, disappointed obviously, in those two young men and the decision-making process for each one. You know, both of them are younger players and have made crucial mistakes. As far as the process we followed, it’s not been several months. You know, it’s been several years in terms of defensive driving courses, having players ride and learn how to drive, just like my two kids did, with a driver’s service. Josh Brooks has done a tremendous job meeting with every player, and we’ve had several speakers come in, and we continue to educate. We’re not going to stop at that. You know, it’s very unfortunate that, you know, one of those young men got his driver’s license within one month of that happening at 18 or 19 years old, and it’s amazing how many kids come to school now without a driver’s license. So, it’s no excuse, but one of those things we will continue to educate and discipline our guys to try to correct it.”

On team’s progress during spring football…
“Most progress. We’ve practiced better since the last time I saw you guys. I think that I’ve had three practices since then. I think we had a Thursday, a Saturday, and a Tuesday. So, it was actually much better last Thursday in terms of throwing and catching. The offense jumped out ahead. Quarterbacks and receivers, I thought, had a good day. I’d be remiss if I tried to judge it today, but there’s been growth. I mean, we put a big emphasis on running and stopping the run because we feel like we lacked in both those areas last year. So, the spring practice has been shifted or adjusted a little bit towards stopping the run and being able to run the ball. I don’t know if we’ve improved on it, but we’ve harped on it.”

On KJ Bolden…
“Yeah, he’s kind of like I think I talked about last time. He’s kind of the veteran of the group without, I mean, he hadn’t been here but a year. He’s played the most football. He understands. He’s very natural at understanding our defense. So, I’m proud of where he is. He has to be careful that he doesn’t become complacent or think that because he might know it the best that he’s where he needs to be. There’s a difference, right? So, intrinsically, he has to be motivated by trying to be great, and he’s got to do that every day. He can’t measure himself against what we have right now, and we’re behind at that position. Like, we don’t have Dan [Jackson] and Malaki [Starks], which were two really good staples. So, I feel like we have, like, five or six safeties, like, in a big group, and right now nobody has jumped out in the lead. So, a lot of guys new there.”

 On Chris Cole, Justin Williams and the team’s focus on stopping the run…
“Both going to be good football players. Both very conscientious, like, hard workers. You know, I’ve started a new ritual of, like, asking a guy at the end of practice who he thinks the hardest worker is. Like, who works the hardest? Who practices the hardest when you watch the tape? Who do you say has that passion and fire that’s sometimes lacking all over college football now? It’s a different climate in college football. So, it’s funny because Chris Cole and Justin Williams have both been mentioned multiple times by people as extremely hard work guys. Like, they work hard, and I appreciate that about them.”

On Gunner Stockton, Ryan Puglisi and the state of the quarterback competition…
“Yeah, both those guys are doing a great job. I’m really pleased with where both of them are at. Ryan is taking some reps with the ones. Gunner continues to grow and get better. I think both those guys are doing a great job.”

On what he’s seen from Quintavius Johnson in the spring…
“Yeah, it’s like, I mean, I want him to be ahead of where he is, and he’s not, and it’s not his fault. I mean, again, he hadn’t been here. He’s been here a year in, like, what, two months? A year and three months. So, when you’re thrust out there into action against experienced tackles and offense that moves in motions, and you have to adjust, I’m proud of Q. I want to be clear on that, but he has to get better to be at the level of, let’s call it like it is. He’s got to be where Chaz [Chambliss] was, or Azeez [Ojulari] was, or Nolan [Smith] was. He’s not there. He has the ability to be there, but he is not there yet, and I like Q because he, like, works really hard, and then we got a bunch of young guys at that position. And Gabe [Harris] is out for the spring, so he provides his depth, but he’s not getting work right now.”

On Branson and Roderick Robinson’s health statuses…
“Not much. I mean, they’re working out kind of separate from us, both dealing with significant injuries. So, they’re not going to be doing much during the spring. So, they’re working. They’re over there doing things, but they’re not with the team. They’re not doing 11-on-11 or 7-on-7 or Indy or anything.”

On what he’s seen from Drew Bobo…
“Oh, there’s nothing unique about coaching him. He’s fun to coach. He works really hard. He’s the only player on the team, or at least on the offensive line, that covers down 30 and 40 yards every play. I mean, you can pick out a play in practice, and he’s running to the ball. He covers people up really well. He’s got great quickness. He continues to work on his strength and power. He’s been more consistent with his snaps, and he is bright. He understands what we’re trying to do offensively, and he knows where to point, who to work to. It’s an offensive line, and he, Earnest [Greene III], and Micah [Morris] are really pushing that group. Monroe [Freeling] is doing a good job, too. He doesn’t get to go with us, but those three guys are setting kind of the standard for the rest of the O-line.”

On identifying more work ethic in spring practices…
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t know that there’s a remedy for getting the middle or bottom of the roster to work like the top. I don’t know that you’ll ever achieve that. I mean, the goal is to improve the roster and get them to move towards that, but some people, they’re just not driven like others, right? And our job is to find the right ones. Somebody said to me the other day, like, ‘are you a good motivator? Can you motivate players?’ And I’m like, ‘well, I’d rather get the ones that I don’t have to motivate because they’re self-motivated.’ It’s the greatest kind of player to coach, and we’re trying to air on that side more and more, but when you say off-season, I mean, if there was one thing that I had to say outside our four DNA traits that we think was missing, I mean, I’m not saying as a whole. We had players that have passion and fire, but I think that’s missing across some of college football, and so, like, who’s going to find that the most? Who’s going to have that the most? So, we’re trying to find guys that have passion, fire, and, like, it matters to them, you know? Like, they want to compete so hard, it matters to them, and we’re rewarding that every day with video and showing them.”

