Georgia takes the stage at SEC Media Days: Live Updates
The Georgia Bulldogs, Arkansas Razorbacks, Florida Gators, and Kentucky Wildcats are set to take the stage on Wednesday during SEC Media Days, and DawgsHQ’s Palmer Thombs, Wes Blankenship, and Jack Mathison are on the scene for all the goings on in Atlanta.
We’ll keep you up to date on all things Georgia as they come in across the day, whether it’s stories, tweets, video, or anything else in between.
Some quick prereading for you to get you ready for the day:
Make sure to stay tuned in for the latest.
Kirby on Ladd McConkey
Kirby on the pick
Kirby on the SEC Now set
- “I’d challenge Pittman” – on who he wants to see on the pickleball court
- “Those guys were special in terms of leadership qualities…they learned from them, though, and they were assertive this spring. That model helps.”
- “It’s simple for me…we’re going to be the best team we can be every year…my success isn’t going to be measured on wins and losses…we’re going to put it on the line for each other every day.”
- “Leadership and mindset-wise, I hope it’s not different…we have to find out who we are defensively.”
- “Why is it one of the best environments? How many times did you get to play in Athens, Tim? How many times did they play in Gainesville? It’s special…call the AD from Florida and tell him we’ll play in Atlanta at any time…we want to bring kids in to the biggest games…kids want to see Georgia and Florida, but they can’t.” – on Jacksonville
- “It is very stressful in terms of the time commitment away from your family, but that’s a choice you make when you sign up.”
- “I can’t live with not giving that young man the best…that keeps me up at night.”
- “I think that’s important (keep rivalries)…I do think the fact that Georgia hasn’t been to Texas A&M matters, too.”
- “We’re comfortable with Stetson as our quarterback…we’re looking to developing those guys behind him for this year and playing beyond.”
- “We’ve gotten more depth…we know what Brock and Darnell can do, but now we know what some other guys can do…Arian Smith, Ladd McConkey, AD Mitchell, they can stretch the field.”
- “(Bowers) is a really hard worker and a great player, but those other guys are, too.”
- “AD Mitchell has had an unbelievable offseason.”
- “I don’t think it’s going to be different because of the difference in the coordinators. It’ll be different because of the players.”
Kirby on the growth of Stetson
Kirby on the mentality of the team
Smart on the importance of patience from players
Stetson on winning the title and a weight “we didn’t even know was there”
Kirby Smart at the podium for Georgia:
- “I would be remiss if I didn’t thank you guys for the incredible coverage.” – Smart thanks the media
- Smart acknowledges the 50th anniversary of Title IX
- “I get to go against a long-time friend” – Smart on the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game
- “We have a special group here…this group is really special to me…Stetson Bennett, we all know his story…Nolan Smith is now a math major and soon to graduate, what an incredible personality he has…Sedrick Van Pran, our center, a tremendous guy to recruit, does everything the right way…I’m excited about those three players.”
- Smart dives in on a story about Nolan Smith bringing in a Christmas gift of “Just for Men”
- “We didn’t build this program hoping for one opportunity. We built it to be sustained.”
- “We have an unbelievable footprint in which we can recruit.”
- “Feel free to ask me about the concern of complacency…to be complacent, you have to have done something. The guys on this team have not.”
- “We have done a lot of studies on how the mighty have fallen…in business, sports, history. It steers down to one cultural belief — we have a connection better than our opponent. For us, 1+1 is 3, because we get more when we are together.”
- “That game (Oregon) will set us up for our SEC gauntlet.”
- “Hungry.” – Smart on the team identity. “Guys want to prove they can replace the other guy.”
- “There’s not a day when we don’t wake up thinking what can we do to make our players better.”
- “We’re having to replace a lot of good football players. The good news is we recruited well…complacency isn’t the concern. Experience is the concern.”
- “He’s been unbelievable…players enjoy and love being around Coach Muschamp.”
- “I expect him to give us an A effort every day, and you have the talent he has, it’s a great combination…he had a really good year academically, which was a big hurdle for him coming from LSU…he’s bought in and is a team player.” – on Arik Gilbert
- “What stands out about Mykel (Williams) is his work ethic…I see him out there getting extra work…I saw him on Sunday hitting the sled when I was leaving…when you have a freshman putting in that work, that’s special.”
- “At the end of the day, it’s about who uses their players best…how are you using the skillset of your players?”
- “I don’t know that there was any personal vindication…I went off what we saw in practice. I saw Stetson make those plays in practice…you’re not going to hide behind your quarterback in the National Championship…Stetson is one of the least respected good players in this country.”
- “Those two guys (Carson Beck and Brock Vandagriff) are progressing rapidly.”
- “The commitment to Scott was that he was committed to our program and to getting better…Scott Cochran spends a tremendous amount of time with our players on a personal level…I think a lot of our players saw the human side with Scott…I’m so proud of what he’s done and how he’s fought back to be the husband and father he’s always been…he’s a special person who means a lot to a lot of people.”
- “The NIL program we have in place…is built on being sustainable…what’s going on at some places is not sustainable…NIL is good…we have 95 players with NIL deals on our roster…it’s the guardrails and parameters we need to protect our game…to use it as an inducement to get a young man to go to your school is not good for the game.”
STORY: Kirby Smart scoffs at coverage of comments to Texas coaches taken out of context
A warm reception for the top Dawg
There’s a nice moment with some familiar faces
Kirby Smart on NIL:
“I’ll be honest with you, I really don’t even want to do that because I feel like that’d be copy catting and carrying over. Trust me, there’s a lot there. And we’re actually at 95 because when I said that yesterday, our representative at the collective told me it was 95. We arguably had the highest paid defensive lineman, highest paid tight end and highest paid cornerback in the NIL market. Because after the National Championship, those three guys exploded, one talking about Jordan Davis and the other two are obvious. When you look at that, it’s pretty substantial that we have depth in our NIL market. The unfortunate part of NIL is you hear all the negative and all the negative outweighs the positive in the media. You’ve got a guy like Dan Jackson who is not on scholarship who’s having the use NIL to pay for his college education and help himself out with NIL. We’ve got a guy, Micah Morris, who’s got an ill father. He’s able to send money back to his dad who is on dialysis. There’s countless stories like that. I would rival anybody in the country with 95 NIL deals coming off a National Championship and pretty gaudy number total that we’ve been able to give out. But I don’t think it’s about marketing that and selling that. It’s more about the depth of our deals than the total amount.”
STORY: Kirby Smart updates Georgia injury situation
A big change for the National Championship-winning quarterback
Stetson stumps for the merits of NIL
Folks are ready for Georgia and Oregon
Kirby Smart quick to defend his quarterback
Dawgs are still hunting, not worried about being hunter
Smart opens up on his feelings after the win
Kirby Smart with some interesting comments on NIL
The Georgia graphics team was ready
Former Georgia offensive line coach and current Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman giving credit his former boss Kirby Smart
