WATCH: Kirby Smart speaks for last time before regular season finale

Another week of media is in the books for Kirby Smart, and this one was a unique one for him. Not only is it Thanksgiving week, but Georgia plays on Black Friday. That means the Bulldogs’ preparation for Georgia Tech has been bumped up a day and Tuesday is affectively Wednesday in his mind.

Colbie Young’s status with the team was a big talking point too. Reports surfaced on Monday that the suspended wide receiver has been back at practice. Smart addressed that to open his post-practice availability before discussing plenty of other topics. Here’s what he had to say…

Kirby Smart Opening Statement

“Yeah, I’m sure you guys have got a lot of questions about the Colbie Young situation. I respect that and understand it, but it’s still a pending legal matter. So Colbie’s competition status hasn’t changed, and we don’t have any timelines or really expectations on this process. He is back practicing with us and using the facilities. But that’s all I can really comment on that. Any questions about practice or what we got going on, I’d be glad to answer.”

Smart on how Georgia is dealing with the new roster rules and going to 105 and the transfer window opening during the playoffs…

“I don’t really know, and I can’t answer that question, which I wish I could. We haven’t been told anything on the walk-ons in terms of — We don’t know. I ask daily, and a lot of it is conference to conference and a lot of it is the legal case in California, how it resolves itself, and the timing of that. So I don’t really know. It’s going to be a strange 30 days, I can tell you that.”

Smart on Tray Scott‘s impact on the program and his work this year…

“Yeah, he’s a rock. He’s a pillar at this place, and he’s one of the guys that’s been here the longest, which I have a lot of respect for because we don’t do it easy around here.We work a tough schedule. We work a hard schedule. I’m very demanding of our coaches and I have high expectations, and he meets those. 

He is tremendous with his group. He’s tremendous with other groups.He inspires people with his story, but he cares about his kids. He’s a tremendous father and husband. He’s really what college coaching is all about. The guy pours into these kids so much. It means so much to him that he wants to give back to them and change their lives. It’s not about playing time. I mean, you look at the relationships he’s had with the Zion Logue, Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt, Jalen Carter. I mean, the guy has just had tremendous relationships, and he keeps in touch with all the guys he’s coached. I mean, I can’t say enough good things about him, so he’s definitely deserving of that honor.”

Smart on what Colbie Young is doing at practice and how Georgia goes about ramping up a player when the team doesn’t know when they’ll be back… 

“Yeah, I’m going to stick with what I said. I respect that everybody’s a lot of questions, but I can’t really say much about it.I’d rather not talk about our practice stuff.”

Kirby Smart on the Georgia running backs…

“Trevor (Etienne) has been able to run. He was running well, he hit 20, 21 miles an hour yesterday, which is really good for him. He looks good, but he hasn’t been able to do anything with us. Rod (Roderick Robinson) has done practice contact, has done taking reps. He’s looked good out there. Branson (Robinson) has too. Branson’s taken some. I didn’t get to see the last part of practice to know how much Branson and Rod did early in practice. They did take some reps with the twos and rolled through there, just seeing where they are confidence level and where they are mentally. They’ve been kind of out of contact for a while, but both of them did practice and did some good things.”

Smart on how the players have handled the short week… 

“I mean, great. We had a good plan for it, and we just keep calling today, Wednesday. Today’s Wednesday, and that’s what we talk about all day. And we do Wednesday practice, and we do Wednesday work, and Wednesday install, and it becomes normal for you.”

Smart on Glenn Schumann… 

“Glenn’s always been wise, innovative, great teacher. Both his parents were educators, and teachers, and coaches.And you can see he enjoys being in front of the group, in front of the room, and teaching different ways, thinking outside the box. And he works extremely hard. So he’s dedicated and spends a lot of time on his craft, whether it’s scheme, or fundamentals, or relationships. e was good when he started, but he’s just more experienced now.”

Smart on London Humphreys… 

“Yeah, I mean, we didn’t have as many wide outs available. So London stepped up his quantity of reps, his volume of reps.He’s capable probably of more than that. I mean, he’s in good shape, he plays hard, he’s smart, he plays multiple positions. He does a really good job.We would prefer to play a couple and be able to share that load. But right now we’re dealing with a lot of injuries and attrition at that position.”

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Kirby Smart on Georgia’s freshmen tight ends…

“At tight end, Colton (Heinrich) and Jaden (Reddell), they’ve both grown up. They’ve been down there on the scout team. I get to watch them daily compete against good outside backers, good defensive linemen, good DBs. And they continue to grow and get better. Proud of both those guys.” 

Smart on Georgia Tech offensive line… 

“Yeah, they got great numbers. They run the rock. So if you run the rock, that’s times you’re not throwing the rock. I think somebody said they have five sacks, I don’t know if that’s right, five sacks on the entire year? That’s crazy. I mean, I think they’re number one in the country.

They got an athletic quarterback, they got really good protection schemes, they get the ball out on time, Buster moves the pocket and they run the ball. So if you run it enough, you don’t have to worry about sacks. This is not a sack game. This is a strap it on, strike somebody in the mouth, keys, fits kind of game. I mean, they know it is, we know it is, no way around it.But they’ve done a tremendous job in it.”

Smart on a team that believes they can win…

“Well, it’s not about them. I mean, no offense, I mean, I do agree with everything you’ve said. That has changed, but it’s not about what they think. It’s about what we think and how we play. We have to control that. We have to have a seeking contact attitude and enjoyment of a street fight. And not everybody loves that. So it’s one of those things that you find out a lot about yourself when you get to play a really physical football team like these guys. So that’s what we focus on, is us.”

Smart on play at left tackle, Earnest Greene‘s availability…

“Don’t know yet. He’s done more this week. He’s actually worked at right and left.

I’m very pleased with the play at our left tackle. I mean, outside of a probably two-quarter performance there where we had to throw the ball a lot, I think we played well at that position.”

Kirby Smart on Christen Miller, Dillon Bell…

“Christen Miller, not much. He’s been banged up, recovering, running, doing some treatment stuff. Dillon Bell, a little bit. He’s done some walk-throughs with us and taken some reps. But we’re just trying to get those guys healthy and ready.”

Smart on if he ever watches Playoff rankings show…

“No. I mean, we’ve got work. We start right now, we start at 6.30 and go to about 10 or so. So usually my phone starts blowing up with text, but I don’t watch it.”

Smart on what the next 24 hours look like…

“No, we’re treating it the exact same. I mean, Thanksgiving Day is a Friday for us. Friday is a Saturday, nothing different other than we’ll have Thanksgiving team meal and we’ll have no school, but outside of that, it’s all the same.”