Monday's press conference a bit on the testy side
Kirby Smart’s relationship with local beat writers has never been overly warm and friendly, but during Monday’s press conference Smart got downright testy with a couple of responses to questions that were being asked.
Take the one on if Smart was considering doing some re-shuffling on the offensive line.
Smart: “What were you suggesting?”
Reporter: “Well, (Isaiah) Wynn has played some left tackle.
Smart: “So, move Isaiah outside and (Tyler) Catalina in?”
Reporter: “No, in general.”
Smart: “We tried that already. We’ve looked at every combination we can, and we’ll continue to do that. Those guys practice when y’all aren’t there, besides the 12 minutes you are there,” Smart said. “They do those things, and we look at them. We go against the defense. We go against Trenton (Thompson) and (John Atkins). Then we go over and do one-on-one pass rush when you guys aren’t there. And we do (pass protection). And Isaiah (Wynn) plays tackle and different guys play guard. At the end of the week we say, 'What’s our best lineup?’ I hope that answers your question.”
That wasn’t all.
Earlier, another question about the offensive line was posed. This one asked Smart if the recent turnover with offensive line coaches (three in three years) could possibly be contributing to some of the current issues.
Smart: “What went on last year? In terms of run-blocking? What do you think?”
Reporter: “Not as good as they’d like probably.”
Smart: “We feel the same way this year. You’ve got to do a great job of getting those guys better, you’ve got to keep getting them stronger throughout the year and we’ve got to become a physical football team that can run the ball. Our identity is not going to change. We’re going to do that. We’ve got to be stubborn and believe we’re going to do that. We’ve got to just play better.”
There was more.
A questions about the Western Division's dominance was quickly shot down while an exchange with Chip Towers of the AJC over freshmen availability also had its moments.
Quarterback Jacob Eason has yet to be made available for interviews. Under Georgia’s official press policies listed on Page 3 of the media guide, there is no mention of freshmen not being available. It wasn’t until Monday that the media was told officially that freshmen would not be available this year, ten months after Smart took over as head coach.
But before that became knowledge, Smart was asked why Eason would not be made available for interviews.
Smart: “What year is he?
Reporter: “A freshman. … but he’s old enough to fight for our country.”
Smart: “We’ve got a policy here, and Jacob Eason adheres to that policy, too. Thanks.”