Arian Smith gives his goal for spring football

While fans around the country likely know him most for his blazing speed and postseason touchdowns in the College Football Playoff last season, Georgia receiver Arian Smith wants to be known as a complete receiver. For that to be the case for the 2023 season, he knows his work in spring will be critical.

As such, he’s focused on “everything,” he said. Fine details of route running, making plays in space with the ball, blocking, tracking the ball. It all goes into to Smith being the receiver he wants to be.

“My mindset is get better at football, as a whole,” Smith said. “Not just going deep. Small stuff, too. Everything. Details. Blocking, catching short routes, taking it for 50. Mostly everything, all-around receiver.”

Smith was asked a follow-up: How much has he improved as a blocker?

“A long way,” Smith said. “When I first got here, I didn’t want to touch nobody.”

And as Smith is honing in on being a better receiver, he’s also making football more of a priority over track. Smith came to this decision despite qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 100 meters in 2021.

“It’s really still up in the air,” Arian Smith said. “But, not really. I don’t think I’m gonna run. Focus on football.”

It would be possible for Smith to continue to run track. While not common, there are college athletes who play multiple sports. The most famous of those, historically speaking, was Bo Jackson. Still, it’s incredibly hard to do and sometimes better for a play only one sport and work to excel there.

Arian Smtih has been in Athens for three seasons now. Still, thanks to his usage of a redshirt and the pandemic season, he has three more years of eligibility remaining. So, he could develop into more of a threat than he has been in the past.

In 16 games, Smith has 12 receptions for 386 yards and four touchdowns for his career.

As he tries to develop into a more versatile threat on the field, his years on campus at Georgia are beginning to show up elsewhere. He’s offered helpful advice to Kendall Milton, the running back out all spring with a hamstring injury.

“I really focus on the time, the present. I don’t try to think about the future or the past. Like it happened, it happened. Unfortunately, I had three, so had to deal with it a lot,” Smith said. “I told Kendall earlier today, just ‘It happens, man’ My roommate, Daijun [Edwards], he had to deal with something too. So I was like, ‘Just keep your head straight, focus on the present and what you can do to get better and get healthy.’”