Amarius Mims made mental strides in second season at Georgia
ATHENS, Ga. — Last season almost never was for Amarius Mims at the University of Georgia. The mammoth right tackle entered the transfer portal after spring drills and appeared to be bound for Florida State before altering course.
After the Bulldogs beat TCU for the 2022 National Championship back in January, Mims called the decision to enter the portal a bad one. He was grateful that his teammates and coaches welcomed him back with open arms.
But they were probably grateful that he stepped up and became the contributor everyone knew he would be as a five-star prospect in the 2021 class. Now, a year after playing in all 15 games with two starts, Mims is a different guy.
Sure, some things have changed from a physical standpoint but those play second fiddle to what went on between Mims’ ears in 2022.
“I grew the most mentally,” Mims said after UGA’s second spring scrimmage. “You can look at me kind of and tell I’m a pretty physical guy but mental… Football is 90 percent mental, 10 percent physical in my opinion. I had to grow more mentally than physically.”
The 6-foot-7 330 pound tackle was basically a co-starter in his second season. He was Georgia’s third offensive tackle and rotated in with Warren McClendon, who would sometimes come out of the game for a rest or would slide over to left tackle, allowing Broderick Jones to take a breather.
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Mims certainly acted like he had been there before. He held his own early in the year and got better as it went on. When McClendon suffered a knee injury in the SEC Championship win over LSU, Mims stepped up.
He finished that game at right tackle and started the two College Football Playoff games. A first start can be nerve-racking for a young player but Mims told reporters on Thursday that they’d be surprised at how he was able to handle his nerves.
There was a sense of calm. He was able to focus on the task at hand and take things one play at a time. Some of that is due to the experienced he gained earlier in the year. The UGA process also played a role but more than anything it was the presence of McClendon, a big-brother and mentor figure.
In fact, McClendon’s was impacting Mims long before his No. 65 was called.
“I would say my improvement came from sitting back and watching the guys in front of me,” Mims said. “Just the relationship that I have with Broderick, Warren and Jamaree [Salyer] and watching them. They were teaching me the things that I know now, and they allowed me to grow in a lot of areas on and off the field.”
