Paul Finebaum: 'Staying motivated' is Georgia's biggest concern in 2023

Last football season was an eventful one for the Georgia Bulldogs, celebrating an undefeated season capped off with their second straight national championship win. But unfortunately, following the season it was also eventful off the field in Athens, with numerous past and present players dealing with their fair share of legal trouble.

With SEC Media days upon us, the Bulldogs off the field activity will likely be a major talking point for head coach Kirby Smart, which SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum spoke about recently on ESPN’s ‘First Take’.

“I think that ultimately is the biggest issue and when Kirby Smart arrives here in Nashville, that is going to be the question because he has had a very dreadful and tragic offseason,” Finebaum said while on site for SEC Media Days. “It began within a week of the national championship game when one of the star players and an assistant personnel person was tragically killed. You had the Jalen Carter situation after the fact, after he left Georgia.”

Between the arrests of former players like Carter and Stetson Bennett and off-the-field incidents with current players involving reckless driving and sexual assault/domestic violence allegations being reported and magnified by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs have had their hands full for all the wrong reasons this offseason.

Off-the-field adversity and distractions can definitely have an impact on a team’s performance, but Finebaum is more concerned about something else getting in the way of Georgia’s success this upcoming season.

“But ultimately, Georgia has — the biggest issue is not off the field. It’s staying motivated. … I think Kirby Smart is going to have a hard time. And I think ultimately, in talking to coaches in the past, including Nick Saban, motivating players to win a third one is very, very difficult,” Finebaum said.

Championship success in any sport and at any level is hard to attain, but when achieved provides one of the best feelings in the world for players, coaches, fans, and anyone involved. But sustaining that success also presents a big challenge, as champions commonly have to manufacture their own narratives in-house to stay motivated.

From Michael Jordan famously holding onto tidbits of information and turning them into self-motivation, to current Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce claiming that nobody believed in Chiefs despite being favored throughout their Super Bowl run, keeping a champion motivated is real. And it will definitely be interesting to see how Coach Smart not only manages the teams off the field issues, but keeps them motivated as they look to win their third straight national title.