Kirby Smart's thoughts on his 2023 class
The hay is finally in the barn for Georgia's 2023 class.
The Bulldogs officially signed the vast majority of their commits on the first day of the Early Signing Period. Once pen met paper, Smart finally had the chance to talk about some of his newest Bulldogs and what they're bringing to the program.
Here's what Smart had to say.
On the overall class: "Every time we have a visit or we have them come see us, they meet with academics, they meet with player development, and they meet with strength and conditioning and training room, everybody talks about what a great group of kids they are. They are high character. The one thing in the coaching business you better value now more than ever is high character—tough, hard-nosed football players that are coming here with an understanding that they're committed to excellence in terms of classroom, competitiveness, toughness, loving football. And these guys understand that."
On inside linebackers CJ Allen, Raylen Wilson, and Troy Bowles: "A really talented group in terms of speed, athleticism. In the day and age that we are in right now where the guys are fast, athletic, have got to play in space, got to be able to strike and play with toughness, but also high character—you'll develop here. You'll become better, and you'll have fun doing it. That group is tight. I think it kind of recruits itself when you talk about Nakobe, Quay, and Channing, what they've done. These guys, they want to emulate guys like that."
On bringing in high numbers of defensive backs: "There is no such thing as a cornerback anymore in my mind. There are defensive backs that play everywhere. Football is a matchup game. There's more empty than we've ever seen before. More spread than we've ever seen before. You've got to have slot corners. You've got to have outside corners. You have to have guys that can go inside and play. You have to have guys that can be gunners, guys that can tackle. It's a position that has to develop, has to grow. It's one we've been short in that room. I mean, probably the last five years, four years we've been really short in our defensive back rooms. We're trying to manage those numbers."
On the receiver signees: "They're going to have to hit the weight room and get stronger to be able to really do the things we want them to do, but you want to take a guy that has natural speed, the pass-catching ability, make-you-miss ability, run after the catch, vertical threats. We think we get that in those three guys."
On rebuilding the outside linebacker room: "We're trying to get that room back to where it's been in the past. You know, there was a time when there were three or four really high draft picks in that room. That's what you want in that skill set. That helps you on third down. Those body types help you on special teams. The 6'2-plus, the 240-plus is a position that can cover kicks, can cover return punts in terms of holding people up. So much value in that room, packages you can do on defense. So when we've been at our best, we've had a lot of speed and athleticism in that room, and we're trying to get back to it."
On running back Roderick Robinson: "He is your SEC-type back that can get hard yards, but is athletic enough to do some things in space. Football is still a game where you have to get people on the ground, and he is hard to get on the ground. He loves the game. He's very intelligent. So he excited us on tape, but even won us over more in person."
On not adding a quarterback in this class: "I think it's irrelevant in today's day and age. The portal is full of them. There's going to be multiple guys in every year. You want to do the best job you can to get the best quarterback you can."
On offensive linemen Monroe Freeling and Bo Hughley: "They both have top ten wing spans of kids we've recruited here, and we've got some pretty long guys that have played here in the last seven, eight years. Both those guys would be near top ten in terms of keeping people's hands off of them. Both of them, really good basketball players. Got great feet, athleticism."
On outside linebacker Samuel M'Pemba: "He is one of those outside backers that has great length, great toughness. He was a really good athlete growing up. Played competitive soccer. Traveled all over. As many as two years ago, he was playing tight end. So he's very raw, has a high ceiling, but he has a lot to learn about the position. But he's a tremendous talent when it comes to athleticism."
On EDGE Gabriel Harris: "He is an athletic outside backer. We're down on depth in that room with Nolan and Beal leaving, so it's one of those deals where we have to add some depth, and we have to have guys that can play early for us at those positions."
On cornerback AJ Harris: "He loves football. Number one traits you look for now is how much do you love football, how much can you process information, because after you height, weight, jump-test everybody, it becomes what knowledge can you handle in between your ears? I think he is going to excel at that. He takes notes. He's very bright, and he wants it. He's hungry. That's a part I can't coach into him."
READ AND WATCH SMART'S FULL SIGNING DAY PRESS CONFERENCE HERE