Kirby Smart Press Conference Prior to Georgia vs Alabama
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00:00 (indistinct)
00:02 - Thanks, Claude.
00:22 We got to get started a little bit yesterday on Alabama
00:27 and knock some, putting the bed last game out of the way
00:30 and get a little bit of a head start
00:32 on these guys for today.
00:33 So we'll begin with them and open it up for any questions.
00:37 - Yeah, coach, I'm curious if you could explain
00:41 the difference between, or maybe the dichotomy
00:43 or difference between a quarterback
00:45 who might be a great scrambler,
00:47 a guy who can extend with his legs,
00:49 versus an offense that incorporates
00:51 a quarterback design run.
00:53 What the difference might be between the two
00:55 and where Milrow might land in this Alabama offense?
00:57 - He has the ability to do both.
01:00 He is a tremendous, tremendous football player.
01:04 I mean, when you, I didn't really know
01:06 until I got further into the games
01:08 and watching them last night,
01:11 how good he really is at what he does.
01:13 And I think anytime you can scramble and extend plays
01:18 a la Stetson, really anybody, it makes it harder to defend
01:21 when you have the component of design runs
01:25 mixed in with that, it complicates it even more
01:28 because he becomes an extra player,
01:31 an extra guy to tackle, a physical guy to tackle,
01:34 big physical guy that has running back characteristics,
01:39 but he has the ability to throw the ball.
01:41 He throws the ball well,
01:42 especially off their play action game.
01:44 He does a really good job of taking shots
01:46 and throwing the ball downfield.
01:47 He sees it well, and they've got a massive offensive line
01:50 to protect him with.
01:51 So when you've got the ability to run the ball
01:53 as a design run,
01:55 and then you also can run the ball on your scrambles,
01:58 it just makes it harder to defend.
02:00 - Kirby, from the perception you had of him
02:03 to the reality of watching it,
02:04 is it the long ball success that's had in your mind
02:09 that you've seen through the progression of the year?
02:10 Like, all right, now seeing it on tape,
02:12 that's one thing I didn't know.
02:14 Maybe if he had at the beginning of the year
02:15 that you're focused on now.
02:17 - No, you're focused on the whole package.
02:18 I mean, you're trying to stop the entire unit,
02:21 the entire group,
02:22 as well as, you know, they've got a really good defense,
02:24 and they've got tremendous special teams.
02:25 There's no areas that you look at and go,
02:26 ooh, that's a weakness, or ooh, they're not very good.
02:29 They got really good football players.
02:30 They're well-coached.
02:31 They're special teams units.
02:34 You see it.
02:34 It pops out on the screen.
02:35 They got starters all over it.
02:37 So when you go to the offense,
02:39 and you see Milrow and the leaders they have there,
02:42 they're really talented.
02:43 They're really tough.
02:45 They're sound.
02:46 And he makes plays.
02:48 He makes lots of plays.
02:50 Number one with his athletic ability,
02:51 but he makes them with his arm as well.
02:53 - Harry, what's Stan's idea about Alabama's defense,
02:57 and are there characteristics with this defense
02:59 that you're used to seeing with a Kevin Steele defense?
03:02 - Yeah, I mean, the size, speed, toughness, aggressiveness,
03:06 multiple coverages,
03:08 players that can play multiple positions.
03:11 The depth across the defensive line
03:12 is one of the things that pops out.
03:15 Actually, they roll guys,
03:17 and they constantly have fresh guys in there striking,
03:19 playing blocks, playing with great toughness.
03:22 Really good at the star position, very experienced.
03:26 Got two corners that are going to be drafted
03:28 that are good players, playing with great safeties.
03:31 I mean, they've got an all-around really good defense,
03:33 but that's what you would expect.
03:35 I mean, you'd expect nothing less from this group.
03:38 - Kirby, last time you played Alabama,
03:43 we know what that meant, the win meant for the program.
03:46 What did beating Alabama in particular mean
03:49 after coming so close previously?
