Category: UGA Football

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.”

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ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart alongside several players spoke with the media on Tuesday afternoon and offered the following comments.

Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart
On practice this week…
“Long way from good. We are a work in progress. We have the least number of players who have gone through three spring practices since I’ve been here, so that should tell you something. I’d ask the guys to stand up who have practiced at least three spring practices, so this obviously would make their fourth, and there was basically nobody standing. We have a very young, inexperienced group. We really can’t practice to our standard because they’re all tired. So, we go to practice, and it’s great energy, great in shorts, guys learn what to do, and then we start going, and it’s like, they can’t go. I’m tired. So, we got to do a better job getting them in shape. We got to probably simplify some to get guys just to go play and not be thinking out there. But a lot of young players, and I need the older players, when old to me is year two, year three, that’s old, to lead the year one guys because I feel like half the roster is in their first season at Georgia, not necessarily their first season of college, but their first season at Georgia. That’s been tough. So, we got a long way to go, but I am optimistic.
We do have good kids, and they do work hard.”

On the freshman wide receivers…
“They got to get in shape. They’re constantly tired at practice. They got their hands on their hips, exhausted. I think there’s a little anxiety in that, so it’s not like it’s all they’re not taking more reps. It’s like the older players might have 25 reps in a practice. They might have 20, but they can’t sustain their 20 reps. Throughout practice, they get really tired, so they’re trying. There’s no lack of effort, and they’re talented, but they got a long way to go in terms of learning what to do, and that’s our job. Our job is to get them ready to go. They are not where they need to be.”

On coaching his players…
“No, we have to coach it. That’s what they pay us to do, to coach them. They have to be willing to receive coaching, and on the whole, my whole preach after the practice was we have got a lot of guys that put their hands up. They’re offended when you coach them. I’m not talking about the freshmen. I’m talking about in general. So, we had multiple NFL coaches come through here, go to practice, and they talk about how their players love to be coached. They love to be given a nugget, a technique that might help them play longer or play better, and some of our guys were offended by it. It’s like, ‘You’re coaching me hard?’ Like, ‘You’re telling me I got to play with effort?’ And some of them, I guess, have never been held to that standard, but that standard is not going to change here.”

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