Field Street Forum

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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