03:52 - It meant that the University of Georgia
03:54 got a national championship,
03:56 and that's the significance of that.
04:00 - Coach, understanding that your line play
04:06 has been excellent in the run game,
04:08 but with regard to Kendall Milton specifically,
04:11 his runs have seemed more explosive.
04:14 He seems to be doing just more with the ball in general
04:17 when he gets through those holes and such like that.
04:19 What do you attribute to it?
04:20 Is that just health?
04:21 Is that just him being healthy?
04:23 - Good run scheme, being in the right runs
04:27 at the right time, understanding leverages,
04:30 a really good run plan and perimeter blocking,
04:34 but he certainly is healthier than he's been.
04:36 He's running with confidence.
04:38 I feel like he's hitting the hole a lot harder
04:41 because he's more confident,
04:43 and being explosive is getting to the secondary.
04:45 You're not gonna be an explosive run offense
04:47 if you don't get your backs to the secondary,
04:49 and that's one thing we've been able to do
04:52 is get him past that first level,
04:53 and he's running through a lot of arm tackles too,
04:55 which is really important to be an explosive run team.
05:00 - Yeah, is there any update on the status
05:04 of Julian Humphrey and Jermond Dumas-Johnson?
05:06 Are they sort of still week to week with their injuries?
05:08 - Yeah, still week to week with their injuries,
05:09 trying to get both those guys back.
05:13 - Kirby, I said this earlier today,
05:15 how do you guys stay fresh when you've had to,
05:18 I don't know, carry on this win streak,
05:20 the week to week, getting everybody's best punch,
05:22 and he mentioned player accountability
05:24 and the honest criticism that goes on.
05:27 How do you balance that with the sort of
05:30 praise to keep guys going?
05:31 It seems like that would be a really delicate balance.
05:34 - I mean, it's just that we tell the truth.
05:38 I mean, the truth is not always criticism.
05:41 I mean, the truth is the truth.
05:43 And we're very honest.
05:46 When guys play well, we tell them,
05:47 and when they don't, we tell them.
05:48 And sometimes it's okay to not play well
05:52 if the person whipped you and played better than you.
05:57 We talk about the intangibles when we go through the game.
06:02 We talk about the things we can control.
06:04 We don't get outside of that, and we don't vary very far.
06:09 And we use the analogy early in the year
06:11 that the Navy SEALs that we studied
06:14 and visited with in the off season,
06:16 one of the number one things they said,
06:17 if you're too sensitive or criticism,
06:18 you can't be in our group,
06:20 because their criticism's different.
06:23 They're sensitive.
06:24 If you're sensitive to that,
06:25 then the guy next to you may die.
06:27 We're not dealing with things that drastic.
06:30 So it's really important that you understand
06:33 you can't be sensitive and actually get better.
06:38 - Thank you.
06:39 - Kirby, what have you seen on film
06:42 from Dallas Turner and Caleb Downs?
06:44 - Both tremendous athletes, very instinctive.
06:49 You know, we recruited both those guys.
06:50 They're passionate about the game of football.
06:53 They love the game of football.
06:54 They love to play the game of football.
06:55 And those kind of kids are your favorite kind to coach.
06:58 You know, they're in there every day with a bright eye.
07:01 They're taking notes.
07:03 They love to play the game.
07:05 And you see that on tape out of both those guys,
07:09 both very, very elite football players.
07:11 - Coach, you guys have won as many SEC championships
07:15 as you have national championships.
07:17 Just how hard is it to win these games
07:19 and does it make you appreciate it even more?
07:21 - Yeah, I have a great appreciation for this game
07:27 because I grew up an SEC kid, an SEC footprint kid,
07:33 an SEC player, I've coached most of my career in the SEC.
07:37 So I have an appreciation for this game
07:39 and how hard it is to win.
07:42 I mean, it was no different in my experience in Alabama.
07:45 You know, we had a year that we won a national championship
07:47 that we didn't win an SEC championship.
07:49 So, you know, that's happened a couple times
07:52 in our conference.
07:53 It's hard to find that in most conferences.
