News and Notes from the SEC Spring Meetings

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – One of the many topics being discussed by SEC football coaches at the SEC spring meetings involves taking a page from the NFL regarding weekly availability reports.

Currently, schools typically do not release injury updates for their respective team, which in the NFL is mandatory.

"Again, all I know is we’re going to talk about it. I was just told that in the last 24 to 48 hours just like you guys were,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “If it helps with gambling, then I’m all for it. If it’s geared for getting knowledge out there that people are trying to get from our student-athletes and it protects them, I’m certainly for that.”

However, Smart feels more discussion is needed before a final decision is made.

“I want to find out more about it, find out what the stipulations are, what are the timetables, what are we talking about?” Smart said. “The NFL model works for them. I don’t know what all this entails for us."

With the college football playoffs going to 12 teams this fall, Georgia will not have to worry about not making the field should it lose in the SEC Championship Game.

That wasn’t the case a season ago when the Bulldogs were eliminated from the playoffs after falling to Alabama in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Tuesday, Smart was asked if he was surprised his team was not one of the final four teams.

"No, not surprised at all. We had our opportunity on the field and that is what you can ask for. I don't cry over it,” Smart said. “I think we had a good football team."

As for being one of the best four teams?

“I don't know,” Smart said. “It’s not for me to decide. We didn't get to play the others."

• Smart was asked how much tougher the SEC is with Texas and Oklahoma joining:

"Yeah, it's extremely tough, the fact that they're in our conference, they're further away, they're a powerful football team, they've got a great state to recruit in, both their coaching staffs are really good,” Smart said. “Both Sark (Steve Sarkisian) and Brent (Venables) have SEC-kind of experience. With Brent being over in the ACC and coaching at Clemson, he's played SEC teams kind of forever. So, they both know the climate they're jumping into. We think it makes our conference better, you know? Our brand extends further west. Two tremendous programs. When you add those two in, it makes the scheduling much tougher."

• Could a playoff team in a 12-team field be selected with multiple losses?

"Yes. In the playoffs, most certainly could be. How do you differentiate? I'll leave that to the committees. That's why we have the system we have,” Smart said. “It happened yesterday in baseball. There's a lot of debate about what teams get in baseball. There's going to be debate about what basketball team gets left out, there is going to be debate about what football team gets left out.”

Smart says it’s his job to make sure the Bulldogs are in so there’s no debate to be had.

“Ultimately, everyone has a chance to go out on grass and go out and play and earn the right to be in. Somebody is going to be left out that probably shouldn't. I try to control what I control. Because I can't control what a committee or what someone thinks should be in. And we've had that with the 4-team playoff,” he said. “There were probably three times where we were one of the four best teams, but we didn't earn it on the field. And so, the same opportunity is going to present itself, it's just going to be 13, 14, 15. You guys are going to debate a lot about it and I'm going to try and make my team better so they're not 13, 14, 15."

• A writer – not one who regularly covers Georgia – asked Smart what the Bulldogs got out of their 63-3 win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

Smart’s response was what you might expect.

"We got to practice 15 more times I think it was. We got to play some guys. We got to play our backup quarterback. We got the chance to finish off on a win. We had a group of seniors, or juniors in some cases that got drafted that walked off that field for the last time with the winningest record in the history of Georgia football and they felt pretty good about themselves,” Smart said. “I really appreciate the way they finished and they set a standard for our younger players that this is the culture here. We go out and we practice really hard and we go play our games until the games are over."

• No decision is expected over whether or not the SEC will expand to a nine-game conference schedule after 2025.

Predictably, Smart said that’s not exactly a hot-burner issue with him.

"Nah. Again, I worry about it when it comes up. I think it's a hot-button topic that is on y'all's little memos that say ask the question about whether 8 or 9 games. I'm completely cool with that question. I don't care whether we play 8 or 9. I don't care one bit,” Smart said. “If you tell me we're going to get more teams in by playing nine, I vote for that. If we're going to have a strength of schedule factor that says that these teams that play these really hard teams, should be allowed to have two or three losses and get in, then I'm for it. If it doesn't help us, then why do it?”

• There were some actual football questions, including what parts of Carson Beck’s game can be elevated this fall.

"Yeah, his leadership of the wideouts and the offense. He was in complete command of it (last year), but there were times I think he knows that he could say, ‘You know what, I can step up and be a bigger voice and a bigger leader.’” Smart said. “We had a lot of veteran players on that offense that had played a lot more than him. Now we don’t. He is the veteran who has played the most and has the most command. He’ll do a good job doing that."