Gators impress Kirby Smart: 'When you have that recipe, it’s just a matter of time' 

With this year’s version of the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party just days away, Georgia coach Kirby Smart talked to the media about a range of subjects, from the status of his injured Bulldogs to his thoughts on where Florida coach Billy Napier has the Gators headed. Here are the most notable things he had to say:

Kirby Smart on practice this week…
“It’s been good. A little slow with the warm and fuzzies, we call them, yesterday. They were gone for three days I guess, Friday Saturday Sunday, without the pads popping. It was a little slow to get going yesterday, but I thought they were better today.

They’ve had good energy, good spirits. I think they really respect this rivalry. We’ve got quite a few kids from the state of Florida that take a lot of pride in going back down to Jacksonville and play. They seem excited. They have good energy.”

On how he’s seen the Gators develop under Napier…

“Yeah, I think they’ve recruited well. We recruit against them, they’ve recruited well, recruit hard. They have good schemes, good coaches. They have great facilities and a great organization. When you have that recipe, it’s just a matter of time. You build it through hard work and discipline.

You can see that in his players — you can see those guys playing with toughness and discipline. Their brand of football is very respectable.

They have a lot of the same, similar schemes, defensively and offensively, to what we do, things you believe in. I’ve got a lot of respect for Billy and the job he’s done. I have no doubt that Billy’s going to do a great job.”

Smart on defensive back Julian Humphrey’s confidence…
“Yeah, he’s gotten a lot of work, like I said. In the last three to four weeks of practices, he’s gotten a tremendous amount, probably 60 to 70 percent of his reps have come with the ones. He gets a lot of work in there with those guys.

He gets better — he gets to go against better competition doing that. I think that’s great for his development. He’s a talented football player. He’s got really good speed, good football instincts, and plays the ball well in the air.”

On his relationship with Florida assistants Austin Armstrong and Russ Calloway…

“I worked with a lot of guys on their staff. I think they’re really good coaches. They have a great pedigree and they work really hard at what they do. I have a lot of respect for Russ and his family. Coach Calloway was here when I first got hired.

Russ is a tremendous coach. He knows football inside and out, great husband and father as well. Austin was here with us. He was a really good idea guy, always looked for a better way to do things. He didn’t feel limited by his role.

Wasn’t afraid to speak up and have good ideas, which I think makes a good young coach when you think that way.”

Smart on injured Georgia offensive tackles Amarius Mims and Xavier Truss…
“Yeah, both guys have been able to take some reps and work. Xavier is probably ahead of Mims, which is what we expected, but I was really pleased with Mims. He pushed really hard today and got out there, got some work in. And Truss has been out there both days.”

On facing Florida’s pistol offense and setting the strength to that…
“Well, it depends on a lot of things: the call, number one, the rest of the formation because the pistol part of it doesn’t necessarily set the strength. The formation does a lot of times. And they change the strength.

They motion a lot, they shift a lot. They have a lot of window dressing on plays and set plays up with that. We don’t worry about the setting of the strength based on the back as much as we do other things.”

Kirby Smart on Kamari Lassiter being a veteran presence among the cornerbacks…

“Leadership. He’s a kid that’s been committed to excellence his whole life. He comes from a great family background. A really tough, hard-working family. He kind of came up through the mud, man. Didn’t get anything given to him.

He was not a super highly-recruited guy — he’s made himself into a really good player through work ethic. Like, he just won’t be outworked. He won’t be outcompeted, and you love that about a football player.”

On what he has seen from Georgia linebackers Marvin Jones Jr. and Damon Wilson…
“Well, I think they’re in two different spots, you know? Like, Marvin’s a year in to the system, he understands it really well. He can play SAM, JACK, can probably play off-the-ball ‘backer too if he had to. He’s got very good instincts and has gotten physically stronger and tougher — he’s had two weird deals where he missed games due to injuries, but other than that he’s been really consistent.

Damon’s younger and has shown great promise. I mean, he’s a player that has ascended in the last 2-3 weeks in our eyes because he’s worked so hard. I mean, he’s down there on the scout team, and they’re coming in every day being like, ‘Dude, Damon is playing so hard down there.’

He’s giving so much effort, and he’s given us a great look. We rewarded him and played him more against Vandy because of the work that he did. He continued that into the off week and this week, so he’s doing a good job.”

On the development of receiver Arian Smith… 

“Yeah, you know Arian probably had more opportunities earlier in the year when we were down on wide outs for a couple of games. Had a guy out, guy out, guy injured. Ladd has been in and out. He’s played a lot of the same spots as Ladd. For whatever reason, he hasn’t had as many opportunities lately and he’s had some opportunities that he didn’t capitalize on He’d be the first to you that.

But I’m really proud of him and the role he’s played on our team in terms of leadership. He’s taken on ownership on some special teams units. He’s been elite at gunner and you know he’s part of the reason we haven’t given up many return yard — he’s been a major factor in that. And he works really hard after practice at developing as a wide out. 

On the status of Georgia linebacker Darris Smith… 
“Same as we talked about before, he’s just not with us right now.”

Smart on Florida’s offense…

“They run the ball really well, they have great backs, they have a quarterback that’s extremely hot and accurate. He knows exactly what to do in the system. They’ve got tight ends involved the last couple of weeks.

And they block physically on the perimeter, they take shots down the field set up through their play action, they spread you out. They do a really nice job.

They’re a complete offense. It’s not like, ‘Ooo, if we take this away they’re one dimensional.’ They have good wide outs, a really big, physical offensive line, a quarterback that understands, ‘If this is not there, I’m doing this,’ and he can run.

They’re a very complete offense, and they’re very methodical. It’s not like they’re out there 100 mph. They know what their plan is, and they execute.”

On advantage to knowing when the bye is on annual basis…
“I don’t see how it provides an advantage to know when your bye is. Everybody kind of knows when their bye is. The years I was at Alabama, it was before LSU. It’s not an advantage. You might argue it’s an advantage if you have a bye and somebody you’re playing doesn’t. I’ve had that strategy before, but I’d also say you lose rhythm.

You worry about your guys getting out of shape because they’re going to take a break over that weekend. You get your legs back, but you also may have six guys come back in overweight. That can be a detriment to your team. I don’t put a lot of thought into where the bye falls. I don’t have a lot of control over it.”