07:55 I think it speaks to the depth of our conference.
07:58 It speaks to the, how hard it is
08:02 just to get to the game.
08:04 I mean, in some ways, I think Alabama and us
08:08 have been spoiled and I don't think some kids appreciate,
08:13 they think it's a rite of passage and it's not, it's earned.
08:16 And it's some of the greatest venues,
08:21 environments that I've been a part of to play in that game.
08:25 - What does this Alabama receiving corps do well
08:29 and just what challenges do you feel like
08:31 they're going to present on Saturday?
08:33 - They're athletic, they're fast,
08:34 they got speed all over the place.
08:36 They've got some guys that really do well
08:39 in the vertical balls.
08:41 Obviously, they'll throw that deep ball really well.
08:44 They've got intermediate routes.
08:46 They got teams that play off of them
08:48 and they hit timing routes.
08:49 They're able to throw quick game and RPOs.
08:51 Do a really good job of that.
08:52 Their run after catch has been good.
08:54 And, you know, one of the key contributing factors
08:57 to explosive plays for them has been,
08:59 if a play breaks down and the timing's not right,
09:02 you know, some quarterbacks have to throw it away.
09:04 Some quarterbacks have to take off and run.
09:07 They turn, you know, they turn plays
09:09 into massive explosive plays.
09:11 So, you know, part of their plan,
09:14 they know their quarterback's
09:14 going to be able to extend plays.
09:16 He has the longest time to throw in the entire NCAA
09:20 and they make plays out of those plays.
09:23 And I think that's really a contribution
09:28 that they've made as a receiving core to him
09:30 is the ability to get open on plays
09:33 that may not have been by design.
09:35 - Kirby, your initial reaction
09:38 to watching their game winner versus Auburn was?
09:40 - I didn't see it till yesterday when I watched that game.
09:48 I went through the tape.
09:49 It was crazy how it got to that point.
09:53 Like, to be down there and be close
09:55 and then be all the way backed up
09:58 and then to come out on top with that play,
10:00 I mean, it just, it shows his arm talent.
10:02 And I mean, most teams have a play by design
10:05 that they play from certain yardage intervals.
10:08 You know, maybe 15 to 25 this play,
10:10 25 to 35 this play.
10:12 You know, it's not just a Hail Mary play.
10:14 It's a play to try to find a one-on-one.
10:17 And they were able to find a one-on-one,
10:19 which that gives you the best percentages you can have.
10:24 - Kirby, what did the film review for you guys
10:26 reveal about QB run defense
10:29 and what kind of corrections can help
10:31 as you face the next challenge this week?
10:33 - Similar to most things.
10:37 Like when you look at the tape,
10:38 you're never as bad as you think
10:39 and never as good as you think.
10:40 There's some misfits in there,
10:43 some guys maybe not keying what they're supposed to key
10:47 and looking at what they're supposed to key.
10:49 And then some of it is, you know,
10:50 like I actually thought that we struck blocks
10:52 and played the blocks really well up front,
10:54 better than I thought coming out.
10:55 It was not a matter of, oh, we just got whipped.
10:57 It was a matter of some things we didn't fit well
11:00 and we didn't knock back tackle.
11:01 So instead of second seven, it's second four.
11:04 It's a big difference.
11:05 And the effort to finish and get more bodies on contact
11:10 is really important 'cause that manages
11:12 what your down and distances are.
11:14 - Kirby, to kind of continue the theme on stopping QB run,
11:19 is the notion of spying quarterback,
11:22 is that something that maybe people think about too much?
11:26 Does it get overplayed?
11:28 Is it something that you can do on every play
11:31 or how effective is it when you try to say
11:35 we're going to have this guy spy quarterback in a game?
11:38 - Two different things I think you're discussing.
11:41 I don't know if you're referencing spying the quarterback
11:43 or if you're talking about stopping quarterback runs.
11:47 Okay, completely different worlds there
11:49 because if you're going to stop a quarterback run,
11:51 you're not spying quarterback
11:52 'cause I mean, some of his most explosive plays
11:56 are drop back passes that people are doing their job
12:00 and he becomes the runner and he takes off and runs.
