Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was interviewed Wednesday afternoon on Atlanta radio station 680 The Fan.

Check out what he had to say on the Chuck and Chernoff Show.

How frustrating has it been dealing with the off-field incidents?

Smart: “Yeah, it's tough. I mean, these are, you know, 17 to 23-year-old men. And they certainly, you know, perform that way on the field and get treated that way in terms of NIL and scholarship, education, and all the things they get. So, they need to be treated that way as people.

“They need to make good, informed decisions. I'm not referencing Colby (Young) because I still don't know all the details and the litigated side of it. But it's disappointing for sure. It's embarrassing. And it's something that we constantly work on. So, it's one of those deals, and I get the accountability. I also get the frustration with what Champ (Bailey) and Aaron (Murray) and those guys are talking about.”

Did you think you’d get the reaction you received over your comments about wanting more from the home fans?

Smart: “I don't even know what the reaction's been. I mean, I don't read it. I don't see it, so I don't know what kind of reaction it's had. It's not intended to be that way. It's intended is to make sure that we're making the most out of every home opportunity we get.”

Do you think there was an “Alabama hangover?

Smart: “I have no idea. I mean, you know, the Bama game was in Bama. You know, this game was at home. That's where I look at things. When we haven't had a home game, we haven't had a home SEC game all year. We had an opportunity to have a home SEC game against what's a historic rival for us.”

How would you evaluate Carson Beck five games in?

Smart: “I think considering all things with some of the new players, some of the injuries on the O-line, I think he's done a really good job. I think it's important to note that with the transition of Brock (Bowers), Ladd (McConkey), and Marcus Rosamy, there's a really good group of experienced wideout skill players that he had. He’s had good guys coming back, but we've also had some injuries on the offensive line. We've also played a lot higher caliber of defense than what we played at this point last year.

“It’s been a combination of all those things, but I’m extremely pleased with his day-to-day work, his planning, what he's put into it, his decision-making. I think all that's been on point. I think the difference is who you're playing against.”

Do you worry about NIL and players having outside factors to distract them?

Smart: “Do I worry about it? No, I don't worry about things that I don't control, and I can't control. The circumstances that we have and the rules that we play by, that's it. These kids have earned the right to get some of the income and a piece of the pie with the television revenue and the revenue the schools make. That's not a worry of mine.

"I have to concern myself with things that I control. That's what kind of work ethic they have here at practice. What do they do while they're here with us and the decisions they make when they're not with us? Those are things that I'm trying to do the best job possible we can with our organization in terms of all the development. But worrying about their NIL money and what they have with it, I just don't think that's something you can concern yourself with.”

Framing that differently, have you seen repercussions of that from players who are trying to handle school, practice football, and the business side?

Smart: “Maybe in the offseason it is, but these guys are really into the fall. We have them over here and they have school and they're working full work weeks. There's no, like, okay, coach, I've got to go get my oil change and my brand new car. They don't miss anything from us.

“There's no business element side to that. We haven't changed one bit in terms of our expectations, and our standard. I don't want to change. If somebody doesn't like the way we practice and the standard with which we try to demand excellence, then they shouldn't be here. We do our very best to hold that standard high regardless of what a kid's NIL is or what his recruiting status is.”

How has the offense played this year?

Smart: The running backs is gradually improved. Obviously, Trevor Etienne has played well. Branson’s (Robinson) still getting back to his old form. Nate's (Frazier) growing up and Cash (Jones) has been a good player.

“I really feel good about that group in terms of everything moving in the right direction. Wide receiver, obviously we've lost a couple of guys now that were really good players. London (Humphreys) missed some time. It's kind of been a work in progress. That's every year. It's inevitable you're going to have injuries, but we've had injuries.

“We've had guys miss, and now we've got guys gone. That's one of those deals that we're going to have to keep growing up. We've got to keep working through. We've got to use Carson's strength and experience to help those wideouts become the group that we think they're capable of being.”

How is the defense playing compared to previous years?

Smart: “We're not playing as good of defense as we've played in the past. Our points results have been pretty good outside the Alabama game. But not the standard that we want to play to. We think we can play better defense.

“I think the gap between us and so many others, there's more parity. I don't think you're going to see as much dominance in this area because schedules have gotten harder. We've played a much tougher schedule thus far this year than we did last year.

“When you compare statistics, and you compare numbers, and you compare standards, we're not to the standard. But I do recognize we've played some good teams, and we're going to play some more good teams. We're going to still hold the standard high and keep working towards it but acknowledging that we're playing some good folks.”

Outside of the opponents, what do you think is missing?

Smart: “I don't think anything's missing. I really don't. We haven't tackled as well as we have in the past, but some of that is space play. Some of that is the offense and the athletes we've played. When you have the missed tackles that we've had in a couple of games, we didn't play Jalen Milroe until the end of the year. We didn't play Ryan Williams until later in the year, so I don't know that anything is missing, per se.

“It's a quality opponent. We lost three players in the secondary who are all starting in the NFL, but I think we've got three people to replace them that are good players. I don't know that we've got three draft picks in our secondary right now, but last year we did. There's a drop-off there, and you're constantly trying to improve it and get it better.:

Do you use what happened to Alabama and Tennessee as motivation?

Smart: “No, I don't think it works that way because I don't think that works. I think for a little two-minute window, you tell them that, and then they forget about it.

“It goes back to when I go out to work, do I have pride in my performance? Do I take pride in what I have to do? If you don't have pride in performance, that fear factor, that scaring that this could be you, oh no, or woe is me. Vanderbilt has a really good quarterback, and they've got a very improved team. They've won games, and so has Arkansas.

“Those are formidable opponents. Just like Mississippi State, they've got scholarship kids, and they've got good players, too. Everybody wants to make it about point spreads, margins and expectations. I think it's about pride in performance. If you go out and do what you're supposed to do each day and work hard, then you're going to have a chance to play your best. I'm so much more process-oriented than scare tactic motivated.”

How much has the recruiting game changed, especially with the NCAA eliminating the national letter of intent?

Smart: “The NLI being eliminated may not be as great a change as people think. People weren't honoring the National Letter of Intent anyway. Kids were leaving, and it didn't bind them to anything, so it really wasn't a major factor. I don't know what the very biggest change is going to be because it's all changing currently.

“We're moving the sign data up. We're pushing the portal window smaller. We don't really know the revenue share with the new lawsuit. There is a ton in flux for December and January for coaches, and they can't even worry about it because they're worried about their season. But there is a ton of question marks that are yet to be answered. It's going to be interesting to see how it plays out.”