Kirby Smart compares the talent in transfer portal from this year to last year

Kirby Smart is keeping a keen eye on the NCAA Transfer Portal, but his focus remains on the players already in Athens.

The Georgia Bulldogs leader has watched as many teams have ravaged the portal for their top contributors, but Smart’s program has looked inward instead. That’s why when asked to compare the talent in the transfer portal this year to last year, the Bulldogs leader had a simple yet effective response on the matter.

“I don’t know that I would be able to give a fair assessment,” responded Smart, via AL.com. “We didn’t have a lot of room. We try to evaluate everybody in it, but realistically, we didn’t have much room.

“We try to put our emphasis on who we have, and not who’s in the portal.”

That’s a response that’s going to fire up your squad, and you can’t blame Smart. When you’ve won back-to-back titles, there isn’t much room for improvement.

It should be another great season for Kirby Smart in Athens, and Georgia fans can’t wait to get back into the swing of things.

Kirby Smart discusses his thoughts on the future of SEC scheduling

As the SEC closing is on picking out a new football scheduling model, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is ambivalent. Whether the league settles on an eight- or nine-game model, Smart knows the future will involve playing every team in the league in a four-year period, no matter what.

The SEC is between two models for football scheduling. The addition of a ninth conference game has been a point of discussion — and contention. In each setup, teams would have a locked-in set of conference opponents they play each year. There’d then be a few conference games where other league opponents would cycle through each year.

“I can go either way on that. I think either format is going to allow us to go through, cycle through the SEC much faster. So there won’t be a four year window that you don’t play everybody home and away, either way. So, in the grand scheme of things, what are we really talking about? I think people are looking for something to debate about. But, if you’re going to play everybody in the SEC in four years? Home and away? The two methodologies for going about it aren’t that vastly different,” Smart said.