Kirby Smart Tuesday Presser Before Georgia vs Auburn
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00:00 - [Man] We have a question, raise your hand
00:03 and we'll get a remote mic for you, go ahead.
00:06 - Kirby, a couple days into practice,
00:10 just how has practice been this week,
00:11 getting ready for the first SEC road game of the season?
00:14 - It was good yesterday, I thought it was good today.
00:16 We had a lot of things to clean up today,
00:18 so I didn't love the results,
00:20 but I love the energy and focus and the enthusiasm.
00:24 You know, it's a rivalry game,
00:25 our guys are passionate about this game
00:27 and I thought they practiced hard, not always smart,
00:30 but we got after it today, had a good physical practice,
00:33 it'll be a physical game, so we need to be ready for it,
00:36 expect it to be hot and practice in the heat.
00:39 - Yeah, Coach, this is an Auburn team
00:42 that's forced eight turnovers through four games,
00:44 what are they doing on the defensive side of the football
00:47 to turn teams over pretty successfully?
00:48 - They get a lot of havoc, I mean,
00:50 there's a couple clips against A&M,
00:51 you know, they're punching balls out,
00:52 you can tell they're coaching it,
00:53 they're violent stripping at balls, going after it
00:56 and that's the going rate in the country,
00:58 you gotta protect the ball at a higher rate now
01:00 than ever I can remember, I mean,
01:02 the art of getting turnovers and forcing them
01:05 is so harped and coached upon on defense
01:09 that, I mean, it's almost double that on offense now,
01:12 protecting it, so the two are like meeting in the middle,
01:15 they're protecting it more, we're coming after it more
01:17 and it just keeps raising the standard
01:19 of people getting after it,
01:20 they've done a good job of that,
01:21 they've also got some interceptions that's helped with that.
01:24 (silence)
01:26 - Kirby, what are the chances you think
01:30 Ladd might be able to play Saturday?
01:32 - Don't know, he did some things today,
01:35 he got to practice, he didn't do much Monday,
01:37 he ran routes and caught balls
01:39 and then today he got in plays and ran routes
01:41 and I saw him some, but I didn't get to see enough
01:44 to really judge it, I'm gonna go watch the tape
01:46 of the periods I went over there with him
01:48 and see what he looks like,
01:49 we're just trying to progress him back slowly,
01:51 whether it's this week in a roll
01:53 or whether it's the future, not trying to rush him back.
01:58 - Hey coach, I just wanted to hear your initial thoughts
02:02 on Peyton Thorne and the style of offense
02:04 he'll be playing on Saturday.
02:05 - Yeah, extremely athletic, I think everybody gets,
02:08 I mean, Robbie Ashford is a lead athlete,
02:11 he is so fast, so quick, but the thing is,
02:14 Peyton Thorne's a good athlete too
02:16 and he can take off run at any time,
02:19 can do all the same runs,
02:21 I mean, he's made some pretty impressive cuts
02:23 in touchdown runs, so they both are really good athletes.
02:27 - Gabriel, what have you seen from Roderick and Kendall
02:31 this week, just getting ready for Saturday?
02:33 - Yeah, Roderick hadn't gone much,
02:34 he's been in the training room,
02:36 dealing with the high ankle,
02:38 but Kendall was able to go some today and did some stuff,
02:41 again, I saw him out there,
02:43 I didn't get to see how much he did
02:45 or how he looked doing it, I'll evaluate that on tape,
02:48 but he was able to take reps and go and cut
02:51 and do some things.
02:53 - Kirby, I was looking at Coach Freeze's transcript
02:57 and he was asked about the robbery
02:58 and he said that he didn't sense the hate
03:01 in the Georgia-Auburn robbery like maybe some others,
03:04 you've obviously been a part of rivalries
03:06 against Auburn, as an Alabama assistant at Georgia,
03:09 could you put into perspective the differences?
03:12 Did you sense?
03:13 - The differences in what?
03:15 - The rivalries?
03:16 - Rivalries between--
03:17 - Auburn and Alabama?
03:19 - Yeah, they're both robberies,
03:22 I mean, Georgia-Auburn is a border war rivalry,
03:26 Alabama, Auburn's obviously an in-state rivalry,
03:29 that's on another whole level of difference
03:31 from being over there, 'cause they live with it 365 days,
03:34 and we share that with several other out-of-state rivalries,
03:38 there's no diminishing of a rivalry,
03:41 I tend to agree with Coach Freeze,
03:45 it's not about hate for me,
03:47 I don't look at it as I hate any of their players,
03:49 I recruited a lot of them,
03:51 I don't look at it as I hate any of their coaches,
03:52 'cause I like a lot of their coaches,
03:54 I've known all those guys for a long time,
03:56 I have a lot of respect for Hugh,
03:57 I look at it as a hell of a fierce rivalry,
04:01 and that's really why you do this business,
04:04 like why you get in this business,
04:05 is to play in these type games, in this type atmosphere,
04:08 now, fan bases may not like to hear that,
04:10 'cause they like to hate each other,
04:13 that's not, there's not a lot of difference
04:15 in our fans and their fans a lot of times,
04:18 I mean, in terms of where they're from,
04:21 that kind of thing,
04:22 our players are similar to their players,
04:23 so I have respect for them, not hate.
