Everything Kirby Smart said about Notre Dame, Georgia on Sugar Bowl eve

NEW ORLEANS — Georgia coach Kirby Smart held a joint press conference with Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman on Tuesday morning, one day before kickoff of the Sugar Bowl at the Superdome. Here’s everything smart said about Notre Dame and the game.

Opening statement

“I’d first like to thank the Sugar Bowl Committee, the great hosts they’ve been for us. Through the years, I’ve had a lot of experiences in Sugar Bowls. They are second to none in the treatment of our teams, our players, our staff, making sure we get parts of the city of New Orleans seen, and they do a tremendous job.

“So many people put so much work into this event. It means a ton to our team, to our staff, to our
families who get to come, and although this is a brief stay at the Sugar Bowl, I still commend the staff
and the people there. Walter Becker and his staff have done a tremendous job hosting us and making
sure we feel welcome.

“My next statement would be to Coach [Marcus] Freeman and his team. You know, they have a tremendous team. They play football the way that we like to play football, very physical brand of football, disciplined, tough.

“They’ve had a tremendous season, and just an honor to be played with two great programs matched up against each other, which that’s what the College Football Playoff was meant to be. And where better to do it than in the Sugar Bowl where there’s been historic matchups, of not only these two teams, but a lot of teams.

“I think it means a lot to our players when you get to play in a game like this. So his team has done a
tremendous job. And then our staff and our players have earned the right to be here, and they’re excited to be here, and this is what you work for all year to get to this point. So thank you, guys, for covering it, and thank the Sugar Bowl for the great job hosting this.”

On facing Freeman in the 2020 Peach Bowl when Freeman was the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati

“Well, I would start with the way they play defense. Everybody’s tied together. It’s not a one-man dynamic unit. Defense is played as a unit.

“I think we both have history with defense, and that’s what you pride yourself on is everybody playing as one. They certainly did that during his years at [University of] Cincinnati, and we talk about effort counts twice around our building, and they play with tremendous effort.

“So whether you’re talented, five-star, size, speed, none of that matters if you don’t play with effort. With that Cincinnati team and this Notre Dame team, particularly the defenses, play with tremendous effort, and effort overcomes a lot of things. So it starts and ends with effort and toughness in all of football, and they do a tremendous job doing that.

“As far as his success, I think when you’re a good coach and you work really hard, success will find you. And he’s been a part of some really good programs, and he’s been around other really good coaches that allowed him to be successful just like I have.”

On if having a bye while Notre Dame had to play in the first round of the playoff is an advantage

“Depends on who wins. Honestly. Because I think it can be painted either way. There’s positives and negatives about both.

“I can’t say I have a preference either way because we have only been part of the system where you finish the conference championship, and you play again either the 31st or 1st. So, we haven’t been in
the format where you play. We thought, obviously, there was an opportunity that we were going to
have to play a home football game or possibly a road football game, depending on the outcome of our
conference championship game.

“So, it would have gone either way. We had a plan for either way. When you look at the calendar either
way, you can make positives and negatives. There’s risk of injury. I think when you ask Marcus that
question, he lost a very dominant player, and there’s a risk of injury in that game.

“But there is a level of concern when haven’t tackled and gone live. With the way college football is now
with the portal, and you lose players, you just can’t afford to not have depth in practice like you really
want to practice. So it’s a challenge both ways. We studied all the NFL teams that have byes verses the wild card teams that get hot and continue to play. I think that’s the closest thing you can find to it.”

On the 1981 Sugar Bowl and what he knows about Notre Dame football

“I didn’t remember that game much either, as I was 4 or 5 years old and was not living in the state. So people always assume that I was in Georgia pajamas watching that game and cheering for Herschel [Walker]. I was over in Alabama watching different games at that time. But certainly have learned a lot about it in my lifetime growing up as a high school coach’s son in Georgia.

“But Notre Dame is the era that I grew up in. Notre Dame was and has been the most dominant team
across the span of a lot of years. Watching them play Miami, watching Rocket Ismail, that was my
childhood watching them play on TV. I can remember the uniqueness of that.

“And then, my first experience was strange because I was a GA at Florida State, and we went to Notre
Dame and played. And to see Touchdown Jesus and see all that, it was really something that marked
my young career. It was like, wow, I got to go coach and go against Notre Dame at Notre Dame. And then obviously, when I got the head coaching job at Georgia, we had the home and away, and that was a really neat event to go there and be able to coach in that stadium and be the head coach and coach in that stadium. It was just very unique for me.

“And then the great games that we had against them were really special. Both of those games were extremely physical fourth quarter battles. Just two really good programs.”