Kirby Smart, Georgia players share on Smart's motivation methods
Everybody remembers Kirby Smart’s halftime speech from last year’s Georgia-Florida game. If you don’t, be warned, it’s not friendly for the workplace – that is unless you work in an office full of Bulldogs who I’m certain won’t mind. Another person who doesn’t mind is Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett. He’s been on the receiving end of a couple of Kirby’s famous tirades, but Bennett knows that it comes from a place of love. That’s the kind of motivation that came out last year in the locker room for the Florida game.
“I love a little fire. He will get after you, but you know it comes from a standpoint of wanting the best for the team,” Bennett said on Monday ahead of this year’s game against Florida. “When you put into that emotional bank, you make deposits and you can pull it out when you get after someone. As far as motivations, I love him. I think he is one of the best I have ever heard. He gets us fired up in his own special way. It makes you ready to play football.”
“He’s very passionate about us and the team, and it rubs off on us,” Georgia safety Christopher Smith added. “He does a great job of getting us pumped up for the games, making sure we stay attentive to the details throughout the game. That’s just the kind of guy he is. He has a lot of love for this University, a lot of love for the team, and I think it rubs off on us pretty well.”
Smart was asked about his motivational methods. According to him, it’s not calculated or planned at all. He has to understand his team, where they are at and what kind of message they need. Then it’s his job to understand the best person to deliver the message – whether that be him, an assistant or one of the players themselves.
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“I think it’s just how you feel like where your team is,” Smart said. “You know, what space they’re in in terms of confidence level, focus, attention to detail. And a lot of times, it comes better when it comes from the players and the leaders within the team. Which the best teams have guys capable of communicating to each other and they listen to each other much more than they listen to me. So I don’t — you know, I don’t calculate it, figure out when I’m going to do. If it’s — if the appropriate time is there and I think we need it, then certainly we do it.”
Georgia would go on to defeat Florida 34-7 after Smart’s halftime speech, and the Bulldogs, once again ranked No. 1 in the country headed into the rivalry game against the Gators, will look do something similar on Saturday. In fact, they’re expected to do something similar on Saturday entering as three-plus core favorites according to the oddsmakers in Las Vegas. Georgia has won four of the last five in the series and 54 of the 100 total previous meetings. Kickoff for Saturday is set for 3:30 p.m. ET from TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla. on CBS.