On the running back room’s development outside of Nate Frazier…
“Chauncey [Bowens] and Dwight [Phillips Jr.] have been great, bright spots there. In my opinion, they both are getting better. They’re competing. Dwight’s hit some big runs. Chauncey’s made some really good cuts. Nate’s been very consistent, and then, you know, Dillon Bell has taken some reps there. We mix Dillon in practice to practice. He works in the slot. He’s trying to develop as a wide receiver and a back. He’s been great and in a good attitude and being committed to, ‘Coach, if it means me playing 10, 15 snaps at back, I want to do it. If I can develop as a slot, I want to do it.’ So, those guys have been good. A couple of the young guys, Micah Bell, Dillon’s brother has done a good job in there getting reps. Wade Penn has done a nice job. So, really proud of the way those guys compete and work and take their reps.”

On Gunner Stockton’s experience with multiple springs under his belt…
“Yeah, it helps. I mean, he understands what we’re trying to do. He’s been through it. I mean, I think about if we had all Gunners at every position. You know, they understand the volume of reps, what we’re trying to do. He knows the offense inside and out, and then I get frustrated and impatient when other guys don’t know it like him, and you have to kind of slow yourself down and say, wait a second, this guy’s going through, and I don’t know if this is third or fourth. I’m assuming you’re probably right. It may be his fourth. These other guys, they’re in their second. Their first. I mean, it’s just a youthful team, and it shows itself in a lot of ways.”

On Justin Williams’ development…
“Well, he’s probably one of the most positive people I’ve ever been around. He inspires hustle, like effort. I just love the kid’s energy. He’s never down in the dumps. He competes. I think that he is the kind of alpha you need at the inside linebacker position. He’s gotten better. He’s tried to add some weight. He’s still in that, I don’t know, 215, 220 range. I think he wants to be 225, so he’s been fighting that. But, man, he competes, and we’re basing our team and our roster and our culture on, like, fire, passion, and energy. He embodies that, so we want to embrace that with him.”

On the wide receiver room…
“Day by day, you know, there’s days I want to see more toughness. I want to see more run-through tackles. Don’t lay on the ground. Don’t hold your hands up if the ball’s not in the right spot. You know, just body language drives me nuts. But that’s not all of them, and they’re getting better. Day by day, they’re getting better, and there’s good depth in that group. We’re a little banged up. Landon [Roldan] dealing with a little bit of a hamstring. You all know Tyler [Williams] is out with an ankle injury. Colbie [Young] has been dealing with growing. Cole Speer has been dealing with it. Like, that’s what it is. Like, you’re on practice seven of spring practice. You got to show toughness and grit, and I like that group right now. I really do. I like that. I think that group has a chance to be good.”

On Brett Thorson’s health status, potential to return for next season…
“I think so. I honestly don’t. I mean, because he’s not there now in the immediate. I hadn’t really looked at it, but that’s a typical, you know, nine-month injury, six-month injury, and it varies from person to person. So, it is considerate that, I mean, it’s significant that he goes up on one foot leg, and he kicks, and he comes back down. That’s significant, but I feel good about it. I also feel good about, you know, Drew [Miller], the guy we got. So, I feel confident about both of those guys.”

On Peyton Woodring on kickoffs…
“No, it was cover. I don’t remember the hang time on that kick, but he consistently does what we want him to do hang time-wise. Probably not as high and as long as [Jake] Camarda, but very consistent with the upper 25 percent of the SEC. I don’t know on that particular kick offhand whether it hit his average or not, but, I mean, we had failure there on coverage. We missed a tackle, and one of our best players, who’s been a starter here on that unit for three years, he had a chance to get him down. He didn’t. He feels bad about that. I’ve been there before. That goes back to the man in the mirror speech. You know, only some guys have been in the battle. He’s been in the battle and missed an opportunity, and then we had some guys stop when they thought he was going to get him, and he kept running, like it’s just a breakdown. Like, give them credit, but we didn’t do our job.”

On Ellis Robinson IV…
“Yeah, he’s playing good. He’s practicing good. He’s competing. He rolls in there. I think he, Daniel [Harris], and Demello [Jones] have all rolled through with the ones with pretty significant time. They’re going against some good wideouts. They keep getting matched up against the big guys, you know, in Colbie and Noah [Thomas] and even the other wideouts, so I’m pleased with where Ellis is. What I like about Ellis is he competes. He competes for the ball, and it, like, bothers him when people catch the ball on him.”

#74 Drew Bobo | RS-Jr. OL
On the challenge of running the ball as an offensive lineman…
“Obviously, we have a great defensive line and that makes us better every day. We have four starters from last year that we have to replace, and people have to step up, but it’s just an everyday grind to learn how to run the ball better. It’s not going to happen overnight, we have to put in the work to get better over time as spring ball comes, summer watching film and then in fall camp we just got to put in the work to get better at running the ball.”

#18 Chris Cole | So. ILB
On advice he would give to incoming freshman…
“Yeah, I mean, I just say just keep working every day. It’s a progress. So, you just got to keep working every single day and just know the calls. And then I would say just make the coach trust you and just be coachable.”

#14 Gunner Stockton | RS-Jr. QB
On spring practice…
“I felt like spring’s been pretty good. I’ve enjoyed just getting out there and getting to connect with everybody. Some new guys and everybody on the team and just getting to connect with everybody.”

#19 Justin Williams | So. ILB
On where he has seen himself grow the most since the fall…
“I think since last year I’ve become more vocal and taking on that leadership role in the linebacker room, having more fire and energy and helping the younger guys because I was a younger guy last year. Last year, I was trying to learn the plays and learn so many more things. Now, I’m in the film room every day, doing things better in the weight room and trying to lead the guys. I think the vocal leadership role; I’m definitely taking more of an effort to that compared to last year.”