Football is back in Athens. The Dawgs are back on the field. On Tuesday, we got to hear Kirby Smart’s Spring ball message. Sure, there was plenty of coach-speak. Smart played all the hits early, showing excitement and praising the effort of his players and coaches. “I’m excited. This group has worked really hard since the end of the year last year. We’ve had lots of time to spend together as coaches, staff, our school systems have started.”
At times, Smart’s press conferences can be challenging for the media. It’s not just the coach speaking; Smart is calculated. He is unlike Lane Kiffin or Nick Saban, who used the microphone and press conferences as their bully pulpit. Instead, Smart can come off as gruff and a bit annoyed. But regardless of delivery, when Smart speaks, college football listens. We were listening on Tuesday. Here is what came out after reading the tea leaves.
Between the Hedges: Decoding Kirby Smart’s Spring Ball Message
G-Day Tradition Continues
Meanwhile, college football is evolving. No, we are not talking about NIL, the Transfer Portal, or Alabama not making the College Football Playoff. Televised Spring ball scrimmages are going the way of the dodo. Some coaches are hiding behind the Transfer Portal. They claim that having a televised scrimmage would put their team out on the open market, ripe to be poached by opposing teams. Smart found this argument flawed and convenient. “Everybody wants to talk about that and make it about the portal and make it about this decision to not ever have Spring games based on the fluidity of players,” Smart said. “I don’t know that that’s every coach’s reason. There’s a lot of coaches that didn’t like the Spring game before the portal ever came about.”
Unlike their SEC counterparts in Austin, Tuscaloosa, and most recently, Baton Rouge, G-Day will be the traditional Red and Black scrimmage, just the way Smart feels it should be. “I like Spring games. I want to have a Spring game. I think it’s important because you allow kids to play that don’t typically get to play. You sometimes allow fans to enjoy an experience in Athens that they normally wouldn’t get.” G-Day 2025 will be held at Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, April 12. The game will be televised or streamed on ESPN or the SEC Network.
Roster Turnover
Spring is a time to get the new faces in Athens comfortable with their teammates and acclimated to the Georgia way of doing things. Furthermore, college football has evolved. Traditionally, Spring was an opportunity to give the early enrollees a long look before the Fall. In the age of the Transfer Portal, college football rosters are constantly churning. Smart’s Spring ball message gave some specific insights into what he and other coaches must deal with in 2025 regarding roster management.
“It feels like more new players than ever before, which I think I say that every year. But the numbers don’t say that it’s more new guys, but it certainly feels like that. We’re averaging about 33 percent new per year, which you’d like for that number back in the old days to be 20-25 percent new every year.” Smart said. “But it’s turning over more and quicker, which we have less turnover than most places. We pride ourselves on retention and stability.”
Although, don’t cry too hard for Smart and the Dawgs. The roster churn isn’t as strong as in other places in the SEC. Arkansas and Oklahoma had 30 players enter the Portal after the season, the most in CFB. Teams like Ole Miss and Vanderbilt have benefited from the Portal and are using it to restock and build their rosters. Smart has used the Portal at Georgia, but he reminded us that Georgia’s foundation is not in the Transfer Portal. “The foundation of this program is built through high school programs and bringing good kids into the program that can become good football players.”
Defending the Staff
While the roster was in flux, the coaching staff from last season will remain intact in 2025. 2025 will be Smart’s tenth season in Athens, and it will be the first time he will not see any churn in his coaching staff. Georgia succeeded in 2024, winning the SEC Championship and making the College Football Playoff. But losing three games (all by double digits) hasn’t set well with this writer and many Georgia fans. Smart had none of that smoke when it came to his staff, which was why there were no changes in personnel after the season.
“Yeah, to be honest with you, I don’t get into it much. I worked in a place for ten years before I came here, and it’s my tenth Spring. So, that’s 20 years that I really don’t pay much attention to anything outside.” Smart said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in this organization, the foundation we’ve built. I’ve got the best staff in the country, and I have no doubt about that. I’ve got one of the most experienced SEC staffs there is.”
While nobody can doubt the experience of Smart’s staff, the results in 2024 from the offense and defense merit raising eyebrows. The defense, Smart’s calling card, ranked just 30th in the nation in yards allowed per play. The offense wished they could have finished with a ranking in the 30s. Instead, they were 50th in the nation in yards per play, far from the standard that Dawg fans have come to expect from Smart’s teams. Smart’s response? Trust the staff. “We have a great foundation. We’re built to last. We don’t have to worry about year in, year out, tons of change. I think this league will chew you up and spit you out.”
On SEC Scheduling
Smart’s Spring ball message also centered around Georgia’s schedule. Greg Sankey has talked about moving from eight to nine conference games. Smart got questions about the SEC schedule. Georgia had one of the toughest in the SEC. The Dawgs were on the road in Tuscaloosa, Austin, and Oxford last year and finished just 1-2 in those games. Smart spoke of the challenge of conference play in the SEC and the grind it takes on all teams, not just Georgia. “The norm is it’s going to be challenging for everybody. I mean, the two, three, four, five power conferences, you’re going to play better and more competition, which is going to make things more challenging. I don’t run or shout from that.”
Ultimately, Georgia’s non-conference schedule in 2025 lightens up as they see Clemson fall off the schedule from 2024. Will the Dawgs schedule big-time opponents in the nonconference in the future? Smart’s answer was a bit more fuzzy.
“I think the mature view of this and the 10,000-feet view of this is we’re in a different climate than we were previously. We’re in a different scheduling model than we were previously.” Smart said.”The addition of Clemson on top of the people in our league, on top of the schedule that we had, I don’t make any excuses about it. It’s going to be really hard. I mean, we repeat that schedule next year with the exception of Clemson out-of-conference game, so it’s not going to get any easier.” If Georgia schedules them, I hope they are in Sanford or another college football stadium.
Stay tuned next week as we look at the Georgia offense Between the Hedges.
Main Photo: Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
