If there is a question that Kirby Smart is already tired of hearing, it is the one about how he supposedly wants Georgia’s offense defined.
Don't get Smart wrong.
He's excited about the addition of first-year offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Just don't suggest the notion that Smart is dead set on doing things “his way.” It invites snark.
“I’m going to let you define it how you feel comfortable defining it, and then I’m going to define it the way that gives us the best chance of success,” Smart said. “We want to get the best football players we can on the field. We want to be able to score points. We think it takes that to win games.”
Smart didn't stop there, taking issue with the idea that he only wants an offense that will play a certain style.
“That’s never been any issue with me. I’ve never gotten on an offensive coordinator’s headphones and said, ‘Please run the ball here. Please run the ball right here.’ That has never been the case,” Smart said. “Unfortunately, some people might not believe this, but my goal is to score points. And I’ve never said, ‘Please do not score more points. Please don’t score.’ I've never done that, so we are going to do all that we can to score points.
There is little doubt that one of the biggest questions for the Bulldogs will be what changes Monken could install that would make Georgia more explosive than it was a season ago.
Right now, Smart simply doesn't know. With no spring practice, the Georgia offense was unable to have any sort of reasonable installation.
“Without spring practice, that’s really hard to sit here and say what it’s going to look like, because you have nothing to base it on,” Smart said. “To not do those things and find out really who we are, I think, we’re going to find that out from an offensive perspective.”
Of course, all eyes are on the quarterbacks.
Although Smart revealed that transfer JT Daniels still isn't cleared for contact following ACL surgery, and Jamie Newman recently missed a few weeks with a mid-foot sprain (he's back now), Georgia’s head coach already likes what he sees.
Don't forget about D’Wan Mathis, Carson Beck, and Stetson Bennett, either.
“We’re excited about all five of those guys, to be honest with you. Those guys have done a good job in their Zoom meetings, paying attention,” Smart said. “With (Newman) missing with the foot issue, we’re talking about walkthroughs. There's a misnomer that we have been able to practice. They have not been able to practice. We have been able to walk through.”
Newman’s veteran presence is already standing out.
“He does a really good job of standing behind the huddle, standing behind the play, imaginary taking the snap, getting the mental reps, but until you get out there and do it, it’s not as easy. He was able to do that around the 9th or 10th; he was able to go out there and do some things with us,” Smart said. “But D’Wan [Mathis] was doing a great job. Carson Beck is doing a great job. Stetson [Bennett] is doing a great job. All those guys are really competing, as well as JT [Daniels]. I think each one has come in—they all have individual strengths. It’s going to be important that we find out what each one of those individual strengths are, and weaknesses, and what we can improve over the next four or five weeks to figure out who the best guy for the job is.”
Smart said the rest of Georgia’s offensive players seem to be picking up what Monken has in mind.
He's already received good reports on several of his younger offensive players, giving him hope they will be ready to contribute when the Bulldogs open the season Sept. 26 at Arkansas.
“I’m excited about what the guys have been able to pick up on and do. Talking to our offensive staff, those guys have given me good updates, and I’ve been able to see it first-hand when you go out on the field and see some good, young, talented players that have been able to go out and pick things up,” Smart said. “That’s going to be the key to us.”
Smart is confident that will be the case and that Monken will figure it out.
“Todd has brought a lot of energy on the offensive side of the ball. He's very demanding, he has an expectation of what it should look like in his job, and what he loves doing is trying to do each individual job better than the next guy. Can we do one thing, can we run a curl better than the other team can run a curl? Can we run a dig route better than the other team can run a dig route? Can we coach those things better than the other team? If we can do that, then we’ll have success.”