04:26 - Coach, is this an offense
04:29 that's still being added to and developed,
04:31 or are you guys fully installed at this point?
04:33 (laughs)
04:35 - I don't know how to answer that, Bruce,
04:36 I mean, you're never fully installed, ever,
04:41 like, if you say you're fully installed,
04:43 you're saying that you can't get better,
04:44 you can't do anything else,
04:46 so you're constantly looking for a better way,
04:49 or a new play, or something to do,
04:52 but we do have what we have,
04:56 and every offense carries over plays,
04:58 and they might present it a different way,
05:00 or change it up, but you're,
05:03 I mean, there's coaches all over America
05:04 watching games on Sunday to see a new wrinkle,
05:07 you know, not necessarily a trick play,
05:08 just a different way to do the same thing.
05:12 - Kirby, analytics type question,
05:15 you mentioned explosive play margin the other night,
05:17 first off, is your all's definition 12 run, 16 pass,
05:21 and secondly, how important is the defensive end of that
05:25 to your all's success the last few years?
05:29 - Well, I'm embarrassed to say,
05:30 I don't actually know the number,
05:33 I think it was 15 and 20, 15 run, 20 pass,
05:36 but we changed it over the last couple years,
05:38 'cause we had what we called big play,
05:40 that was 12 and 15,
05:42 and then we had explosive play, that was 15 and 20,
05:45 and people tend to slap those,
05:47 whichever one's more favorable to them,
05:49 meaning if you have a bunch of,
05:50 that fit in the medium ever, in the area,
05:53 kind of in between those two borders,
05:55 then you say, "Hey, we had the most big plays,"
05:57 or you say, "Hey, we had the most explosive plays,"
05:59 so coaches all across the country kind of tilt that,
06:02 and when we do a stat,
06:03 one of our quality control guys does it,
06:05 it's, I want to say it's 15 and 20,
06:07 but I can't verify that,
06:08 but it's differential more than anything,
06:10 so we're not aiming to lead in the SEC in differential,
06:13 the way we do ours, Kentucky actually is,
06:16 we've given up slightly fewer than them,
06:18 but they've gotten slightly more than us,
06:20 so the differential is just like one or two ahead,
06:23 and last year we were second almost the whole year
06:26 to Ole Miss because of all the explosives they've had,
06:29 so Ole Miss is actually the one that sent the chart to us,
06:32 and I kind of fell in love with it
06:34 because it showed a greater indicator
06:36 of who won and lost than turnover margin,
06:39 but I can't answer your question
06:41 on the exact number of yards.
06:46 - Yeah, just curious about the status of Javon
06:49 and Mikel so far through practice this week.
06:51 - Yeah, Mikel did some exercise today and felt better,
06:55 hoping he'll be able to go, don't know that yet,
06:58 probably know more tomorrow,
06:59 Javon was able to do more today,
07:01 he felt the best he had,
07:03 he did walk-throughs, he ran on the side,
07:05 he did some scout period stuff,
07:07 didn't go into good on good stuff,
07:09 but again, those guys are gonna be probably really close,
07:13 right there with Ladd and Kendall,
07:15 so it could be into the weekend before we know.
07:18 - Kirby, I know you got this down to a science
07:21 in terms of the game days and whatnot,
07:24 are the game days in terms of the time elements for meetings
07:27 the same on the road as they would be for the home game,
07:29 when the team meets, when the team meets,
07:31 all that, for 330K?
07:33 - They would be, with the exception of traveling
07:35 to the game site, so obviously here,
07:39 we travel to the game site and we're 15 minutes away
07:42 or whatever, like really close,
07:43 and these towns we play in,
07:45 sometimes you don't stay in the town,
07:48 so if the travel from where you stay to where you're going
07:51 dictates you have to move things up,
07:53 because we stay in Montgomery,
07:55 so we can't click our heels together up here in Auburn,
07:57 it takes an hour, so then sometimes we have to move
08:01 our time markers, I call them, up some.
08:04 - Is it kinda just 45 minutes up across the board
08:07 kind of deal?
08:08 And then it's--
08:08 - No, not on the, I mean, their traffic,
08:12 it's been tough getting from there to the game,
08:15 'cause of game day traffic, we get escorted through it,
08:17 but sometimes we found it takes a little longer than normal,
08:19 so we have to move things based on our history
08:21 of what that travel took two years ago.
08:24 - Yeah, Kirby, you said the other night
08:27 that Warren Brinson's work ethic has gotten a lot better
08:30 since he's been here, just how much really has he grown,
08:32 especially over the past year or two,
08:33 to really kind of carve out a role for himself
08:35 on that defensive line?
