Kirby Smart Talks Injury Report Ahead of UAB
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00:00 We're going to go straight to questions today,
00:02 so raise your hands and we'll get one of the remote mics to you.
00:06 We're wondering.
00:09 All right, raise your hands.
00:14 Kirby, a couple days of practice so far,
00:16 just how has practice been this week?
00:17 Been good.
00:18 Good tempo.
00:19 I thought yesterday was nice and cool, had a great practice.
00:22 Today was not the best Tuesday, but not the worst.
00:25 It was a little warmer, but had good energy
00:28 and got a practice hard.
00:32 Coach, when you had a chance to go back and watch it,
00:34 how did you feel like Dalen Everett played?
00:36 And just, I guess, speak about the challenge that Leggett
00:38 and Rattler present.
00:40 [Laughs]
00:42 Man, Dalen played okay.
00:46 He could play with a little more confidence.
00:49 He's a good football player.
00:50 He's still getting comfortable in the big games and the big moments.
00:53 He understands the defense.
00:54 He tackles well.
00:55 He plays physical.
00:56 It's hard to block, which in this league, it's a big man league.
00:59 So, you've got to have some weight under you.
01:01 You've got to be able to hold the point.
01:03 As far as Leggett and Rattler, I've talked about them enough.
01:05 They're really good players.
01:08 Kirby, I was reading something about the halftime speech
01:12 or lack thereof, and somebody said you were going to get on them,
01:15 but then sports psychology -- what was the conversation
01:19 as far as how you addressed the team at halftime against Carolina?
01:23 Where did you hear that?
01:25 Like, what are you talking about?
01:27 I was going to get on them.
01:33 I don't know what he's referencing.
01:35 I guess I would need better details as to I was going to get on them.
01:40 And then you talked to a sports psychologist.
01:42 Supposedly, this was what the narrative was out there,
01:44 the sports psychologist.
01:46 Not that I know of.
01:47 I mean, we have a guy that works for the team, and he does a great job, Drew.
01:51 He gave our team a message on Friday before the game.
01:56 He spent the game with us, but I don't really know.
02:01 I don't know what you're referencing as far as that goes.
02:03 I mean, I have varying messages at halftime.
02:07 I mean, it just depends on how we're playing, what's going on,
02:10 if we're playing with emotion, not playing with emotion.
02:12 I mean, there's a lot of decisions to go into how you approach it.
02:16 At that time, I don't know what good getting on them was going to do.
02:21 Yeah, Kirby, just wondering if you had reached out to Nick Chubb at all,
02:24 given the unfortunate incident last night.
02:26 And then how important was he to this program
02:28 and still is to this program given all that he does and all that he represents?
02:32 Yeah, he's an incredible human being, first and foremost.
02:35 What kid still goes back to their high school weight room, strength coach,
02:40 program, track, and works out like he does
02:42 and just very rare in the sports world to find someone as humble
02:47 and just a great person that he is.
02:51 I reached out to him.
02:53 I know he's probably been flooded with all kinds of people reaching out to him,
02:57 so no expectation of anything in return.
02:59 Just a lot of respect for him and what he did for this program
03:02 in terms of toughness, buy-in, giving back.
03:04 I mean, he decided to come back when he did.
03:08 I thought it was in his best interest to come back,
03:10 and he certainly did UGA a favor returning to.
03:13 And what an outstanding year he had when he did.
03:16 I talked to Ron about it today,
03:18 and I think he'll make a full recovery and bounce back.
03:21 That's just who he is.
03:23 He'll be ready to get after it.
03:26 Kirby, three weeks of the, I guess, data,
03:30 you probably already looked at it with the clock rules and everything,
03:33 but it seems like a lot of the complaining has been from offensive-minded coaches.
03:37 As a more defensive coach, but also a guy who was on the committee,
03:41 where do you stand on where things are at this point?
03:45 I don't really know.
03:46 I actually sent a text to the analytics people we have a subscription to,
03:50 and he sent me a text back immediately and said -- I asked week one,
03:55 and he said, "Well, it's more than they thought," he said,
03:59 "but you can't judge it on one week."
04:00 And after week three, last weekend, his numbers were in,
04:03 he texted right back and said, "It's right where we thought."
04:06 He said 21, 22, I want to say he said 175, 175 snaps a game maybe,
04:11 and they're just 170.
