Kirby Smart speaks on Arik Gilbert, his availability for spring

Georgia fans anxious for an update on Arik Gilbert got one Tuesday afternoon as Kirby Smart held his opening press conference of spring practice. Gilbert, who spent the last year away from football after stepping away from the sport and the team during fall camp, is back with the Bulldogs and ready to roll for spring practice.

“Arik’s done a great job integrating back into the team,” Smart said. “He’s been here for a while now. He’s done the work we’ve asked of him. He’s doing well academically.”

“I think there’s this perception, and it affects College Football athletes more than anybody else because they’re younger, that recruiting stigma follows someone and these expectations follow kids. I look across and follow guys that maybe we signed here or signed somewhere else, and they carry this really heavy burden of expectation,” he continued. “We don’t place that burden on anybody. I think sometimes they put it on themselves, sometimes social media does it, sometimes media in general do it. But for whatever reason, Arik’s a guy that’s carried a lot of that burden with him in terms of expectations. Our expectation of Arik is for him to be the best person he can be first and foremost, and hopefully be the best player he can be. He’s had a really good offseason. He continues to work, but that doesn’t put an expectation of ‘this guy’s going to go out there and set the world on fire.'”

A former five-star out of Marietta (Ga.), Gilbert played his freshman season in 2020 at LSU where he earned a spot on the All-SEC Freshman Team. In the eight games that he played, Gilbert caught 35 passes for 368 yards and two touchdowns. Of his 35 catches, 24 resulted in either a first down or touchdown with 11 of those coming to convert on third or fourth down. Gilbert caught two passes in his collegiate debut versus Mississippi State, had a career-high six catches and 97 yards including a 25-yard touchdown against Missouri while leading the Bayou Bengals in receiving with 55 yards on six catches at Auburn. He also had five catches against both Arkansas and Alabama, starting the Alabama game at wide receiver.

Gilbert recently earned recognition from Kirby Smart as one of the program’s Academic Players of the Week prior to Spring Break. That, plus an appearance at the team’s National Championship celebration in January, have only fueled the fire for fans wanting to see Gilbert back on the field and wearing red and black this fall.

While the expectation was originally for Gilbert to play wide receiver at Georgia, Smart’s comments seem to indicate that the plans may have changed.

“He’s trying to figure out where he fits in,” Smart said. “He’s working really hard, he’s done everything we’ve asked and he’s fortunate he’s going to get a lot of reps because of the two guys we have out. He’s going to get a lot of reps, Ryland Goede’s going to get a lot of reps, Brett Seither’s going to get a lot of reps, Delp’s going to get a lot of reps. So we’ve got guys that are going to take reps in those roles at tight end. I think sometimes the expectations so great on these kids, it can affect them psychologically.”

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