What Was Said: Georgia tight ends coach Todd Hartley

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia tight ends coach Todd Hartley gets to coach the best player at the position in the country on a daily basis. He’s also recruited several more to join forces with him. On Tuesday, Hartley took the podium and spent 15 minutes with media, talking about what it is that makes his guys so special.

DawgsHQ was on hand and provides you with a full transcript of Hartley’s comments, plus a video for those that prefer to watch.

Todd Hartley’s Opening Statement

“We are in the middle of camp, as you know. We’ve got day six of practice coming up this afternoon. Meetings start here very shortly, actually. Any time you do something like this and you’ve got meetings at 1:00, you get very anxious as a coach, especially when Coach Smart is the one that’s overseeing all of that. We are excited. The guys are working hard. The elements have been hot, which is exactly the way we want it. We’re excited about where our team’s at right now, especially the tight ends. The tight ends are competing hard. Thankful for the opportunity to be here and meet with you guys today.”

Hartley on his coaching journey…

“That might take more than 10 minutes, but I’ll try to be quick. Proud graduate of Jones County High School, ’04. I knew I wanted to come to Georgia, grew up a Georgia fan my whole life. Had the opportunity to come here, got into coaching. Thought I was going to be a high school coach, get my degree in education and be a health and PE teacher, all planned on being a high school coach. Coach Richt, okay, probably the greatest influence on my life to this point, gave me an opportunity to come here and be a student assistant. Did that for three seasons, worked my way up. Once it was time to graduate, I no longer wanted to be a high school coach. I wanted to be a college coach. Had an opportunity to go to West Virginia University as a graduate assistant in 2008 with Dave Johnson. Dave Johnson was the tight ends coach here at Georgia. He got the O-line job at West Virginia with Bill Stewart and took me with him as his GA. After the ’08 season, Willie Martinez called me up and said hey, I want you to come be my defensive graduate assistant. I said, defense? You guys are the enemy, man, I ain’t going to the defense. He said it would be the best thing for you as an offensive coach is to come learn some defense. So I came back in 2009 to be Coach Martinez’s graduate assistant. There were some staff changes after that year. I was able to coach in the bowl game that year, the Independence Bowl in Shreveport. Grantham came in, I did one season with Coach Grantham as his graduate assistant. In 2010 I got my first full-time job at Marshall University with Doc Holliday. Very thankful for coach Holliday for giving me the chance to be the safeties coach and the special teams coordinator. Did that for two years and it seems I was stuck on the defensive side of the ball. I was trying to get back on offense. The tight ends job opened up, Coach Holliday moved me to tight ends in 2013. Did that in 2013, 2014. Coach Richt called me back and wanted me to come run his recruiting department in 2015. I didn’t want to move off the field, but told my wife we had a chance to come back to Athens and she leapt before I could get it out of my mouth. Came back to Georgia in 2015. As you know, that was Coach Richt’s last season. Coach Smart gave me the chance to stay on staff as director of recruiting, but Coach Richt took me down to Miami as his tight ends coach and special teams coordinator. I did that for three seasons once Coach retired. Kirby called me back and I’ve been very fortunate to be back with Coach Smart, at my alma mater very proudly since 2019.”

Hartley on his success in tight end recruiting…

“Well the first thing I’ll say is recruiting is a group effort. It starts with the head coach. There’s not a better recruiter in the country than Kirby Smart, I’ll tell you that. When you have Coach Smart’s influence, it’s not as hard walking into a living room when you’ve got Coach Smart behind you. The other thing is the power of the logo. When you’ve got the G on your chest and you walk into a school, you get instant credibility and instant respect. The fact that you’ve got Georgia on your shirt, you’ve got Coach Smart as your head coach, that makes the job not as hard. But I think the thing that we do a good job of here at Georgia is investing in relationships. I think we do a great job of getting to know them as people and not just as prospects, as players. I think that’s where we win out most times. People appreciate the genuineness that we have. We’re real. We tell them how it is. Some like it and some don’t, but most people appreciate how open we are with them.”

