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Kirby Smart non-committal on future of G-Day: 'It's more about what does our team need?'

On3 imageby:Jake Rowe•about 23 hours•

JakeMRowe

Kirby Smart Georgia
Apr 12, 2025; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart shown during the Georgia Spring game at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia held another G-Day spring scrimmage on Saturday and the turnout was solid. There were roughly 40,000 fans inside Sanford Stadium as the Red team defeated the Black squad by a score of 34-17.

The fans in attendance got their football fix, one that’ll have to hold them over until late August. They were treated to an air show as Georgia threw the football 88 times and dropped back nearly 100 times. In all, six touchdowns were scored by five different players and those who saw the game know more about this team than they did before the day began.

What none of us know is whether or not the game will happen next year or beyond. Kirby Smart is included in that group.

“I don’t know,” Smart said when asked about the future of G-Day considering what it means to the city of Athens. “I’d say it’s year by year. It probably has more to do with my team, the health of our team, the number of players in college football. I mean, we as coaches don’t control the numbers we have, so if we don’t have enough numbers we won’t be able to have the game. I mean, I think it’s a great tradition, but it’s more about what does our team need than just what Athens needs.”

It’s not an entirely different refrain than the one Smart used to start spring drills. When he was asked about the spring game then, the response was non-committal. He also made reference to the numbers situation, pointing to Kentucky’s decision to cancel the spring game in 2024 due to a lack of defensive linemen.

But he’s being asked about it due to what’s going on on College Football. Texas, Nebraska, Florida State, and USC all elected to skip spring games this season. Some teams didn’t even hold traditional spring practice.

Since becoming Georgia’s head coach, Smart had kept the same model traditionally used by his predecessor, Mark Richt. The Bulldogs practice every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday with walkthroughs and meetings on days in between. The third, fourth, and fifth Saturdays of the spring are reserved for scrimmages with the final serving as G-Day.

This year Smart elected to go without television for G-Day for the first time in years. That decision didn’t sit well with the fans who usually take it in or record and watch it later. It’s certainly not a welcome development for this reporter, who enjoys going back and getting a closer look.

It did, however, come with some benefits. With no television timeouts and shortened breaks at the end of each quarter, including halftime, the Bulldogs got more done.

“I’m excited about the spring game,” Smart said. “Got an opportunity to play a lot of guys today. Got a lot of snaps in, probably more than we typically do. I liked the pace that it went at. We got done right at two hours and ended up getting about 15 or 20 more snaps than we’ve gotten in the past year. So it was good tempo.”

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