08:37 - He's worked hard, he's had more opportunities,
08:39 he's trained behind some really good football players
08:41 that are gone, and he's developed, he's gotten tougher,
08:45 he's gotten more physical, he's gotten stronger,
08:48 he's more disciplined, so he's improved,
08:51 and when he plays within the scheme of things,
08:54 he's pretty athletic and twitchy,
08:56 but he has to do that first, and play hard,
08:59 and play more snaps, I mean, he's gotta play more snaps
09:02 than he's ever played, so that's important.
09:04 (keyboard clicking)
09:07 - Kirby, we'll have a chance to talk to Dan in a little bit,
09:10 what do you think of the job he has done
09:12 these last couple games, stepping in,
09:13 getting in some more reps with Javon Elton?
09:15 - Oh, he's done good, you know, Dan,
09:17 he's been healthy, he's played really well,
09:18 he played a dime role, I guess, two years ago,
09:23 and then this year, last year, he dealt with the injury
09:27 most of the year, and that was really frustrating for him,
09:29 set him back, he's just now, to me, getting back
09:32 to his old play speed, he can run,
09:35 so Dan has good speed, he has good eyes,
09:38 he understands our defense and recognizes things,
09:41 so I was really proud of him the other night,
09:43 I thought he played well, and if Javon can't go,
09:47 we'll need him to play well again.
09:49 - Kirby, what was your impressions of Micah Morris
09:53 the other day, what did he give you guys?
09:55 - He did a good job, he came in there,
09:56 and gave those guys a rotational blow,
09:59 and I think that's important when it's hot,
10:01 and you're playing early fall, he jumped in there
10:03 and competed and played, and he's really physical,
10:05 he has a different presence than the other guards at times,
10:10 he has some strengths they don't have,
10:11 and he has some weaknesses that they don't have,
10:13 and we have to measure those within each game,
10:15 and see what we need.
10:17 - Yeah, how have you seen Marvin Jones
10:24 progress throughout this season,
10:25 I know he missed the South Carolina game,
10:26 but he was back out there this past Saturday against UAB.
10:29 - Yeah, he has gotten better,
10:31 I thought he had a good week of practice this week so far,
10:36 he was crushed when he didn't get to play that game,
10:40 and he's recovered from all that,
10:42 and I think he's getting better,
10:46 and he understands our defense in terms of knowledge,
10:50 and system, and a lot of those guys in that room
10:54 are young and new, he's been able to grasp that,
10:57 and have a feel for things,
10:59 so I'm hoping he comes along and starts making some plays.
11:02 - You know, kind of along the lines of explosives,
11:07 Carson I think had three or four deep balls open,
11:11 you know, and I think there was a drop there,
11:13 and a couple that he wasn't able to hit,
11:16 and I believe he connected on another one,
11:17 what's the expectation there,
11:19 I know an NFL quarterback to an open receiver,
11:22 he's expected to hit that guy every time,
11:25 what's reasonable to expect in that,
11:27 and how do you think Carson is at it,
11:30 because obviously you guys have some dudes
11:32 you can get behind the defense.
11:34 - Yeah, I think he's done a good job,
11:35 I mean we had the one drop, I hated it for Aaron,
11:37 he works really hard on it,
11:38 he spends extra time at the practice,
11:40 he's probably out there now doing it,
11:42 because he had an opportunity to grab it,
11:45 he probably overthrew Jackson a little bit,
11:47 but Jackson I'll tell you, he didn't extend the play,
11:50 probably like the other guys did,
11:51 it's different timing with different receivers,
11:54 and probably put too much air under
11:56 instead of hitting him right on the stride,
11:57 but I think he's done really well with the deep balls,
12:00 I mean I really do, I don't listen to the noise out there,
12:03 I think we've missed a couple because they've been covered,
12:06 he's overthrown a couple,
12:08 but a lot of that is the aim,
12:11 and are we leading the receiver to the open grass,
12:15 or are we throwing it to a landmark,
12:17 and there's a difference in the two,
12:18 and sometimes it's quarterback,
12:19 sometimes it's the receiver,
12:21 but we'll continue if we can run the ball well,
12:24 to have opportunities to take shots down the field.
12:27 - Take two more questions.
12:30 - What's your impressions of Eugene Asante,
12:40 and is he a guy that you have to game plan for,
12:43 or just one of several guys like that?
12:46 - No, he's an athletic dude, man,
12:48 he's the kind of linebacker everybody's playing with now,
12:50 and a lot of these teams in the NFL are playing with,
12:52 he's quick, he's fast, he's twitchy, he can blitz,
12:55 he can play in space, he closes so fast, he covers down,
12:59 a lot of his plays have been cover down,
13:01 strip outs, cover down effort plays I call them,
13:04 and we showed our guys him,
13:07 and then we showed the scout linebackers
13:09 how hard this guy plays,
13:10 and Coach Charles was with him there at North Carolina,
13:13 and he's played really well this year,
13:15 so he's a force.
13:21 - That's one, anybody?
13:23 - Thanks guys.
13:24 (whistles)