What Was Said: Kirby Smart speaks with reporters upon arrival in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES — Georgia as arrived in Los Angeles, and the Bulldogs have done so safely. Upon landing at the airport, Smart spoke with reporters on the tarmac, previewing the National Championship Game against the TCU Horned Frogs. Here’s what he said.

Kirby Smart Opening Statement

“Alright guys. We’re here. Excited to be here. We had good, safe travels. Blinked your eyes and the flight was over. It wasn’t as long as I thought, so that was a good thing for us. We met this morning in Athens, jumped on the plane and headed this way as you probably know. They covered the take-off, and we’re here now to get a little work done today and then get ready to go practice tomorrow.”

Smart on the work you want to get done tonight…

“We’ll do a little workout. I think it’s important to get on the ground, stretch our legs, so we’ll do a little work and then get a practice in tomorrow as well. 

Smart on the message to the team as it sinks in you’re playing for the national title…

“We still have a couple days to get prepared. We’ll go through our normal process preparing for a game, which we’ve done 14 times. It’s not different in terms of what we do — it’s just where we’re doing it.”

Kirby Smart on what playing for back-to-back titles mean

“Well it’s about the players. The players put us in this position. It’s really not about me, it’s about our organization, our university. It doesn’t come without a lot of hard work and our guys have taken that head on. One of the hardest things to do in sports is finish and we’ve got an opportunity to finish a really good season on Monday night. We’ve got a great opponent to get through. Have a lot of respect for TCU. Our guys, the work they put in, it’s just an honor to be on this stage.”

Smart on what’s different about this team

“Well, this team is constantly changing. It’s not in a vacuum where we’ve just gone to stages. We’ve gotten better, we’ve improved. We’ve gotten to play a lot of really good opponents, especially here at the end of the year. They’ve come a long and the young players have shown the most progress. Some of our younger players are starting to play better because they’re at the end of year one. We’ve also tried to manage fatigue as you go along, it’s important to manage your players bodies. I’m pleased with where they are but the biggest test of all will be on Monday.”

Smart on what lessons he takes from Alabama repeat of 2011-12

“Not that I really remember. It’s all being part of the staff, the team and buying into your job. I don’t think those experiences are relevant with these experiences.”

Kirby Smart on injury updates for Darnell Washington, Warren McClendon

“Warren McClendon, yeah, he’s been working. He’s felt a lot better this week in terms of what he’s been able to do compared to previous weeks. And we’re hopeful to have Darnell ready.”

Smart on acclimation to SoFi Stadium

“We’ll get to walk that stadium, we’ll do practice in the stadium, so we’ll be more familiar with this stadium than most we play in because when we play on the road, the kids don’t get to see the stadium. So when we go on the road in the SEC a lot of the freshmen don’t ever go there and see it. It won’t be quite as normal as in the Benz because we’ve played there so many times, but we’ll get a walk through, a practice and pregame to get some work in. That should help.”

Smart on different feeling stepping off the plane in LA compared to last year, knowing what it’s like leading up to game day

“The temperature’s different, I can promise you that. Big time difference there. In terms of our team it’s very different but we’ll approach it the same way in terms of what we do and how we go about things. That doesn’t change on any road game.”