KJ Bolden reflects on significant role in first season, lessons learned from those around him

NEW ORLEANS, La. — Not many freshmen are playing in meaningful moments of the most significant games for College Football Playoff teams. Georgia has just a few doing so with safety KJ Bolden being among those.

The former five-star plus+ prospect and nation’s No. 1-ranked safety in the Class of 2024 has played in every game this season for Georgia. He ranks sixth on the team in snaps and fifth among Bulldogs in tackles with 54 stops, however, stats don’t tell the full story on Bolden’s freshman season.

“It’s been exciting, really, just to get to go out every day and compete with my guys, that’s just the best part about it,” Bolden said on Monday at Sugar Bowl Media Day. “Here at Georgia, we got a different standard up here, and we rely on being physical, connected. This season all the far, I just feel like I definitely enjoyed it a lot, and I’m just still looking forward to more games ahead of us.”

Bolden’s recruitment to land with the Bulldogs was well documented. The Buford High School product chose Florida State initially before flipping his commitment and signing with Georgia on National Signing Day. It was a decision years in the making with a relationship with head coach Kirby Smart and the staff in Athens he couldn’t pass on.

“I feel like I made a great decision. I think I made the right decision for sure,” Bolden said of his decision 12 months after the fact. “Being close to my family, they can come watch me every weekend play, and then scheme wise, I just feel like I fit in with this scheme so much. It’s been great this year, coming in on third downs, things like that to help my team out a little bit. I feel like I made the right decision. I wouldn’t change it for nothing.”

Georgia co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Travaris Robinson wasn’t on UGA’s staff at the time. He was still with Alabama, helping guide the Crimson Tide into a College Football Playoff game. In mid-January though after the retirement of Nick Saban, and a decision by Robinson’s mentor Will Muschamp to step away from the field as well, Robinson joined the Bulldogs and immediately got to work with Bolden.

“Yeah, T-Rob is great. T-Rob recruited me while he was at Alabama, so then the relationship always has been there, and then once he got a job at Georgia, since day one, I was already ready to work. He came in, and he has always pushed us since day one,” Bolden said. “There’s never a day T-Rob comes in the facility, and it’s an off day. Like every day he’s gonna come in there with the greatest energy, all smiles, all laughter. Just being around him every day and hearing from all the great coaches he’s learned from, all the great stories he tell us, just coaching us really hard every day, couldn’t ask for no other coach.”

Robinson isn’t the only one Bolden feels like he’s learned from. Veterans Malaki Starks and Dan Jackson have been valuable for him too.

“Just be humble, work, consistency every day,” Bolden said when asked what the two have taught him. “Being behind Dan and Malaki, that’s probably been the greatest thing that’s probably happened to me, just seeing and getting to watch them guys go at it every day, and compete. They push each other every day, and I just sit there and watch that, and as a young guy, you can just learn from that, and build off that, and build off that energy when you see your two older vets, just going to work every day, going at it every day, and make sure they make each other better, so the team can be better as a whole.”

“His growth is crazy. You know, when he first got here in the spring to now, he’s just going to continue to grow. And, you know, he’s not really a freshman anymore. No one is at this point in the season. You’ve been playing, and especially if you’ve been starting all year, you’re no longer a freshman,” Starks added. “Just keep playing how you’ve been playing. You don’t got to change anything. You don’t got to do anything special. Just be you. You are special. Just go out there and play your ball.”

The biggest adjustments for Bolden from high school to college have been the physicality aspect of the game. He put on weight upon arrival to allow him to be more than just a rangy, back-end safety. He’s shown that attribute still with several plays on the ball throughout the season, but he’s also felt more than comfortable coming up to the line of scrimmage to stop ball carriers at the point of attack.

Bolden did exactly that in the SEC Championship Game, stopping Quintrevion Wisner for a loss of 1 yard in overtime that led to a Texas field goal. Georgia was able to win six plays later with a touchdown, securing a spot in the Sugar Bowl and CFP quarterfinals as a result.

Making plays like that was a priority for Bolden coming into the season, and actually doing so has been a dream come true. Everybody hopes he can come through with a few clutch stops or pass breakups in the Sugar Bowl on Wednesday. Both he and his coaches know though that there’s still room to grow.

“I just think his poise and his composure in those moments has grown as he’s gained experience. He’s obviously a talented individual and he’s earned the right to be out there. But he’s made some really big plays and I think he’s just a calmer demeanor,” Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann said of Bolden. “Nobody gets to Georgia without being a good really good athlete, right? That confidence, the experience, the game slowing down – people like to say that – as that happens, guys take the next step. And I think throughout the course of the year, the game slowed down a bit for him and he’s made some huge plays for us.”

“The more reps he gets the better he’ll be. The more game experience he gets the better he’ll be,” Robinson added about his potential next superstar. “He’s a hard working, very intelligent young man who comes in and goes about his business the right way. He had a lot of success this year based on that, knowing what to do and how to do it. Does he have a long way to go? He obviously does, but he’s got time to get there, and I’ve been very excited about his progress. He’s got to continue to get better, but he’s playing well for us.”

Kickoff time for Georgia and Notre Dame is set for 8:45 p.m. ET on ESPN. Two days out from kickoff, the Bulldogs are listed as just 1-point favorites per VegasInsider.