LOS ANGELES - How do you win a national championship and not just repeat the next season, but do it better?

That process for Georgia began years ago with a shift in recruiting emphasis. It began to crystallize last spring when team leaders said they wanted to do something never done in the history of Georgia football.

The long journey came to fruition on Monday night, as Georgia pulverized TCU 65-7 to capture its second straight national championship and a perfect 15-0 season.

"This team is special because they didn't have a flaw," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. "So it makes it more special, I think, when you come back and look at it, because when you want to compare teams you'll say, hey, look at this team. There's some parts of me that think, if the team last year played this year's team, last year's team probably had more talent on it. But this year's team was different. Like, they just had this eye of the tiger; they weren't going to lose."

Smart has recruited SEC-caliber players for a long time. He's come to realize that talent differentials are minimal between players at that level.

What separates Player A from Player B, Smart has learned, is what's on the inside.

"I've started saying, you know what, you're going to sign three D tackles and five DBs and two tight ends. Sign the ones that can't stand losing," Smart said. "The ability part is important. It's not to be diminished. But sign the right mental makeup and get people that can develop."

That mentality can be found in the core of Georgia's team, guys like quarterback Stetson Bennett and safety Christopher Smith. Smart noticed it in the Covid-hampered recruitments of stars such as defensive back Javon Bullard and tight end Brock Bowers.

In the wake of last year's championship, those veterans held team meetings. They appreciated the accomplishment of a title. But they wanted something more.

"That’s something that we talked about," Smith said. "Just having the opportunity to go back to back, especially in the CFP era, it’s something that’s never been done. That’s something that we wanted to do. We wanted to leave a legacy."

The Bulldogs wanted to win an SEC championship, something they missed out on last season. They also wanted to complete a season without a loss, something Smart only accomplished once in his four titles won at Alabama.

Smart took the chip of last year's team and doubled it in size. Despite being ranked No. 3 in the preseason AP Poll, Georgia's head coach hammered an attitude of disrespect into the reigning national champions.

The Bulldogs embraced that. Even as they basked in the glow of another title, veterans such as offensive tackle Warren McClendon reflected in the locker room on being picked to go just 6-6 this season.

"Did people really say this team would go 6-6?" one reporter asked.

"I think so," McClendon responded.

"It wasn't this team's nature to relax," Smart said. "This wasn't as hard a job as people made it seem because of the people we recruited – not because of talent, but because of what they were – like the DNA inside of them. These dudes, this team was different. This team was just different. Every time they were backed against the wall they came out scratching, clawing. Like, if we had a bad practice, we'd have a great practice. They responded to everything."

This team had to respond to adversity more than last year's champions. They trailed late at Missouri. They had to grind out wins over Mississippi State and Kentucky late in the year. The defense uncharacteristically struggled against LSU in the SEC Championship Game and against Ohio State in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.

But players said the practices prepared them for those moments. There are now-famous "Bloody Tuesday" practices that turn boys into men.

"Just what Coach Smart instilled in us at the beginning of the year, how we weren’t going to be hunted," McClendon said. "We’re the hunters and we’re not going to be hunted. Every day we showed up and worked like that."

It all converged in Los Angeles on Monday night. The Bulldogs worked all year to get to that point. They responded by playing their best game of the season.

The offense racked up 65 points, moving the ball at will. The defense suffocated an explosive TCU offense, limiting the Horned Frogs to seven points and just 188 total yards.

At the end of it all, receiver Kearis Jackson sat in his locker. He's played many roles in his time in Athens and has seen the program ascend to its current lofty heights.

Jackson's fifth year in Athens ended with a second national championship. As he soaked it all in, he turned to fellow receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint and said, "Man, we really went back to back."

"We knew what it was going to take to get back to it," Jackson said. "We went to work after the national championship last year. Just the fact that we were able to do something great, even better than the team last year, a perfect season, 15-0, we made history tonight. That’s legendary. People are always going to remember this team."