INDIANAPOLIS - First came Rod, then came Pod.

Jack Podlesny filled the shoes of Rodrigo Blankenship when he took over as Georgia's kicker in the 2020 season. Over three years as the starting kicker, Podlesny converted on 61-of-74 field goal attempts. He also handled kickoff duties in 2022 following the departure of former punter Jake Camarda.

Podlesny's path now points toward the NFL, with the first steps coming at this week's NFL Scouting Combine. Podlesny recapped his career, gave his thoughts on the upcoming kicking competition, and more during his media session with reporters.

On being back in Indianapolis, the site of the 2021 national championship victory: "Just walking into Lucas Oil, it’s been unreal getting to see it again knowing that we were here a couple years ago, getting to win a national championship. Now I’m back here for the Combine. It’s just surreal."

On rooming with Warren McClendon at this year's Senior Bowl: "Yeah, I explained too as everything happens for a reason, right? For me, that was just rooming with Warren, getting to be there for him, getting to talk to him. Sometimes it was about life, sometimes it was about how the field workouts were going for him, just what was going on in his head. For me, that was just being there for him. If he wanted to dive into anything, I was there for him. If he didn’t, I didn’t care. It is what it is."

On his field goal to beat Cincinnati in the 2020 Peach Bowl: "I can tell you probably the week leading up to it. I can tell you that day getting into the locker room, not having any time for warmups for the day. I remember specifically we went down to the other side of the field to warm up and the refs kicked us off. They were like, no, you’ve got to go to the other side. I could tell you some very specific things. That memory is engraved in my head, most definitely."

On speaking with Camarda: "Oh yeah. I probably talk to him four or five times a week. We’ll hop on a FaceTime and we may speak for 10 minutes or we may speak for 45 minutes. You name it. He helps me out with anything. I talked to him throughout the season about stuff. I talked to him recently about what’s going to go on this week, what do I need to prepare myself for, what do I need to rub off my shoulder? I don’t need to expect anything."

On the biggest piece of advice he's gotten from Camarda about this week: "For here it’s to have fun. Everyone’s so serious. It’s like, dude, just relax and have fun. You get to experience this once in a lifetime. Throughout the season, it’s just be driven, be motivated. You’re going to have some bad days, you’re going to have some good days. Just take that in stride."

On whether the 2021 or 2022 team was better: "I don’t think there was one team that was better. I think everyone separated themselves and it was different teams. Some of the leadership style was different. I think this past team was more play by example, versus the previous team was we’re going to be vocal, we’re going to talk about it. I think just each team was different. I don’t think there was a better team."

On the kicking competition for this year's Georgia team: "For me, competition breeds success. I think these guys, there’s going to be a fair competition. I think Zirkel is going to compete his butt off this spring, he’s going to work hard. I think Peyton Woodring coming in, he’s going to give Zirkel a good run for his money. I think at the end of the day, they’re going to make the right decision."

On if Georgia has an issue with racing or culture after recent arrests: "I don’t think so. I can speak on those guys’ character. Those guys’ character, to me, is they’re the best person in the room. They’ve always been an upright guy to me, they’ve always been nice to me, they’ve always treated me with respect. That’s what I can speak on. I think Georgia football is trying to keep that going and keep the generations growing."

On his reaction to the Jalen Carter news yesterday: "It was just sad to hear. As I said, I can speak on Jalen’s character and he’s a great dude. He’s always treated me well. That’s the number one thing."

On his main takeaways from his Georgia experience: "For me, it was just keep my head down. It was keep my head down during practice. But besides that, when it was outside of football, it wasn’t keeping my head down. It was getting to know the guys because those are moments that I’m going to cherish forever. That’s five long years, but five fun years. I got to go in with Coach Smart being there and then additions like Coach Cochran, and then just seeing the new guys coming in and guys leaving. Getting to build those relationships for me was just an unbelievable experience."

On Scott Cochran's role in his career: "For him, the way I describe his relationship with me, to actual special teams coordinators and anyone that’ll listen, is he’s the guy that first cared about me outside of football. He’s the guy that you want to go sit down in his room and talk to him about life, about whatever’s going on. That, for me, was huge. I’d never experienced that in football before. It was just all about practice, all about the games. For him, what’s going on, that was huge for me. That’s how I would describe it."

On how Kirby Smart instills mental toughness: "Right now this is, it’s called dog time. Right now they’re going 5 a.m., 6 a.m. runs right now. So that’s something that I would say they’re mentally prepared for. But I think the huge thing about that is Drew Brannon, our sports psychologist. (Smart) was iffy about it my freshman, sophomore year. Then he just saw that there were so many gains by it that it would be stupid not to hire him on a full contract. I think that’s been the number one thing."

On his welcome to UGA moment: "I’m trying to think. There’s definitely been things here and there, maybe nothing too specific. I just remember walking on. I remember getting there the first day and just kind of looking up, like, am I out here? I’m actually playing with guys that are, like looking at Jordan Davis and being like, this can’t be real."

On the "glue guy" for last year's team: "I would probably say Nolan. He kind of took it and ran with it. He kind of had to. It was make or break. He was out, he wasn’t playing. So he was like, well, what can I do with this? That’s what he did. He was the glue."

On what he expects from Brett Thorson in 2023 and his sense of humor in the locker room compared to social media: "Oh without a doubt, he definitely does. You could probably go talk to, wherever he’s at, Korsak (Adam Korsak, Rutgers), another Australian that’s here. He’s probably got the same sense of humor that he does. Brett’s going to have a great year I think this upcoming year. I think’s going to build on his numbers this past year. I think he’s learned a lot being at Georgia. Hopefully learned some stuff from me about just getting in there. I think he’s just going to have a phenomenal year."