12:04 Whereas a QB design run, you usually know
12:07 within the first one second or millisecond of the play,
12:11 whether it's a design run or it's a drop back pass.
12:14 So on a drop back pass, if he takes off
12:17 and he's the best athlete on the field,
12:19 you've got maybe seven or eight guys
12:22 that got a chance to tackle him
12:23 'cause he's already passed the first ones.
12:25 Whereas on a design run,
12:27 it's meant and blocked for him to run the ball.
12:30 You can't put a spy on that.
12:31 You got to fit your gaps.
12:32 You got to do gap control.
12:33 You got to have fits.
12:34 You got to get knocked back.
12:35 You got to get off blocks.
12:36 So yeah, people do try to spy him
12:40 and their spy can't get him on the ground.
12:42 So everybody's had a different plan of action
12:46 and everybody's done it different ways
12:47 and we'll try to put together
12:49 what our best plan of action is.
12:50 But if you don't stop the quarterback runs,
12:52 it never gets to the point he has to throw it.
12:54 You don't have to throw it
12:56 if they can run the ball every play.
12:58 - Yeah, last time you guys played Alabama, you beat them.
13:02 Does maybe the confidence that comes from that,
13:04 does any of that carry over in this game?
13:06 Is that so long ago?
13:07 It's ancient history and there's not much
13:09 you can take away from that game.
13:10 - I think the two teams are very different.
13:12 I mean, you look at who they were then
13:14 and who we were then.
13:15 I don't know that they could be polar opposites
13:18 in terms of what they do offensively
13:22 and even us from a standpoint
13:24 and who we were defensively then.
13:26 So I don't think the two,
13:28 not a lot in college football today,
13:29 not a lot of players that played in that game
13:31 are playing in this game.
13:32 If they did, they were probably a minor role.
13:34 - Kirby, a lot of history and tradition about this game.
13:39 I think that's why so many people love it.
13:40 So I'm going to ask you to maybe reflect
13:42 if you can remember a long time ago.
13:44 2009, I think Chuck Dunlap told us
13:46 that this is only the second time
13:48 two teams have met undefeated in the league in the game.
13:52 You were the defensive coordinator for Nick Saban
13:55 and I think you took down Florida.
13:56 I think that led to a national title.
13:58 Your first one as an assistant.
13:59 Can you reflect on that?
14:00 And then two, when you were talking about Milrow,
14:03 are those like Tim Tebow characteristics
14:05 with the size, the speed and the running ability?
14:08 - No offense to Tim Tebow, but this guy's different.
14:12 You know, Tim was, you know, he was just,
14:15 it was a different running style, you know,
14:18 very different running style in terms of what they did
14:21 and how they did things.
14:23 This guy's, I mean, it's like when I was,
14:25 when I used to ask my sons who they were playing with
14:28 on the Madden game and they would say,
14:30 "I'm playing with the Ravens."
14:32 And I would say, "Why are you playing with the Ravens?"
14:34 And they would say, "I got Lamar Jackson
14:36 and nobody can tackle him."
14:37 Well, this guy's a bigger physical version of that.
14:42 He's playing in a different speed than everybody else
14:45 when you watch it.
14:46 And that's the way the Madden game was for him.
14:48 And, you know, people, the guy throws the ball really well.
14:52 So the comparison to 2009,
14:54 I don't know if you're trying to compare that to that
14:55 or you're just saying, "Do we remember the game?"
14:57 Yeah, I remember the game.
14:58 It was a game for us that we had lost the previous year
15:02 and felt like we were really close to winning
15:04 and felt like we were going to have to get over that hurdle.
15:06 They were the dominant team in the country,
15:10 I guess at that time.
15:10 And they had some really good football players
15:12 and had a really good coaching staff.
15:14 And we played a good game that game
15:16 and the players all played and believed in themselves.
15:19 And it was a tremendous venue and game, sure.
