During Monday’s press conference to preview Saturday’s SEC Championship, wide receiver Ladd McConkey was asked what it was like to play for head coach Kirby Smart.
McConkey smiled, as he chose his words carefully.
It’s absolutely no secret that the demands Smart places on his players and the expectations he holds for everyone inside his program are two of the main reasons Georgia is now considered one of the bluebloods in all of college football.
So, while Smart’s hard-charging and often boisterous practice field persona may not be for everyone, it’s exactly why the defending national champions find themselves the nation’s top-ranked team ahead of Saturday’s SEC Championship against LSU (4 p.m., CBS).
“You’ve got to listen to the message and not the tone. The defense probably gets it a little more than the offense because that’s how Coach Smart coaches,” McConkey said. “But obviously he’s a great coach and wants the best for us. If you can’t take that kind of coaching, you’re probably not at the right place. He wants you to be the best you can be, and I think every single player should want that.”
Right tackle Warren McClendon agreed.
“Once you get used to it you realize he just wants the best for you,” McClendon said. “He’s going to get on you, he’s going to yell. But once you get past that and realize he just wants the best for you, you understand.”
Accountability and the willingness to give 100 percent effort are a must if you want to play football for Smart.
That focus isn’t relegated to what happens on the practice field and in games. It’s also a mindset. Take Saturday’s SEC Championship, for example. While fans understandably look ahead to the Bulldogs possibly repeating as national champions, when the Bulldogs say they’re only focused on LSU, it’s not hyperbole.
“We're worried about winning the SEC championship. The most important thing on our agenda is to have an opportunity to do something that rarely gets done,” Smart said. “I mean, it's tough to win an SEC championship. I've been part of this league for a long time. I have almost as many national championships as I do SEC championships. They're really hard to come by.”
That same message has been repeated by Bulldogs players over the past two weeks.
When wide receiver Kearis Jackson was asked why Saturday’s game is such a big deal, he pointed up from behind the podium where he was standing and said, “to put numbers on the wall.”
The way Smart approaches each and every week has also rubbed off on the team.
“We attack this week just like we attack every week, we attack this game just like we do any other game. It’s the same thing,” STAR Javon Bullard said. “We still have the same type of practices; the energy is still there. If anything, the energy is more.”
Smart would not have it any other way.
The same is true when it comes to playing Saturday’s game inside the familiar surroundings of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Like Smart, the Bulldogs consider it their home field.
“We always treat Atlanta like it’s our backyard. We treat it just like it’s down the road at Sanford. We do treat it as a home-field advantage going off the win over Oregon earlier this year, and the countless times we’ve played there in the past,” defensive tackle Zion Logue said. “We hope to use that to our advantage.”