04:13 So it's five snaps a game after three weeks.
04:16 And, I mean, you can quote me on it because I said it,
04:19 but I don't know if it's fact.
04:20 I'm going off what somebody told me.
04:22 So they told me 175 to 170, so it's actually five plays difference.
04:26 Is that the same thing you're hearing?
04:27 Three per team.
04:29 Three plays per team?
04:30 Average.
04:31 That makes sense because they're saying 5.5.
04:33 Three per team is six, and what I was told is 5.5.
04:36 So that's not substantial,
04:38 but I don't know why I even feel like it's more than that because I feel like,
04:42 you know, maybe they should study it by possession,
04:44 and I have not done the math on possessions, not plays,
04:47 because it seems less.
04:49 It seems faster, you know what I mean?
04:52 But I don't know what impact it's had because the number --
04:57 if you do it by number of plays, that's minimal.
04:59 I mean, that's just minimal.
05:00 Three plays per game?
05:02 That's -- I mean, three plays per game per team?
05:05 I don't think that's a major deal.
05:07 It feels like possessions.
05:09 Yeah, possessions matter.
05:11 Possessions, but I can't sit here and tell you the possessions
05:13 because I didn't ask that number if possessions are down.
05:16 If three plays are down, then it shouldn't be possessions down.
05:20 How have Kendall and Roderick looked so far this week?
05:23 Kendall's been in rehab.
05:25 He's been rehabbing and working,
05:26 and Roderick hasn't been able to practice with us.
05:28 So they haven't looked good in terms of practice
05:31 and haven't been out there.
05:33 I'm hoping that we can get him back.
05:35 It doesn't look -- it looks very doubtful that Roderick's going to be able to
05:38 play this week.
05:40 I'm still holding out hope that Kendall might be able to,
05:42 but I can't say that because he has not practiced yet.
05:47 Kirby, we see some programs that seem to be affected by crowd noise
05:50 more than others, and Georgia's not one of those programs, I guess I would ask.
05:54 Is that something that you work on every day?
05:57 That seems to be one of the more drilled --
05:59 I mean, everything's pretty drilled, obviously.
06:00 But can you talk about your commitment to that?
06:02 Well, we haven't -- I mean, I don't know what makes you think we're not
06:05 affected by crowd noise.
06:06 Your first seven years.
06:08 What's a measure of that?
06:10 I saw Tennessee have, I think, five people jump in two timeouts against Florida.
06:15 And then last year, I saw them have about six.
06:17 I haven't noticed that with you guys in big game environments.
06:19 Yeah, it's tough, man.
06:21 I don't think -- see, I think the NFL teams don't experience it until the playoffs.
06:25 I think the SEC teams and the SEC environment, and, you know,
06:29 there's other conferences.
06:30 I'm not saying we're the only ones with crowd noise.
06:32 I know Florida went to Utah, and that was a game I got to see
06:35 where it was impacted.
06:36 It's a major deal.
06:37 I mean, I study it hard because I go through and watch third
06:41 and fourth down reel of the league, every league game.
06:48 And it's amazing to me the team that's on the road, the number of times it impacts
06:53 third and fourth down is incredible.
06:55 And you try like hell to avoid those, but we haven't played in that environment.
06:59 You know, we haven't.
07:00 I can't remember the last year.
07:01 I think Missouri, we had a false start to open the game
07:05 and maybe two others in the game.
07:07 So I can't sit here and tell you it has not affected us.
07:10 It affects us when you go into a tough environment.
07:14 How do you prepare?
07:15 Well, you just turn on the crowd noise and try to simulate it, you know.
07:17 But you prepare by, you know, maybe doing a little less
07:21 and taking a few plays out that are hard communication plays,
07:24 checks, motions, adjustment.
07:26 You've got to be smart.
07:27 I call them, you know, a relief play.
07:30 You've got to line up and go play and see if you can block them
07:33 without doing too much, you know.
07:36 The more you try to do -- I don't think some coaches acknowledge
07:39 that it's a six-penalty advantage to play at home in the SEC possibly.
07:46 I mean, it's come out that way for us because teams have come here
07:49 and gotten probably five, six more penalties on average.
07:53 And you've got to try to find a way to avoid that when you go on the road.
07:58 Are you guys sticking with Peyton on field goals?
08:00 Are you making a switch?
