University of Georgia’s Head Coach Kirby Smart might have an inexperienced team heading into the season, but he made it clear that the Georgia Bulldogs will not be hunted. Rather he says they will be doing the hunting.
Smart spoke at the 2022 SEC Media Days, where he set expectations high for the program, noting that Georgia will be a contender for a long time and that’s how he planned it.
He said, “This program was built to be here for a long time and we have an unbelievable footprint with which we get to recruit. So the five hour radius of Athens, Georgia gives us a chance to be around some of the best football student athletes there are in the country. So, we’ll continue to recruit those, develop those, also going nationally.”
Specifically addressing the 2022-2023 team, Smart indicated there will be no complacency after winning the National Championship the year prior.
“Feel free when we open for questions to ask me the concern there is for complacency. That does not concern me in the least. Because to be complacent, you have to have done something and achieved something,” he said.
“The men on this team, for this season, have not done that,” Smart continued. “They have not. We had 15 players that are now gone to NFL camps or draft picks. They’re gone. We have some returning players, but they’re hungry as ever.”
Smart then laid down the law, “People have asked the question, ‘How does it feel to be hunted?’ We will not be hunted at the University of Georgia. I can promise you that. The hunting that we do will be done from us going the other direction.”
“It’s not something that we’re going to sit back and be passive about,” Smart declared. “Our guys have asked questions and we’ve done a lot of studies on how the mighty have fallen. So we have skull sessions. We have 15-minute meetings, 20-minute meetings, and breakout groups. And we’ve actually taught how the mighty have fallen.”
He explained, “I’m talking about in business. I’m talking about in sports. I’m talking about in history. So you learn from the mistakes of others. And for us it really steers down to one cultural belief that we have a connection that is greater than our opponent.”
While Smart fired a warning across the bow to his opponents, he’s aware the SEC is full of tough competition.
He said, “We’re all going to be tough. We’re all going to be physical in the SEC. But can we be better connected together? Can we have one plus one equals three. Because for us one plus one equals three means we get more together than we do apart. And this team believes that. I’m excited about this team because there’s a lot of opportunity.”
Smart then touted his players, but noted they do lack experience, “We’ve got plenty of talent. What we lack right now is experience. That’s our job as coaches to put those guys in a position to be successful, and react in a clam manner, and have the experience they need to go play well against Oregon. That game will help set us up for our SEC gauntlet that we have coming up after that.”
The Georgia Bulldogs kick off the year against Oregon on September 3rd in Atlanta. They then face Samford on September 10th at home in Athens. From there they play South Carolina in Columbia before returning home to face off against Kent State.
SEC play really begins at Missouri on October 1st. They then have to face off against Auburn, Vanderbilt, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Kentucky before finishing the regular season against Georgia Tech at home.
Do you think the Georgia Bulldogs can repeat as National Champions?
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