Kirby Smart believes Carson Beck can improve his leadership in 2024

Georgia quarterback Carson Beck enters the 2024 college football season regarded as not just one of the best quarterbacks, but one of the best overall players in the nation. Currently in a tie for the best odds to take home the Heisman Trophy and ranked No. 4 in On3’s Clark Brooks‘ Top 100 Players in College Football for the 2024 season.

There’s no doubt that Beck impressed in his first season as a starter under center for the Bulldogs in 2023. But how much room for improvement is there for him?

His head coach Kirby Smart was asked just that at SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Florida, revealing an area that he believes his signal caller can improve upon ahead of the upcoming season.

“His leadership of the wideout and the offense,” Smart said. “I mean he was in complete command of it, but there was times that I think he knows that he can say, ‘You know what? I can step up and be a bigger voice and a bigger leader.'”

Beck had big shoes to fill in 2023, following in the footsteps of beloved two-time national champion Stetson Bennett. But being surrounded by players like Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey, Amarius Mims, and several others certainly makes a quarterback’s job easier both on the field and as a leader overall.

But all of those players and several others have now departed from the program, as all eyes will be on Beck to see if he can lead the Bulldogs and help them maintain the lofty standards that have now been set in Athens.

“We had a lot of veteran players on that offense last year that had played a lot more than him, now we don’t. He is the veteran that has played the most and that has the most command, and he’ll do a good job doing that,” Smart said.

Beck was an All-SEC Second Team selection and finalist for the Manning Award last season after ranking third in the nation and first in the conference with 3,941 passing yards last season. Also throwing 24 touchdowns with just six interceptions while boasting the fourth best completion percentage in the country at 72.4%.

The SEC gets tougher this upcoming season along with the path to the national championship game ahead of the first year of a 12-team College Football Playoff. That paired with new pieces on both sides of the ball for Georgia could make Beck’s leadership crucial in the Bulldogs’ success ahead of a highly anticipated 2024 season.