Kirby Smart comments on transfer portal, conviction he has to culture at UGA
The transfer portal has forever changed College Football as we know it. With one-time transfer policies in place and sitting out a year a thing of the past, College Football coaches are having to recruit their own players as much as they are those for the future. However, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart isn’t going to change the way he approaches things, even with that new reality. Smart’s emphasis is on creating a culture at Georgia that speaks for itself and not worrying about those that don’t want to be a part of it.
“I don’t know that there’s a lot of managing it to it. I mean, kids make decisions based on what they feel like is best for them. There’s not a lot you can control on that,” Smart said on Wednesday as he spoke to former Georgia quarterback Buck Belue during an appearance on Atlanta radio’s 680 The Fan. “I really focus on the guys that are here that want to be part of our standard, be part of our organization and be part of the culture we’ve built. And that has to sell itself, and I’m worried about the ones that want to be here — not the ones that don’t.”
That has certainly been the case over the last few seasons as the culture Smart has built has produced results. Georgia has appeared in four of the last five SEC Championship Games and five New Year’s Six bowl games, including two College Football Playoff semifinals. The Bulldogs won both of those, advancing to the National Championship Game, and finished things off in 2021 by bringing home the school’s first national championship in over four decades. During that time, players have come and gone, some even moving on to SEC rivals like Florida, Tennessee and Alabama. However, at least one thing has remained consistent, and that is Smart’s focus on the things that he can control: the way his teams compete on a daily basis.
“I don’t really think you do a lot to manage the portal because those are decisions they have to make,” Smart added. “I have too much conviction for the standard with which we practice with, we play with, we work with. And the guys that want to be part of that, we’re going to have them here.”
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Georgia has had 11 players enter the transfer portal this offseason since winning the National Championship. The two latest, a pair of former five-star offensive linemen, did so over the weekend in the midst of spring practice. As for those that remain, the Bulldogs will wrap things up this spring with the annual G-Day scrimmage Saturday at Sanford Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. ET between the hedges on ESPN2.
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