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Smart: Despite struggles to take hard coaching, Georgia's standard will not change

On3 imageby:Jake Rowe•03/20/25•

JakeMRowe

Kirby Smart, Georgia
Kirby Smart, Georgia - © Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

ATHENS, Ga. — When people refer to “the standard” at Georgia, they often get it wrong. They talk about how the standard is winning championships, National Championships. Some will tell you that dominance is the standard. But it’s neither of those.

The standard, in it’s purest form, excludes results. It’s as simple as every player giving everything they have for each snap and rep, then moving on to the next. It’s the same for Kirby Smart as a head coach. He coaches as hard as he can, every moment, and moves on.

Some players, however, struggle with the hard coaching. They struggle with being called out by Smart over the microphone or accepting criticism from a position coach. When it comes to that dynamic, something will have to give and Smart says it won’t be how the Georgia staff goes about instructing players.

“On the whole, my whole preach after the practice was we’ve got a lot of guys that put their hands up,” a fairly irate Smart said on Tuesday. “They’re offended when you coach them. I’m not talking about the freshmen. I’m talking about in general. So we had multiple NFL coaches come through here, go to practice, and you know, they talk about how their players love to be coached. They love to be given a nugget, a technique that might help them play longer or play better. Some of our guys are offended by it. It’s like, you’re coaching me hard? You’re telling me I’ve got to play with effort? Some of them I guess they’ve never been held to that standard, but that standard is not going to change here.”

No one is safe when Smart is on the microphone, not even reporters. He has used it to get after quite a few guys over the years — both at Georgia’s facility and even in bowl practices. Assistant coaches are often on the receiving end.

Georgia doesn’t have a ton of third and fourth-year players with so many moving on to the NFL after last season. The ones that have stuck around have had days they’d rather forget and Smart let them hear about it in real time.

“I think it’s just different, especially in this NIL era. I think a lot of people want to be handed things, and I think nowadays it’s hard,” Junior offensive tackle Monroe Freeling said. “You need to find that fire, people that still love the game. I tell them I was a freshman too. I came in here, and I got worked a couple times. It happens, but it’s just how you respond to the adversity that you get here at Georgia.”

That’s where perspective comes into play. If a player is at Georgia, it usually means that he has been convinced at some point that its his best chance to learn and grow. That player has likely seen the Bulldogs’ success on the field and in grooming players for the NFL.

Smart plays a big role in that. He’s the highest-paid head coach in the sport for a reason. The Bulldogs have won a ton of games and they’ve developed a lot of players for the next level. According to Georgia safety KJ Bolden, players would do well to remind themselves that the staff is trying to get the best out of each player. Focusing on the message and not the tone is key.

“You really can’t, they may be yelling at you and saying how they say it, but you just really gotta hear what he’s saying,” Bolden said on Tuesday. “They really want you to be the best player you can be. So I really don’t… I tell the young guys, don’t take it offensively. They just really want you to be the best you can be. So just be coachable, that’s how you get on the field.”

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