08:01 Yeah, we're having competition.
08:03 I mean, like I said all along, it was going to be open regardless.
08:05 We're competing every week.
08:07 The competition every week has been pretty consistent.
08:10 They've been pretty even.
08:11 But with the outcome of the games, you know, you have to continue to open it up.
08:15 We did a bunch of exercises to try to put some pressure on those guys today.
08:21 And we'll do the same thing throughout the week and make a decision.
08:24 That's minute to minute, hour by hour.
08:28 Coach, with the running back injuries, I'm just wondering about Dylan Bell.
08:32 That's number one.
08:33 How much does he get to work on things like pass pro,
08:35 which obviously is very important?
08:37 And with these injuries, is it a case where you may be forced to play him more
08:40 at running back than you previously have?
08:42 Well, he's got a package, and the package each week,
08:45 they've tried to expand it and go piece by piece
08:48 because we think he's a very valuable receiver.
08:50 And that's what he remains is a receiver for us.
08:52 And his package first week was a few plays.
08:56 His package next week was a few plays.
08:58 And we've added plays each and every week.
09:00 And, yeah, he does pass pro.
09:01 He does, you know, learns our protections.
09:04 And he's really a very physical player.
09:06 Like he plays on special teams, strikes people.
09:08 He's 210 pounds, so he's bigger than Cash.
09:11 And some of our other backs.
09:14 Coach, I know you guys are obviously focused on the season.
09:17 But with the way the portal windows are now set,
09:19 there's going to be like hundreds of kids that enter the portal at one time.
09:22 Is there any way to be proactive in your scouting?
09:25 Are you guys going through and maybe evaluating other rosters?
09:28 Or is it all a reactive scouting measure where they enter,
09:31 you evaluate whether or not they'll be a fit and go on from there?
09:34 Yeah, I don't -- I mean, everybody's got a new staff that goes
09:38 and evaluates every player.
09:40 I mean, I've been told there's teams out there on the sidelines of our games
09:43 scouting our players in warm-ups because that's their job for their team
09:47 is to know something about that kid if he goes in.
09:51 We're not that advanced.
09:52 I'm not really that interested in it.
09:54 I mean, obviously there's never a kid that goes in the portal we would not
09:57 consider unless we didn't like him coming out or had, you know,
10:01 some reason not to recruit him coming out.
10:03 But I'm not going to go in advance and do that because I just -- I mean,
10:09 you might scout 1,000 kids and 10 of those 1,000, you know, end up going in.
10:14 And I could take that 10 minutes and go watch them when they go in.
10:17 And to be honest with you, from what I've seen, when they go in,
10:20 they all know where they're going.
10:22 You know, it's not the one kid that when he told me he was leaving,
10:25 he didn't already have a plan of where he was going.
10:30 Coach, it seems like Jaylon Walker bulked up a lot since last season.
10:33 I was wondering if that was his decision
10:34 or if that was a coaching staff suggestion to bulk him up
10:37 and get him up and wait.
10:38 I don't think he's bulked up.
10:39 He's 240, 242.
10:41 I think he was 236, 237 last year or so.
10:44 Maybe he looks that way or maybe I'm just wrong.
10:47 But I don't want him bulked up.
10:49 I want him fast.
10:50 And he's been an excellent edge rusher for us.
10:55 He's developing as an inside backer.
10:57 And I like him the way he is.
11:01 Speaking about Jaylon and Sori, too,
11:03 how important is it to have guys who can play inside
11:06 but also rush off the edge when you need them?
11:08 And do you feel that's maybe a more important skill set to have
11:11 with how offenses are in college football nowadays?
11:13 Not really.
11:14 I think if you have outside backers that can rush,
11:17 it's a luxury to have an inside backer that can rush.
11:20 And Sori has developed that skill set because when he came in,
11:24 he was a natural really speed guy, edge guy.
11:27 I think the element in pro football and college football has become
11:32 how much speed can you get on the field.
11:35 And with all the passing, Jaylon and Sori give us an abundance of speed.
11:39 They're two of our fastest players,
11:41 and they're able to chase things down, run things down.
11:44 They were both in the play on the screen and I hated it for both of them.
11:48 They both had an opportunity to make the play and neither did.
11:50 But that's why they're out there for those kind of plays.
11:56 I'm wondering, Coach, Malachi is obviously from around here from Jefferson
12:00 and has played a ton for you in these first two years.
