Georgia kicker-holder relationship always in the works with Podlesny

Special teams is the often forgotten third side of football. Fans take it for granted that punters and kickers and returners are going to do their job. Throw holders into that mix too, and all is good until it isn’t. That’s why Kirby Smart and Georgia put such an emphasis on special teams.

How much of an emphasis you might ask? Well, Smart is willing to put maybe the most important player on his team, his starting quarterback, out there on special teams to hold on place kicks. Why? Well, Stetson Bennett was the best fit for the job.

“He was the best one to hold. He played baseball in high school, and the kicker wanted him,” Smart said on Tuesday. “We don’t have holder tryouts. We just get the best one, and we felt like he was the best one to do it.”

Jack Podlesny thinks so too, but that wasn’t always the case. Now in his third year as the primary place kicker for the Bulldogs, Podlesny has had his punter, Jake Camarda, as the holder the last two. With both being specialists and focused on that side of football during practice every day, they were able to spend time together perfecting their craft. But when Bennett took over, that added a different element into the mix. He’s the starting quarterback and holding isn’t his first priority at practice. He’s got to make sure that the offense does its job to put Podlesny in a place where he’s needed, either for a field goal or preferably for a PAT. As a result, things didn’t start off the best between Bennett and Podlesny.

“It’s definitely grown now since the season’s started. I’ve got to put a lot of trust in him. At the beginning of spring when I was told Stetson was going to be holding for me, I was like, ‘Hmm. Okay, this is going to be interesting.’ Jake had held since his freshman and Jake did a great job. No one better,” Podlesny said. “This spring was tough. I had to trust him, and there wasn’t much trust at first. It was kind of like, I don’t know if you play golf but it’s like stepping up with your 3-iron out. Not good. Not a good look. But over the summer, we got some more work, really into August, got more work with Stetson, got really comfortable with him so that relationship’s grown a lot, and I’m happy to see that.”

“I think we’re still figuring it out,” Podlesny said with a laugh when asked when it was that the two of them figured it out. “I still grab him after practice every day and I get Payne Walker the snapper to snap him short snaps every day after practice. We try to get at least 10 snaps because you can never get comfortable. You’ve always got to be getting reps.”

Of course, Bennett’s in his last year of eligibility meaning that Georgia’s going to turn things over to another holder next season. While Podlesny, a fifth-year, might not be here, punter Brett Thorson will be and seems to be next in line of Bulldog holders. He held for Podlesny when Bennett was busy throwing up on the sidelines against South Carolina and has developed that craft all since coming to college.

“I’ll get Brett Thorson, he’s the backup holder, so he’ll hold for me on other days that Stetson’s not, whether we’re off by ourselves which is a lot of the time. So he’s getting a lot of reps at holding, and he’s getting comfortable at that as well,” Podlesny said. “He’s come a long way. He told me when he was over in Australia he did not practice much. It was really just punting and punting strictly. He’s still learning obviously, but he’s been getting better every day.”

So, while some may forget special teams or overlook the holder, it’s on the forefront of Jack Podlesny’s mind each and every day at practice and afterwards. He couldn’t escape questions on it when meeting with the media, and he makes sure that Bennett can’t escape either after practice as the two still have room to grow in their kicker-holder relationship.