The 3x SEC Coach of the Year, the George Munger Collegiate Coach winner – Georgia Bulldogs’ HC Kirby Smart – is in distress. After all, Smart and Co. are yet to get over their Sugar Bowl trauma, where they lost 10-23 to the underdog Notre Dame Fighting Irish. To not let history repeat any version of this event, the Georgia HC is keeping his fresh batch of players on the edge right from the beginning. Well, the new recruits have already made Smart upset with their spring practice. Yet, he keeps pushing them to their best limits to write a new story, something better than the 2024 edition.
Georgia is four practices into its 2025 season, and Smart’s assessment was more blunt than a ball peen hammer. Yes, the HC was in no way pleased with the practice. After all, the ceiling is too high in Athens. Starting with the Stetson Bennett era, the Bulldogs went 37-3 with two national championships. This was followed up by the Carson Beck era that brought about a 24-4 mark with an SEC Championship. Thus Smart has some high expectations from the new recruits. The freshmen, Smart said, are out of shape. He thus raised an alarm for the young chaps who think the Georgia chapter is going to be easy. The HC said the newcomers get offended: “Some of them, I guess, have never been held to that standard.” Well, standards are high in Georgia this season and Smart’s strategies are being supported.
On the March 20 episode of the UGA Football on Dawg Post, a CFB analyst Brandon Adams shared his take. He started with how most of the new recruits were supposed to be enjoying their final year of high school. But now that they have committed to the Bulldogs, they are exposed to this strenuous practice. He went like, “They were getting into and they’re getting paid right so no one should feel sorry for these guys. But yeah Kirby Smart is pushing them he’s pushing them hard.” Being a perfectionist himself, Smart wants to wipe off their 2024 history. After all, losing three games might still haunt Smart in his dreams.
The analyst thus said, “Kirby knows, ‘Hey we cannot lose three games again next year.’ So he’s probably coaching these guys harder than maybe he needs to be or harder than he has in the past.” The 2025 season marks a make-or-break year for them. After all, over the years Smart’s program has hit the low notes. Back in 2023, they were 13-1 whereas in their national championship year 2022, they were 15-0. On that note, Adams shared, “They can’t go backward again and he [Smart] needs these freshman receivers to get ready.” Meanwhile, Smart has taken an early precaution to safeguard his program from one of the college football program’s biggest issues.
How Kirby Smart took precautions from a nationwide problem
Turns out that their wide receivers room is what Georgia needs to put their most attention to in the 2025 spring. As ESPN’s Heather Dinich shed light on the Dawgs. “Offensive improvement. One specific area would be easier to zero in on this spring, but the reality is that Georgia ranked No. 102 in rushing yards per game (124.4), No. 132 with 35 drops by receivers and No. 117 with a 6.9 drop percentage.” But Smart did put in efforts in upgrading the position. The HC added two dynamic pass-catchers out of the transfer portal in Zachariah Branch and Noah Thomas. However, here is another position that has been turning heads.
On March 13, Smart shared his plan of action for the upcoming days. “We’ve got a lot of young offensive linemen who haven’t played who need to grow up and play.” Now what made him so sincere about the offensive lineman position? Well, it’s now an open secret in college football that there is a serious shortage of high-quality offensive linemen. Quite naturally it’s not restricted to college as the domino effect plagues the pro league as well.
So, for the ones who dragged Kirby Smart through the mud for over-hoarding offensive linemen, you now know the reason behind his move. As analyst Matt DeBary stated, “There’s a reason why George is trying to sign six, sometimes seven, offensive linemen in each class. Not only do you have to find those guys who were good enough to play and start making an impact, but you have to have depth, and we saw that last year, right?” Kirby Smart is dialed in because 2025 is no time for missteps.
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