12:03 When did he first come on your radar?
12:06 Did you know about him really early?
12:08 And when you got a guy like that, that everybody in the country is coming
12:11 after he's in your backyard, does that even turn up the sort of the pressure
12:16 even more that you've got to keep this guy around?
12:19 I don't think you can get any more pressure on a good player because, I mean,
12:23 whatever the full amount of pressure is, it's the full amount.
12:27 It doesn't get any greater than infinity.
12:29 So he's a really good player and there was always that.
12:32 I think his home life, his mother, father, the community of Jefferson,
12:38 he was very grounded.
12:39 He was never -- I don't want to say a homebody.
12:42 He just never really was interested in going all over the place.
12:45 It reminds me of Charlie Warner.
12:46 He's like, "I really just don't want to go to all those places.
12:49 I want to go to Georgia.
12:50 This is what I want to do."
12:51 And he knew that.
12:52 He came on campus as a ninth grader.
12:54 I can't even remember who the DB coach was here then.
12:58 It was so long ago.
12:59 It might have been -- I don't know who it was, but he came over and said,
13:02 "Dad's here.
13:03 He's a ninth grader.
13:04 He's just coming off a broken leg from basketball."
13:06 And he ran really fast for us and he had a really big frame.
13:09 And I thought, "Man, this kid's going to be a good player."
13:11 And he was playing quarterback.
13:12 So it was a tough evaluation.
13:14 It was a projection as a safety.
13:17 But once we got to know the kid, he came over here a thousand times
13:20 over three years.
13:22 Just loved the character and the integrity of his family
13:26 and what they stand for and really him.
13:28 He's a great kid.
13:32 Yeah, just that offensive line competition with Amarius being out.
13:36 How is Blaske looking right now and then obviously Truss
13:39 and Fairchild as well factoring into that?
13:41 Yeah, Truss has worked guard and tackle just like he always has,
13:45 more tackle this week.
13:47 Blaske has practiced and he is a tough dude.
13:51 But, I mean, he's hurting.
13:53 I mean, he's trying his best out there.
13:55 And O-line is a position that you might get away with a little bit of an MCL
13:59 because you're not out there in space running and cutting.
14:02 But, I mean, he's not 100% healthy.
14:04 So he's out there working.
14:05 Monroe's working at tackle.
14:08 Bo's been developing playing some at tackle.
14:11 Dylan can go out and play tackle.
14:13 Micah can go out and play tackle.
14:15 Chad Lindbergh plays tackle.
14:17 So we've got musical chairs.
14:19 We're just trying to get it where if the next guy goes down,
14:21 we can get the best guy in.
14:24 Coach, I know you mentioned Eddie Gordon a little bit yesterday.
14:27 I know when he was here, he was a very popular guy with your offensive linemen.
14:32 Kind of what -- why was that?
14:33 Why was he such a pie popper, so to speak, to a lot of those guys?
14:37 Well, he's a great recruiter.
14:38 He's a great coach.
14:39 He's a hard worker.
14:40 I have a lot of respect for Eddie.
14:41 I don't think, you know, of the people we've had in the organization
14:43 that have left, somebody told me there's like 24 guys that have come here,
14:47 worked in some capacity, and moved on to another maybe on-the-field role
14:52 or a role higher than they were here.
14:55 And he was a guy that was -- he was loyal.
14:58 He worked hard.
14:59 He recruited a lot of good players here.
15:01 He was right alongside of Sam.
15:04 He was right alongside of Matt Luke.
15:06 He was right alongside of Searles.
15:08 And he has a personality about him.
15:11 He never backed down from coaching players hard,
15:13 and I respect that in a coach because he didn't try to be their friend.
15:18 He coached them hard and recruited them hard.
15:22 And I've got a lot of respect for him.
15:24 And you see it in the way his line plays, man.
15:26 They're going to be wound up for this one because I know Eddie wants to represent
15:30 and his kids to play well.
15:33 How did Lindbergh kind of grade out, or not specifically,
15:36 but when you guys looked at tape,
15:38 playing I guess more snaps than maybe expected?
15:43 Playing more snaps.
15:44 Where did he play?
15:45 Did he come in when you guys pushed us to tackle?
15:49 No, that was --
15:50 Oh, the first time.
