The way Nolan Smith sees it, it’s never too early to plan ahead.

No, Smith isn’t talking about next fall or the year after that. He’s not talking about what he hopes will ultimately be a successful career in the NFL.

“I want to open my own engineering firm, help build stuff, help build roads, buildings. I want to help build those big skyscrapers,” said Smith, a Civil Engineering major. “There are lots of big building firms in New York who pay civil engineers billions and billions of dollars, so I’d love to do something like that.”

Of course, he also has big plans as far as the Bulldogs are concerned.

Sitting inside his locker room at Mercedes-Benz Stadium following Georgia’s loss to LSU in the SEC Championship, the sting of the Bulldogs’ 37-10 loss was still heavy on Smith’s mind when approached by reporters for the first time since joining the program.

Still, that didn’t keep the Savannah native from looking ahead. The Bulldogs will be back, he said, and next time he insists the results will be different.

“You still need to remember that we’ve got a young team, and we’re definitely going to be back for years to come,” Smith said. “But I don’t just want to come back. We’ve been here three years in a row and only won once. I want to be part of a different class that wins.”

The former five-star at IMG certainly made a good impression on coaches and fans his first year with the program.

In 13 games, Smith saw extensive action with the Bulldogs, finishing with 16 tackles, 2.5 for losses of 19 yards, and 15 hurries, showing that perhaps as soon as next year, he could become one of Georgia’s key pass rushers.

“I’ve still got a lot to improve. I think I could have had a better year,” Smith said. “When it comes to learning the game, I think I could have done a better job. Coach (Dan) Lanning worked with me week in and week out, but I know I need to get a lot better.”

Head coach Kirby Smart feels good about his future.

Earlier this year, Smart made note of Smith’s willingness to listen and learn, two attributes he feels will ultimately pay off.

“Nolan is smart, Nolan listens, so when you give Nolan a plan and say, ‘This is the way I want you to rush on this defense,’ or 'This is the way I want you to rush on this particular tackle,’ he does it,” Smart said. “He applies what he learned. He plays with just maximum effort. He’s like a wild man, hair on fire.”

Off the field, Smith’s cerebral approach to school and life, in general, seems to offer assurance that he would have been a success no matter what his field of expertise happened to be.

His is a unique kind of confidence that permeates through to his teammates, despite the fact he’s still a very young man.

He can also be quite philosophical, including as it pertains to the disappointment felt by everyone following the Bulldogs’ big loss to LSU.

“I’ve got little brothers back home, and when mom tells them they can’t do something, they get sad, so I was always the one to do something different, just to keep it going. That’s the same way here. These are my brothers, so when they’re down and stuff, I try to pick them up,” Smith said. “There’s no way that one game will define our whole life. One game never defines this; one game never defines that.”