Kirby Smart details priority for Georgia football this offseason

Georgia football is expected to be the team to beat in the SEC this season once again, but the Bulldogs aren’t there just yet.

According to head coach Kirby Smart, the biggest priority this offseason has getting his unexperienced players snaps. Georgia is trying to grow its depth, which is why Smart put an emphasis on his second and third team guys throughout spring training. That doesn’t include returning players that have logged over 500 in-game snaps for Georgia, so everyone else received a spotlight this spring.

“The deal was can we build up the rest of our roster? How do we retain them?” Smart asked during an appearance on McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning. “How do we sell that you might be a two now but you’re closer to going to the NFL Draft from here as a two than you are at our neighbor school as a one? The development piece is probably what we sell the most. We had a lot to work on.

“We’ve got to play better defensively than we did. We were No. 1 in the country on third down. But we didn’t create enough turnovers, we didn’t stop the run well enough. Then, offensively, we had to do the same thing.”

Given the fact that Georgia has to deal with yearly turnover, Smart’s emphasis on the stars of tomorrow during the offseason is why little adjustments need to be made and the success always carries over.

This was the case when Carson Beck took over for Stetson Bennett after the Bulldogs’ second consecutive national championship win. With a year under Beck’s belt, not to mention Beck being the top quarterback in many’s way-too-early-2025 NFL Mock Drafts, Smart could consider catering to Beck’s abilities more often this coming season.

“We’ve looked at a lot of different ways,” Smart said of adapting his offense. “The quarterback running the ball? The running quarterback is becoming more prevalent.

“So we want ways to change it up, to affect him and not let him sit there and be comfortable. We looked at a lot of different things. Had a lot of gap scheme thing defensively. Then, offensively, we’ve added a couple wrinkles that fit what Carson does and fit what our wideouts do because it may not all be Brock Bowers-based. There may be some other guys involved.”

With summer ball approaching, the next time fans will get to see Beck and the Bulldogs in action will be on Aug. 31 against Clemson.