15:51 The first time, I'm sorry.
15:52 No, Dillon played well.
15:54 I mean, I think the amount of time he played leading up to that game had helped him.
15:58 You know, he had played meaningful minutes.
16:00 He's practiced with the ones.
16:02 I mean, he's gone against our defensive line all camp.
16:05 So, I think he came in pretty confident.
16:07 He had a few errors, but, hell, they all did.
16:10 I mean, he played well.
16:13 He's, like I said, I think we think of him, Jared, Micah, those guys as starters.
16:19 Kirby, I know you said with Javon he was a game-time decision this past week.
16:22 How has he looked so far in practice?
16:24 Yeah, he hasn't been able to do much.
16:25 He warmed up, didn't feel great in warm-ups, shut him down,
16:31 and hasn't done much this week in terms of being able to practice.
16:34 I asked him today, you know, and he's underwater running, got a boot on,
16:40 but he has not been able to practice.
16:44 Coach, I know you guys don't use the portal to the extent that others do in college football,
16:48 but have you seen any major impact on high school recruiting?
16:52 You know, got teams taking dozens of guys in the portal that can't take high school kids.
16:57 Has your pool of prospects gotten any larger?
17:02 You lost me on the last statement.
17:05 How would our pool get larger?
17:07 Because --
17:10 Well, yeah, but I mean we're talking about we're recruiting the top 10%.
17:14 I don't think that part's changed.
17:16 I think it's definitely changed at a different level.
17:20 You know, I don't think at the SEC level the pool of --
17:24 I mean the pool of the kids that we'd be signing probably wouldn't be signing at the SEC.
17:28 You know, they would be signing somewhere else.
17:30 So, I mean, if anything it may help our walk-on or preferred walk-on program,
17:34 but those kids that would have gotten scholarships other places,
17:36 they're all taking kids out of the portal.
17:39 And I think that's, you know, that's the right of a coach.
17:41 And you can look and point to some teams that have done an incredible job
17:45 and have caught a program up really fast versus some that you catch a year
17:51 where you don't get enough out of the portal and you've got nothing developing
17:54 and you end up in a bad situation.
17:56 I don't know because I'm not in the portal industry as much.
17:59 I mean, we're going to always look and try to take a great player,
18:02 and I'm not going to live and die by it.
18:04 I want to develop players and bring them in from freshman all the way up.
18:08 Let's take two more questions.
18:10 You had Matt Godwin as your director of player personnel for a long time
18:13 and then you transitioned to Will Myers.
18:14 I just wanted to know how you found out about him
18:16 and how do you think he's done so far this season in terms of evaluating
18:18 and finding prospects?
18:20 Well, he does a lot more than that.
18:22 I mean, we don't put evaluation on that position like some people do.
18:26 Our coaches, my position coaches are always going to be evaluators.
18:32 I don't believe in a system where once somebody comes in
18:34 and tells you who fits your program.
18:36 Matt didn't do that.
18:37 He was a very valuable asset in terms of opinions, of looking over the top.
18:45 So you have someone looking at all these players,
18:47 someone looking at all these players.
18:49 Who's comparing this row to this row?
18:52 Who's comparing the receivers to the offensive linemen?
18:55 That's a hard comparison.
18:56 Which one's a greater need?
18:58 So that's what they help with more than anything.
19:00 And I don't really know how we found out about Will Myers.
19:03 I mean, he worked with Musk Champ at South Carolina,
19:05 so there was a little bit there.
19:07 We had a couple other links.
19:09 I think he had been with -- you know, he'd been over at ULL.
19:13 And so a lot of the same kind of family tree, coaching tree.
19:17 And it was good to be around him in the interview.
19:20 And he did a good job.
19:21 He was very detailed, very organized.
19:23 And that's what we needed in that position.
19:28 Coach, what's the story on the coach's jacket?
19:30 It seems pretty worn and tattered.
19:33 Everybody doesn't like it.
19:34 I don't know.
19:35 For me, it's the first one I pick up every time I go in there.
19:37 And they said something about they don't make any more like this
19:40 with the band at the bottom.
19:41 So I don't like the kind that hangs loose.
19:43 And there's 64 coaches' jackets in my locker that have -- hang loose.
19:47 And there's only one with a band at the bottom.
19:49 So I wear the one that has a band at the bottom.
19:52 (door creaking)
19:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]