15:23 - What have you seen out of C.J. Allen and Raylan Wilson,
15:29 especially since Jermon has gone down
15:30 and they've taken on a more significant role
15:33 in this defense?
15:34 - Yeah, they've grown up.
15:35 They had to grow up fast, man.
15:36 I mean, you talk about getting thrown into the fire
15:38 at Ole Miss, Tennessee, Georgia Tech.
15:43 They've had to play in three games
15:46 that were really tough physical games.
15:49 And in prep, each game was different in terms of styles.
15:53 Not like they've gone this style, this style, this style.
15:55 They went from Ole Miss to Tennessee to Georgia Tech
15:57 and three completely different offenses to prepare for.
16:01 And they're young guys.
16:03 They make mistakes,
16:04 but they also have a quiet confidence about them.
16:07 They're good athletes and they're well-coached.
16:10 So I'm really proud of what they've been able to do
16:12 and we need them to play well to get defensive stops.
16:16 And when you're playing with freshmen at that position,
16:20 I think anybody in the country will tell you,
16:22 it's a little like playing with a quarterback there.
16:23 You just don't want to have to play with freshmen there,
16:26 but they're the guys that are up
16:27 and they've done a good job.
16:29 - Kirby, you mentioned the whole, right here.
16:34 I mentioned the whole element of, with Mill Row,
16:37 the, you can do everything right.
16:39 You can do most things right
16:40 and they still find a way to make big plays.
16:42 How important is, does that make kind of your next play,
16:46 your bad things are going to happen
16:47 or adversity is going to strike stuff
16:49 within the program and your process?
16:51 How important does it make that element of it,
16:53 this week for this particular game?
16:55 - Well, it's no more important than it is ever.
16:57 Like, how could I sit here and say
16:59 that it's any more important this week than ever?
17:01 It's every week, it's when the next moment.
17:04 Certainly that applies to this game,
17:07 but I would not sit here and say it didn't apply
17:08 to any of the last 12 games.
17:11 How you respond to it matters a lot more than what happened.
17:14 He is going to make plays.
17:16 I mean, that's a given.
17:17 You watch every game he's played, he has made plays
17:20 and he has an uncanny ability to extend plays.
17:23 And whether that's, you know,
17:25 he knows he's getting ready to take off
17:26 and he's setting you up, he pump fakes.
17:28 He does a lot of things with the ball
17:30 that make him hard to defend, but he can make plays.
17:33 And, you know, we're going to make some plays.
17:35 So you've got to have confidence
17:37 that you're going to make more than they're going to make.
17:40 - We have time for two more questions.
17:42 - Yeah, coach, I want to talk about the maturation
17:44 of Jalen Miller.
17:45 I'm curious your thoughts on what you've seen
17:47 from Tommy Reese and his first year
17:48 as offensive coordinator there at Alabama.
17:50 - Yeah, I think he's adapting to what he has.
17:53 You know, people always talk about this team
17:56 and where they are now.
17:57 They're playing as good a football
17:58 as anybody in the country.
17:59 And don't talk to me about playing in Auburn,
18:02 because I know.
18:03 So they have played really, really good football
18:08 and they've evolved from the start of the year to now.
18:12 They're not the same team they were
18:13 in the beginning of the year.
18:14 Not many are.
18:15 I mean, we had to figure out who we were
18:17 and who we were identity-wise
18:19 and how you're going to use guys.
18:21 Then guys were out of the offense,
18:22 guys were in the offense,
18:23 guys were out of the defense, in the defense,
18:24 and you evolve.
18:25 And, you know, they're a very talented,
18:28 really well-coached, good football team
18:30 that's playing its best football at the end of the year.
18:32 - Regarding Dumas Johnson,
18:35 I just want to make sure I'm 100% clear on this.
18:39 His injury, it did require a surgical repair
18:42 to get him back on the right track.
18:46 And is there any realistic chance
18:48 that he's able to come back for this game?
18:51 - He's week to week.
18:52 Thank you.
18:53 Appreciate it, guys.
18:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]