After last year’s Senior Day festivities were canceled after Covid-19 sidelined Vanderbilt, forcing a premature end to Georgia’s regular season, Kirby Smart said he’s looking forward to his seniors getting a final round of applause for their contributions to the program.

However, this year’s event will be different than most.

With a large number of seniors still eligible to return due to Covid waivers granted by the NCAA, there’s going to be a chance that some of the athletes you see walking could in fact elect to return for one more year.

“We told them if you're a fourth-year or beyond, that you have that opportunity because it doesn't declare anything. They're not ready to declare what they're doing. So, Devonte (Wyatt), Justin Shaffer, Julian Rochester, and all of those guys, they were going to walk during that game. We were getting prepared for them to walk, and we didn't want them to make a decision before they have to,” Smart said. “We're going to honor those that choose to walk, and a lot of them may decide to come back. A lot of them have an extra year of eligibility, but we're not crossing that bridge yet. So, we're going to have them walk and then make the decision."

Per Smart, senior players would also be recognized next year if they decide to stay.

"That doesn't include third-year juniors. That's a different element, and they'll decide after the season. We're talking about guys that have years remaining; there's quite a few that do."

Shaffer is one of a handful of Bulldogs who were seniors last year who elected to cash in on the waiver opportunity.

"I mean, my head has been spinning since Sunday thinking of the game like, 'This is my last home game.' Just thinking about it. It's my last home game, it's the last ride,” said Shaffer, who, along with Devonte Wyatt and Rochester, took advantage of the waiver to return.

Among the current seniors who could elect to return for 2022 is quarterback Stetson Bennett.

Whoever returns, Smart said he cannot say enough about this year’s senior class.

"Resilient. They've been through a lot. They've had some ups and downs,” Smart said. “They’re high-quality leaders. There's a really good group of them. I'm really proud of the way they've pushed through the COVID-19 year, and that was their junior year, most of them. They've done a tremendous job."

Another week, another question about quarterback JT Daniels, who did not play against Tennessee despite being healthy.

Monday, Smart was asked point blank if Daniels would play Saturday against Charleston Southern.

"Our goal is to go out there and get the best quarterback ready to play, and go out and play with the best guy. If that presents itself, absolutely. Straight up, I hope everybody gets to play. I really do. I hope everybody gets to play, but I don't control that,” Smart said. “What I control is how we prepare, and how we go out and play the game. So, the hope is that we go out and play our best game.

“But it would be remiss if you go around thinking that, and then you're in the middle of a game in the fourth quarter. You got to go prepare to play your best possible game, and play your best players, and beat the best guys out there. And hopefully, we get a chance to play all the guys that dress out. But it's not something they're thinking about."

Smart did appear to make one thing clear, however. Stetson Bennett is the unquestioned starting quarterback.

When asked what the biggest change has been for Daniels this fall, Smart said it’s been simple.

"The biggest change is that he's been working with the twos. He goes out to practice and takes really quality reps. He takes ownership in those, and he watches Stetson (Bennett)'s reps and goes over what he saw on defense,” Smart said. “A lot of times the plays are the same in terms of what the ones and twos get, so he anticipates the throws and does what he does in the games.”

Smart said Daniels has not and will not be used for work on the scout team.

“’Will he go down to the scout team?' That's a way different circumstance, right now, because he's the guy who's just repping with the twos and getting his reps,” Smart said. “He's done a really good job handling that and continuing to work to get better. He's done a really good job when he goes against us, all of us, defensively. He gets to work on good-on-good, not scout crew. He does a good job at that, as well as Stetson does. Both those guys are playing well to me, right now."

Head coach Kirby Smart acknowledged that he’s spoken with linebacker Adam Anderson, who remains in the Athens Clarke-County jail after being charged with rape.

"I'm not allowed to talk much about it,” Smart said. “I've spoken to Adam, but that's the extent and all I can talk about."

Bulldog nose tackle Jordan Davis said he has spoken with Anderson as well.

"I've seen him. I try to show my support and everything, but I've kind of taken a step back," Davis said. "I've deleted social media because of all that. I just want to make sure I'm there for him as a person. I still want him to know I love him. We all still love him over here. We just want to make sure he's OK."

Smart dropped a bit of news Monday when he acknowledged that senior Chris Smith had only started practicing star last week before being inserted into the game last week at Tennessee.

“(Smith) hasn't cross-trained much. He's played strong and free, but he hadn't played star until last week. We felt like there was a chance we might need him at star, and that's a matchup thing,” Smart said. “He didn't practice a lot of star until last week.”

Smith was inserted into the game after some struggles by starter Latavious Brini, with Dan Jackson taking over at safety opposite Lewis Cine.

“Some of the guys have to play multiple positions because we don't have another person to put there. (Latavious) Brini has to be a safety. Lewis (Cine) has to be a money,” Smart said. “Ameer (Speed) has to be a money and a corner, (Lassiter) has to be able to play star and corner. You just have to have those so you can get your best guys on the field, should you have injuries."

Smart indicated that Georgia probably will not play many more FCS schools like Charleston Southern moving forward, although that doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't want to.

According to the Georgia’s head coach, with the likelihood of league expansion with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma, teams like Georgia simply won’t have many available dates.

“There's a group of young men that are going to come in here and get an experience they would never get otherwise—an opportunity to go play. From that perspective, I'd love to be able to, but what you just mentioned (the addition of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC) is going to make it hard,” Smart said. “The league is going to expand. The league is going to get bigger. There's going to be more games, and fans want the bigger games. Fans don't usually want these games. It's a pulling of two separate ways. If you're asking me personally, I'm all about promoting the game of football.”

Knowing that so many FCS schools depend on the big checks they receive by playing FBS powers like the Bulldogs makes Smart sad.

“I think some of these programs are really struggling, after talking to some of their Athletic Directors, talking to some of their coaches pregame,” Smart said. “It funds sometimes 50 percent sometimes 45 percent of their budget to have one of these games.”

According to Smart, that’s not a good thing.

“My concern is that fewer kids grow up wanting to play football because fewer of their parents may have played football and reached out to another sport. When you take away the opportunities at these universities, you take away a lot of opportunities for kids to get scholarships and go play,” Smart said. “Some of these FCS schools are what keep these kids' hopes alive to play football in college, when you might not be an SEC-caliber player."

… On motivating the team: "I don't need to worry about that with these guys. I really don't. This group's got great leadership. It's an opportunity to honor the seniors. You get an opportunity to honor this group, it's what you do, man. They've sold this program on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you earn what you get on Saturday. And that opponent is nameless, faceless—doesn't matter. It's what you do. And I know everybody thinks that's "coach speak," but that's what this group has done. They've gone out and practiced Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, regardless of who we're playing, and they practice the right way."

… On whether Xavier Truss is now primarily a guard: “He's been repping a lot there, almost exclusively, so it's something he's continued to get better at, he's got to continue to get better. There were things that needed to be cleaned up. He does give us a lot of size, but he'd be the first to tell you, you know, he could have played better. It's good that he got to get in that action, kind of like Broderick (Jones) did at Auburn—he got thrown in there and got to play in a tough environment—and go in and play. But there's footwork things, ID things, protection things he's got to clean up."