Georgia locker room brings 'we're still here' mindset into three-peat attempt

Georgia goes into the 2023 season one of the definite favorites for the national title, but the feeling in the Georgia locker room is probably not truly reflective of that.

Whether it’s motivational or a legitimate lack of love for the Bulldogs going into the season, there’s a certain sense in Athens that the team is being overlooked.

“Internally the pulse of the program is the exact same thing: We’re still here,” On3’s JD PicKell explained. “But it hits a little bit differently if you’re internally at Georgia. Confetti drops, Georgia wins its second in a row. No more Todd Monken. No more Stetson Bennett. No more Jalen Carter. Some key pieces from last year’s team aren’t there anymore.

“And that’s not to say Georgia’s somehow being doubted, they’re going to fall off the cliff and not be Georgia anymore. That’s not what anybody’s suggesting.”

There is some lingering doubt, though, about just how well the Georgia locker room can reload. Of course, that’s a question that has come up aces before. Just last year, in fact.

Despite that, many wonder if there’s simply been too much talent lost in Athens the last two years.

“You have some people in the national media that I think have valid questions about Georgia, because we haven’t seen it,” PicKell said. “You don’t know what Carson Beck‘s going to bring to the table. You can assume a little bit, we can imply a little bit based on him being on the roster at Georgia and his billing as a recruit as a four-star player. But even so there’s a little bit of a question mark there.

“Rece Davis came out and said, ‘Listen I think Georgia’s got a better roster top to bottom, but his No. 1 preseason is Michigan.’ He knows more about Michigan. That’s fine. Kirk Herbstreit, we sat down with him in a similar setting at the NIL Elite Series Event, and he’s like, ‘Listen, man, Georgia is phenomenal,’ I’m paraphrasing. He said, ‘Georgia is phenomenal, but I think right now Alabama is a little bit ahead of them. I’m not counting out Nick Saban.’ So that’s their opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.”

The Georgia locker room will simply be out to prove those opinions wrong.

And it’s probably fair if the Bulldogs feel a certain level of disrespect after proving last season they could handle losing a ton of talent and still repeat. Thus the current feel within the program.

“I think internally the feel at Georgia’s the same thing, ‘Hey, we’re still here,'” PicKell said. “‘You can have Michigan, you can have Alabama, you can have LSU. There’s a lot of feelings around those teams and that is totally fine, that is totally fine. But to the exact same degree, we’re still here, last time I checked we’ve got two national title trophies sitting on the mantle. So you’ve got to deal with us now. You’ve got to deal with us. You better know that if you want to win the crown, if you want to find a way to get somehow ahead of us to win the national title, you’ve got to go through us and we are still here, we’re not going anywhere.’

“So nobody’s peddling to Georgia you’re going to be 7-5, you’re going to be 8-4. I think that in itself was sort of a fake narrative to begin with, to keep it a buck with y’all. But even so, there’s still that chip on their shoulder I think. I think there’s still that edge of, ‘Y’all don’t think we can go for a third in a row, that’s fine. Sit back, relax and watch it happen.’ I think that’s the feel internally. We are still here.”