Kirby Smart discusses increased leadership role for Zion Logue, others

The Georgia Bulldogs have found themselves in the College Football Playoff for a second consecutive season under head coach Kirby Smart, as they’re closing in on their goal of achieving back-to-back National Championships. Winning a title isn’t easy, and repeating is even harder, but the Bulldogs have made it to this point with a big thanks to veteran leadership from players like Zion Louge and others.

“The maturation process, really Zi was already very mature and a leader before this year, he’s kind of earned it and done it,” Smart said. “He’s been around here for a while, a lot of guys have stepped up to give us an opportunity to be where we are.”

Smart didn’t just applaud the leadership of his players, but his coaches as well, as they too have had to adapt to some changes within the program this season.

“A lot of coaches have done a fabulous job, we took on four new coaches, had 13 or whatever it was guys leaving the portal, and we’ve had a lot of guys step up,” Smart said.

Georgia didn’t just lose players from last year to the transfer portal, they also lost a large group of players to the NFL. The Bulldogs set an NFL Draft record last year having 15 players selected in the 2022 draft, which they’ve combatted this season with a combination of returning players and young talent.

“We’ve had a freshman class who a lot of them came in last year at this time and they have been major contributors,” Smart said. “I think we had the third-most or fourth-most true freshman snaps, so we did a good job of onboarding our incoming freshman to give us depth behind the guys we had on our team.”

The Bulldogs did an excellent job of developing their freshman this season, as they had four players named to the Freshman All-Southeastern Conference Team including defensive lineman Mykel Williams, linebacker Jalon Walker , safety Malaki Starks and punter Brett Thorson.

“So I think that’s a big part of college football right now, how fast you can transition your team each year,” Smart said.

Georgia’s recipe for success is hard to deny looking at their last two seasons, as Smart’s coaching and culture combined with the leadership and play of his players has led them to another unbeaten regular season. Their playoff success this year is still to be determined, but will be found out soon, as they take on Ohio State in the CFP Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on December 31 at 8:00 p.m. ET.