Georgia Football News and Notes for Wednesday

It’s common knowledge that the friendship between Kirby Smart and Lane Kiffin goes way back.

After all, they coached together at Alabama before both went their separate ways.

Still, they’ve remained friends.

That’s caused many reporters to ask both coaches to share some funny moments shared between the two.

If you know Smart, sharing funny stories isn’t really his style, although his respect for Kiffin is obvious.

“He was a head coach at a really young age. He taught me a lot of things about what he believes in being a head coach and doing it your way,” Smart said. “He’s certainly had a unique experience in terms of the places he's been able to work as a head coach, and he draws on that. There are times we share ideas or GPS numbers or whatever, but there’s nothing outside of just a really good friendship and respect.”

Kiffin, arguably the most prolific SEC coach on Twitter, did recall one story and he shared it during Wednesday’s SEC Teleconference.

“I will tell you the tug of war story when we did tug of war on the rope during the players’ fourth-quarter drills,” Kiffin recalled. “It was me vs. him, I beat him. But he won’t like that story if you ask him.”

All joking aside, Kiffin echoed Smart’s comments about their relationship.

“I just think Kirby is really smart, and I really enjoy talking to really smart, intelligent coaches who you can bounce things off of and ask how they do things, or how they deal with a player issue, injury, or something,” Kiffin said. “He’s one of my first calls when I’m looking for advice.”

Brock Bowers has been named one of nine semifinalists for the John Mackey Award given annually to the nation’s top collegiate tight end for the third consecutive season, according to an announcement from the friends of John Mackey Thursday.

Bowers earned Georgia its first Mackey Award last year during the Bulldogs’ run to a 15-0 record and their second straight College Football Playoff title. He is the only 2023 semifinalist from the Southeastern Conference.

The finalists will be announced on Nov. 28 and the winner will be announced during the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 8.

Bowers is the team’s leading receiver this season despite only playing in seven games. He has 41 catches for 567 yards and four touchdowns.

He's also a Lombardi Award semifinalist although he's currently sidelined with an ankle injury and had surgery on Oct. 16. Bowers could be back soon, as you can read here.

…Malaki Starks expects fans to bring the noise. He said he and his defensive teammates will need to be ready when they do.

“That Tennessee game was different. We sort of fed off that energy. We communicated very well, actually. The whole defense is predicated to communicate, so when it’s loud like that we’ve got to be able to pick it up,” Starks said. “Against Tennessee, we did that very well and we need to be ready to do it again because we know our fans will be ready.”

…Cornerback Kamari Lassiter said he enjoys going against top wide receivers like he’ll see Saturday night in Tre Harris.

“It’s just the level of competition,” Lassiter said. “You come to a place like Georgia because you want to play against the best players in the country so when you get that opportunity you always want to make the most of it.

…Tate Ratledge says the team’s run blocking is better but there’s more work to do.

“I think we’ve improved a lot over the year and with that being said there’s a lot more that we need to improve on,” Ratledge said. “There’s some stuff that bothers us, there’s some stuff that gives us trouble. We work on that a lot during practice, and it helps, but I’ve seen improvement both as a unit and individuals and that’s been good to see.”

…Although he still has two years of eligibility (Covid year included), Ratledge said he’ll be taking part in Saturday’s Senior Day activities.

“I am going to take part in it because I don’t know what’s going to happen after this season,” Ratledge said. “I feel if I don’t do it, I’d regret it, so I’m going to go ahead and do it. Nobody knows what’s going to happen the rest of the year."