Kirby Smart addresses future of college football spring games, G-Day

While multiple coaches and college football programs around the country — including within the SEC — have already decided to forgo the traditional Spring football game format in favor of something akin to a summer fair-like atmosphere, Kirby Smart wants to leave his options open.

Although Georgia has already announced plans for its annual G-Day Spring game on April 12, with the glorified scrimmage currently set to be televised live on the ESPN, the Bulldogs head coach isn’t ready to make any definitive statements about this year’s Spring game beyond that.

“Everybody has different approaches. My approach has been, I like to have Spring football games,” Smart said Tuesday during a pre-Spring press conference. “But every year we make that decision based on where we are. We haven’t even practiced yet. So, I’d be remiss if I said, ‘100-percent I’m dead-set we’re having a Spring game.’ I leave every option open. That’s our 15^th practice, so we can do what we want to do. We’re planning to have a Spring game.”

Third-year Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule sparked a trend last month when he announced he was canceling the Cornhuskers’ annual Spring game. He did so citing a concern about rival teams tampering with his roster following last year’s scrimmage.

Since then, other FBS programs such as reigning national champion Ohio State, Texas, USC, Florida State, Missouri, and NC State, among others, have outright canceled their traditional Spring scrimmage, citing various reasons, according to On3’s Pete Nakos. Other programs like Alabama, Arizona, Oklahoma and Ole Miss have announced plans for an alternative event in place of a traditional scrimmage, with the Sooners planning a “Crimson Combine” and the Rebels putting on their “Grove Bowl Games” for the second straight Spring.

Kirby Smart: ‘I like Spring games, I want to have a Spring game’

While Smart doesn’t necessarily buy into Rhule’s concern about tampering, he has had multiple conversations with UGA athletic director Josh Brooks about the future of this year’s G-Day game. They are leaving the door open should something like a rash of injuries negatively impact the Georgia roster.

“I’ve talked to Josh Brooks about it several times, we’ve had the conversations. But that doesn’t mean it can’t change,” Smart continued. “Last year, I think Kentucky didn’t have any defensive linemen healthy and they weren’t able to have a Spring game. I mean, we don’t know. I can’t forecast the future to know exactly what’s going to happen 15 days from now. I do know we have to get better, and we have to practice football so when that happens.

“As it goes, we spread our (15 Spring practices) over more time than most people, we have five weeks and we have three practices a week, so we want to try to get recovery and stay healthy so we can have really good practices,” Smart concluded. “I like Spring games, I want to have a Spring game. I think it’s important because you allow kids to play that don’t typically get to play. You sometimes allow fans to enjoy an experience in Athens that they normally wouldn’t get. But I’m not ready to say that it’s 100-percent.”