Skip to main content
georgia logo

Georgia early enrollees learning the way of 'intensity and awareness'

Palmber-Thombsby:Palmer Thombs•04/08/23•

palmerthombs

Damon Wilson
Tony Walsh / UGA Sports Communications

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia coach Kirby Smart met with the media on Saturday, the final day of Week Four for the Bulldogs this spring, and his opening comments were quite interesting. Smart started things off speaking about the team’s “two segments.”

No, there’s not bad blood in the locker room. It’s not that extreme. Rather, Georgia’s got an age and experience gap on its hands.

“We’ve got two segments of our team. We’ve got a segment of our team that is within their first year of being here. That would include this year’s mid-years and last year’s mid-years and summer enrollees. That’s almost 50% of our team. And then we have another 50% that’s been here for two or greater years, and they’re in distinctly two different spots,” Smart said. “Our job is to try to accelerate the process for the first, younger group and continue the learning process and continue to push to create depth out of our over half [group].”

Georgia has 21 newcomers this spring. A trio of those are transfers who have played SEC football before. There’s still learning to do when it comes to the system and terminology that comes with it, but they know what it takes to play College Football. However, with the other 18, they’re just getting their feet wet. Instead of enjoying their senior proms in high school, they’re underway with their collegiate careers, both on and off the field.

“I think all those midyears kind of fit in the same bucket. They sit in a meeting and I don’t know what they’re actually hearing,” Smart said when asked about Georgia’s top-rated signee, five-star EDGE Damon Wilson. “Sometimes I think they think they’re hearing but they don’t. Then they go out on the field and they’re oblivious to what was said in the meeting. He’s not exempt from that but he’s not the only one.”

“So, all of them, when they walk on the field, the level of intensity and awareness that’s required to play winning football, they don’t even understand it. They don’t even come close to understanding it,” Smart continued after earlier comments that described the process for the wide receivers as ‘learning a new language.’ “He (Wilson) fits in that bucket, but he does have ability. He has some pass-rush ability. He’s going to be a really good football player if he decides he’s going to work at it. It’s not going to come as easy as maybe it did in high school. You’re rushing against Amarius Mims, you’re rushing against Earnest Greene, (Austin) Blaske, you know, some really good tackles. He hasn’t faced people like that. So, he’s going to continue to improve. I love the way he works and he is not sensitive to coaching, which I have a lot of respect for.”

Wilson is just one example. He’s not the only one – as Smart made sure to point out. The talent is there for many of the early enrollees, but they’ve got to learn how to use their ability to best fit what Georgia is trying to do. That’s why they’re in Athens as opposed to their hometowns, and they’ve got a head start to the process. Their time will come, but until then, they’re a part of a group of Georgia players still figuring things out.

You may also like