Word that Georgia and Florida will play their 2026 and 2027 games in Atlanta and Tampa, respectively, wasn’t the only topic of conversation for Kirby Smart during Wednesday’s SEC teleconference.

He also spoke about his team’s readiness for Saturday’s contest at EverBank Stadium, set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. and televised on ABC.

“Yeah, our guys are excited about the opportunity to go play in Jacksonville. Always a very tough game, physical game. And it's unique obviously because of the 50-50 stands and always a different experience,” Smart said. “It’s a great atmosphere for college football when you look at the two teams tailgating and having so many people. But it'll be an extremely tough test. I feel like Florida's been playing as good as any team in the SEC right now the last few weeks.”

The Gators are 4-3 but come into the game winners of three of their past four, with the only loss coming at Tennessee in a close 23-17 defeat at the hands of the Volunteers.

“Statistically, their defense has really stepped up in the last three to four weeks. We know a lot about them. They know a lot about us,” Smart said. “We have a lot of similarities in a lot of ways and I've got a lot of respect for Billy (Florida head coach Billy Napier) and the way that he's built that program and developed it. They've got a really talented young quarterback (DJ Lagway) who's playing better and better each week. So, it'll be a really tough test for us.”

… The winner of the “out of the blue” question came from a reporter in Gainesville, who asked Smart if he ever discussed the head coaching job at Florida when he was the defensive coordinator at Alabama.

“That's hypothetical. I'm not really interested in the hypothetical part of that and really just focused on playing this game,” Smart said. “I mean, that's all that stuff's way in the past. I’ve got nothing but respect for Florida and the job they've done. I've been really close friends with those former head coaches and I'm close friends with the one there now.”

… Another Florida-based reporter asked Smart why he feels the Gators have made improvements defensively.

“You know, they have tremendous size and they have length. They control the run game at a really high clip, meaning when it's hard to run the ball on people, it's really hard to be successful on third down because it forces you into passing situations, which sometimes get tough. They're tackling better,” Smart said. “They've played, I guess, complimentary football is the right word, at a high clip. They've got more tackles for a loss and more turnovers in the last three to four weeks.”

… Smart was also asked to give his take on Florida running back Jadan Baugh, an Atlanta native who played his football at Columbia High.

"Yeah, extremely physical, twitchy, and good athlete,” Smart said. “He runs, turns, kicks for them. He does it all. He catches the ball out of the backfield well. His yards after contact is really high. I mean, they allow their run game to wear you down because they're committed to it. They do a great job of staying committed to it. The bigger the backs, the more the wear and tear is. In this league, that's what you need. You need physicality at the offensive line and in the backfield, and they have both.”

… Smart said his team spent much of the bye week focusing on itself.

“The focus was on improvement for us to get better in more depth and create more depth, timing in the passing game, and our ability to compete and play in developmental sessions,” Smart said. “Meaning, more one-on-ones, more individual battles, and then getting the younger guys, twos, and threes, a lot more 11-on-11 work.”