Todd Hartley on Lawson Luckie and Pearce Spurlin and their progress…

“It’s kind of the new thing in college football is these kids that graduate high school early. Both of them had the opportunity to come in in January. I think it was very beneficial, moreso for Lawson than Pearce just from the fact that Pearce got hurt. Pearce got hurt in practice three in the spring, a collarbone injury, and missed the rest of spring. He was able to come back right before the time that we started summer workouts, so he’s been with us full-speed since the summer. I’ve seen great progress in both those guys. Obviously Luckie had a very good spring, took advantage of the reps that he got and was able to make some plays and show that he was able to potentially do something for us in our offense. Pearce is right there, too. Pearce is getting his opportunity this camp. One thing he was nervous about was playing tight end. Pearce never played tight end, Pearce played receiver in high school. A lot of these new-age tight ends that we recruit, they don’t play tight end. It’s hard to find tight ends in high school. A lot of them are projection prospects. You’re projecting them to be a tight end. Pearce is one of those guys that has come in and has embraced his role and is learning to play the position. I’m very excited, I’m very pleased with how both of them have performed to this point.”

Hartley on working with Todd Monken and now Mike Bobo and how much will change…

“First of all, what a blessing to be able to say you worked for Todd Monken for three seasons. Coach Bobo has had a major influence on my career since I was a student. He was here from day one. Many don’t know this, my wife was his nanny back when I was a student and GA. My wife was their nanny. She was their nanny when he had five kids under five. Five year old, three year old triplets, and a one year old. She was there working with Miss Lainie and Coach full time. So very, very close relationship with Coach Bobo. I don’t think much is going to change. We’ve been very successful on offense the last couple years here. It’s our job to continue to find ways to be explosive, find ways to protect the football, and put ourselves in the best position to win the football game. I think Coach Bobo understands what Coach Smart wants, whether that’s Monken calling the plays or Bobo calling the plays. Coach Smart wants it one way, and that’s the way we’re going to do it.”

Hartley on keeping guys happy in the tight end room…

“I don’t think it’s about, I’ll say this. Kids are happy when they get reps. I think we do a phenomenal job at Georgia of getting kids reps. One, that increases their development. Two, it keeps them involved. The way we practice here, I think, is unlike any other place in the country. The way Kirby organizes these practices, y’all have been out there. There’s not one person standing around ever, not even the injured guys. Kids are constantly getting better. If they feel like they’re working, if they feel like they’re getting developed, then naturally they’re going to be happy. Now it does come back at some point, there’s only one football. You’ve got to find a way to get your playmakers involved and show them that they could have a chance to change the gameplan. These guys, specifically in my room, I think they’re a special group. I think they’re very well connected. They truly care about each other. We talk about feeding the fire and being truly selfless, putting the team first in all that we do. You’ve got to check your ego. In today’s world, guess what, checking your ego, especially when you have five-stars and four-stars, is hard to do. But at this place, you better learn to do that real fast. I think my guys have done a great job of doing that.”

Todd Hartley on working with Brock Bowers…

“I know he’s such a special kid. I’m not trying to be broad there. Here’s what I mean by that, any box you create, he checks it. Just from a kid standpoint. The kid is the hardest worker I’ve ever met. He’ll be the first one to breakfast. He’ll be the first one in the training room to get his ankles taped. He’ll be the first one in the meeting room. He’ll be the last one to leave the field. If we do a 10-yard sprint, he’ll be the first one to win the 10-yard sprint. If we do a 30-yard sprint, he’ll be the first one to win the 30-yard sprint. You get the point I’m making. That is what makes him special. 

Yeah he’s talented. He’s extremely talented. He can run, he can jump, he can catch, he’s tough. What makes him special to me is his competitiveness. He is the ultimate competitor. The kid doesn’t want to lose at anything. And to be honest with you, I need to see Oscar Delp get reps. I need to see Lawson Luckie and Pearce Spurlin get reps. And when I take him off and limit some of his reps, he gets pissed off. He’s pissed off. He says ‘well what did I do wrong?’ Nothing, buddy. Just stand right here. It’s okay. 

