Kirby Smart discusses importance of schedule management ahead of College Football Playoff

No. 1 Georgia is beginning its preparations for No. 4 Ohio State, while coach Kirby Smart and his staff balance the transfer portal demands and the mad rush in recruiting as the early signing period approaches. Schedule management will be absolutely vital.

There is so much that has to get done, and players have to be hyper vigilant and focused for the Bulldogs to be able to repeat as national champions.

“The management of the schedule is critical,” Smart said. “I think having been a part of it and done it multiple years at Alabama and now at Georgia, it is so critical to your success how you manage that time. Not just us as coaches, but how these players manage this time.”

While the Bulldogs will certainly use some of the time over the next month to rest and recuperate players, there’s a tricky balance.

Sometimes it can be hard to turn things back on if you’re not all the way locked in mentally from the start.

“Managing the 27 days is critical, because sometimes your guys think 27 days is a long time and then it’s right up on you before you know it,” Smart said.

Mindset a big part of schedule management

One of the things Smart underscored in discussing the challenges of the next month is the difference in the underlying psychology that each team will go into the Peach Bowl semifinal with.

While Georgia goes in looking to ‘take care of business’ in a sense, Ohio State will have the luxury of being unencumbered by expectations.

“I also think the mindset and the framework you approach it with, there’s certainly a mindset to it,” Smart said. “I told our team today that last year’s team in that same meeting had a different frame of mind than maybe our team right now does.

“And that is so critical, how you manage the enext month and how we as coaches manage it and how the players manage it. With Ohio State, there’s a breath of fresh air of opportunity. We’ve never had the fortune of saying, ‘All right, we were out and then we got back in.’ There was a couple times we got really close to getting in, but the excitement that that provides and the energy, it’s like, it’s a kick of momentum. We have to understand that and we have to be able to match that and understand that there’s a piece of that that you’ve got to know.”

The Peach Bowl will be played on Dec. 31, with an 8 p.m. ET kickoff inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.