Kirby Smart summed up the feelings of Georgia fans everywhere during his opening statement at the recent SEC Media Days.
“Our players are excited, and so am I,” Smart told the assembled throng of scribes at the College Football Hall of Fame.
Thursday, the countdown begins.
Although the Bulldogs have been hard at work all summer, Thursday marks the first official day of fall camp, where Georgia gets down to the nitty gritty of preparing for the Sept. 3 opener in Atlanta against Oregon.
Thursday morning, Smart will meet with the media along with selected players before hitting the field as a unit for the first day of camp.
“We started this thing off last year with the quote: Success comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it. Well, we embraced that last year. Guess what? That doesn't change. For our team, it's embedded in what we do,” Smart said. “We didn't build this program on hoping for one-year-wonders or hoping for one opportunity. We built the program to be sustained. You sustain it by what you do every single day.”
As they say, talking season is done. The questions are familiar by now.
Can Georgia find suitable replacements for the record 15 players taken in the NFL Draft? On defense, what players will fill the cleats of such players as top pick Travon Walker, nose Jordan Davis, linebacker Nakobe Dean, safety Lewis Cine, cornerback Derion Kendrick, et al?
There are holes to fill on offense, too.
Smart must find two new starters at guard, along with building depth at wide receiver, a position where there are good numbers, but not a ton of experience.
At running back, Kendall Milton, Kenny McIntosh, and Daijun Edwards take their respective steps up in the pecking order as Zamir White and James Cook move on to the NFL.
Meanwhile, Stetson Bennett is back, apparently anxious to prove that last year’s magical run to the national championship was not a fluke.
“There's a hunger among this group. A lot of guys want to prove that they can replace the other guy. They don't want to be the other guy—they want to be the next guy,” Smart said. “You look across the board, we had some high-profile players on defense and offense when you count the backs and receivers that we have to replace those guys. The hunger comes from the opportunity the talented players behind them have.”
There are certainly plenty of players to keep an eye on that Bulldogs fans should be excited about.
Offensively, wide receiver AD Mitchell enjoyed a fabulous freshman year. He, along with Ladd McConkey and Kearis Jackson, provides a solid initial core.
More help is needed, and Smart hopes Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, Dominick Blaylock, and Arian Smith can stay healthy.
Of course, the tight end room of Brock Bowers, Darnell Washington, Arik Gilbert, Oscar Delp, Brett Seither, and Ryland Goede is the envy of coaches everywhere.
Defensively, there are a large number of players with prime opportunities to make their mark, including All-American candidate Jalen Carter, junior Zion Logue, and redshirt freshman Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins. At linebacker, sophomore Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Smael Mondon and veteran Trezman Marshall have prime opportunities.
On the outside, Robert Beal Jr. doesn’t get a lot of ink, despite leading the Bulldogs in sacks, but he’ll team up with senior Nolan Smith who is primed for the best season of his career.
In the secondary, there are questions at cornerback opposite Kelee Ringo and a replacement must be found for the aforementioned Cine at safety opposite Christopher Smith.
At Star, William Poole returns, but coaches hope Tykee Smith is finally healthy after only playing in one game last year.
Questions like these suggest why Smart scoffs at the notion complacency might be a problem. Quite the contrary, he feels this is a team ready to work.
“I'm excited. Complacency is something that happens to people, they don't look what's going on,” Smart said. “We don't have that problem. There's not a day we don't wake up and think what can we do to make our program better, and our players are doing that right now.”