You know what, you should want it that way. Kids should be pissed off when they don’t get their reps. That tells you he wants to be great. I’m just thankful for the opportunity that I get to coach him. He’s such a great kid.”

Hartley on how working with Bowers makes him a better coach…

“Yeah, I just try to not mess him up, I guess. He challenges me to find new ways to reach him. He challenges me to continue to find new ways to make him a better tight end. To continue to improve upon maybe little things in his game that can help possibly at the next level. So that is a challenge because he is good at a lot of things. So continuing to maybe find new individual drills or new ways to perfect his run game technique or his pass-protecting technique or even his route running technique can improve at times. And that’s a challenge. But he pushes me at different times to become a better coach. 

The other thing is, y’all think he doesn’t talk. In the meeting he wants to every question. ‘Hey buddy, let the freshman answer the question. I know that you know it.’ He’s been a blessing to me as a coach. 

The other thing is he set a precedent. He set a standard of how to practice at tight end. He set a standard of how to watch tape at tight end. The best thing for Oscar Delp is seeing how Brock Bowers does it. The best thing for seeing LAwson Luckie and Pearce Spurlin is seeing how Brock Bowers does it. Hopefully long after he’s gone, the legacy he’s left stays for many years about how you’re supposed to work, how you’re supposed to approach each day and how you become a pro, man. Because that guy is a pro in everything he does and hopefully that leaves a lasting legacy.”

Hartley on Oscar Delp and how far he’s come..

“Very proud of how hard he’s worked. He was another one of those kids that was a projection tight end. Whatever the ratings were, we don’t look at those ratings. I looked at him as a player, we liked what we saw from tape and from camp. But he had such a long way to go. He put himself in a position to contribute last year and he did that. And then when it mattered the most when Darnell came out in the semifinal game he was able to go in there and perform at a high-level.

Even from that point though, even from the Ohio State game, the growth he’s had from spring to summer to now has been exponential. I’m very proud of how hard he’s worked. He knows there’s a void with Darnell leaving that we have to have at the point of attack from the tight end standpoint. He knows he ahs the potential to fill that void. So he had to attack his blocking technique, his run game fundamentals, his pass game fundamentals. And he has done that. When he came in, that is where he has lacked the most. 

From where he was when he came in to where he is now, I am very, very pleased with how hard he has worked to get to this point.”

Todd Hartley on finding new ways to challenge Bowers…

“There are very few things. What coach Smart challenged us to do is always look for NFL clips. These kids have the ultimate respect for guys that play in the NFL. So you constantly are trying to find clips from a (Travis) Kelce or a (George) Kittle or the great tight ends. And you’re looking at things that they do that are similar to what we do that we can show Brock. ‘He maybe at the top of your route, you can sink your hips a little bit more. you can rage out of your break a little bit faster to create more separation. That way you don’t have to make that superstar catch with the guy draped all over you. If you sink your hips like Travis Kelce, you’ll have more space and separation at the top of the route.’

That’s the best thing we do to be honest with you, to try and find some clips from the NFL. That immediately grabs your attention when you put the logo of the Browns, the Chiefs, the Eagles or somebody like that up there on the screen. ‘Whoa that’s how they do it.’ Boom. That’s probably the best thing they do.”

Hartley on coaching at his alma mater…

“We actually use that in our recruiting presentations. I don’t know the exact number, 26, 24, something like that. We have 26 former alumni that are working in our program in some capacity. What that illustrates is Georgia’s willingness to welcome people back. The University’s willingness to say it’s not a four-year decision, it’s a 40-year decision. I’m not just going to take care of you in your time in Athens but it does have the ability to help you find a career. 

It also shows recruits and parents that once you leave Athens, a lot of people want to come back to Athens. It’s a great place to raise a family. Build a career, it’s a great place to go to school. You guys know this, there is no place like this anywhere in the country. I’m very thankful to have the opportunity to coach at my alma mater. Coach Smart has afforded me that, Josh Brooks has afforded me that. I’m very thankful for that.”