A conversation with Kirby Smart

Georgia coach Kirby Smart spoke with beat writers via teleconference Tuesday for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As one might imagine, questions ran the gamut.

No, Smart does not know when or if the season will begin. He declined to answer any questions of a speculative nature.

However, there was some news.

Smart confirmed that new offensive coordinator Todd Monken will also serve as the team’s quarterback coach. That job, he also admits, has been made much more difficult, considering the current situation with campuses shut down for an undetermined amount of time.

"That's the one position where, if you had to say, 'who does this affect the most? Is it going to affect the running backs, the DBs, the Mike Linebacker?'—it's going to affect that quarterback more than anything, in my opinion,” Smart said. “There's no substitute for reps.”

Smart said grad transfer Jamie Newman, along with Stetson Bennett, Carson Beck, and D’Wan Mathis were all making progress before COVID-19 changed everything.

“I feel like he (Newman) was starting to get some rhythm. He got to throw a lot with those guys in their own time that they elected. He did a good job,” Smart said. “He and Stetson, Carson, and D’Wan would all go out there and throw with our wideouts. They were able to do some 7-on-7s, unstructured on their own, with the team members.

“They did a good job with that, but you know, that's no substitute for what they would have gotten in spring ball. We're going to get all that done when we get the opportunity. But hell, nobody knows when that is."

Smart refused to speculate when asked.

He also declined comment on how much time it would take, and wouldn't offer a date for when group conditioning and practice would need to start in order for the season to begin on time.

“Yeah, that one is completely speculative. I don’t want to give an opinion on that. I don’t want to be speculative and guess. I think you’d have to leave that up to the medical people,” Smart said. “To put a time on that, I don’t think it’s fair. And I don’t think we as coaches should be going out there saying that, because we’re not the (experts), we’re not the medical people, and professionals. We can say what we feel, but it doesn’t matter if a medical person disagrees with us on that. So, I'd hate to even speculate on that.”

Smart said he and his coaches are conducting business the best they can.

“First of all, it starts back at spring break. We were on spring break when all of this happened, and that’s probably been one of the toughest transitions for us, as you can imagine,” Smart said. “We’ve had to call each player individually. We have ways to connect with them obviously through Zoom and Facetime. Not having that exit meeting to say, OK, this is where we’re heading at this point—that was probably the toughest thing. The weeks have been different.”

On Monday, the SEC started allowing teams two hours per week of video conferencing. Although Smart isn’t quite sure about the effectiveness of this method, it certainly beats the alternative.

Online classes at Georgia began Monday, but the football offices at Butts-Mehre remain a ghost town.

“It’s very limited. We’re not allowed to have but a few people, and they have to be essential people. Essential is defined by the USG (University System of Georgia), and we check in and out with the people that are able to come in,” Smart said. “But we’re not asking guys to come into the office, to be honest with you. The only time you would come by is if it’s something you have to do. Most of us are able to work from home.”

For players currently rehabbing like Mathis and wide receiver Dominick Blaylock, the same holds true.

Although both players have received their marching orders from Courson, it’s ultimately up to them to ensure they continue to work hard in order to recover.

“Those two guys are so committed to it. Dom and D’wan, they do exactly what you ask them to do, and they know it helps the future of their careers to be rehabbing,” Smart said. “We have a lot more guys who are doing the same thing—guys who possibly would have missed the whole spring, and are now just rehabbing throughout. They’re committed to doing that. And the good thing is, the NCAA has allowed us to help those guys.”

Unfortunately, making sure players stay in shape the best they can is a concern. When it comes to that, there’s little coaches are allowed to do.

“We can’t do much. We can’t do anything. We can’t go online and go work out with them or have them call us. So what Scott’s (Sinclair) able to do is say, 'Hey if you don’t have a place to go—and what we’re finding out is, not many of our guys do,” Smart said. The answer has been daily workout tweets from the strength and conditioning coach. “I know Scott’s done a good job of being creative and sharing it with the whole world, so anyone that wants to use it can. He’s done a good job of that.”