LOS ANGELES – Tight end Brock Bowers joked that he got word he would be replacing Stetson Bennett in Tuesday’s Champions press conference in a bit of an unusual way.

“I was coming off the elevator. I saw Coach (Kirby) Smart and I started walking to go eat some breakfast,” Bowers said. “I got a call and they said, you're in the bullpen, come to media. I'm, like, okay, I'm in. Stetson is not going to make it. I guess I gotta go.”

Smart glanced over at Bowers and smiled.

“He always wanted to be in Stetson's shoes, so now he gets an opportunity,” chuckled Smart, as Bowers smiled and shook his head.

Actually, Bennett’s absence apparently can be explained, and it apparently had nothing to do with being incapacitated after a night of partying following the Bulldogs' 65-7 win over TCU to win the program’s second straight national title.

Bennett told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt during an interview Monday night, that his media obligations for Georgia were done, and true to his word, it was head coach Kirby Smart, Defensive MVP Javon Bullard, and Bowers who addressed the media for a final time on Tuesday.

Bennett can certainly be excused for not taking a final bow.

His story will be one that Georgia fans will never forget, as the former walk-on will forever be a hero to legions of Bulldog fans for leading the program to two straight national championships.

Even without Bennett, there was still plenty to discuss.

At one point, Smart joked that the second he steps on the plane for the five-hour flight back to Atlanta, he will already be focused on next year’s team.

Tuesday, however, was a time for reflection.

During the press conference, Smart was asked that, as a Georgia native and graduate of UGA, what did winning back-to-back national championships truly mean?

“We were talking, coming over here, about high school football, and how much it means in our state,” Smart said. “We'll always recruit the nation to find guys like Brock, but we'll always recruit our home base, too, because it just means so much in our state, and it's been a state starved for success and for something good to happen.”

So, what does the future hold?

Smart was asked the inevitable question about going for a three-peat next fall, and how the Bulldogs can keep from letting down now that Georgia will have two straight national titles sitting inside its trophy case back in Athens.

“(This year) it wasn't this team's nature to relax. This team—this wasn't as hard a job as people made it seem, because of the people we recruited. Not because of talent, but because of what they were, like the DNA inside of them. These dudes, this team was different. This team was just different,” Smart said. “Every time they were backed against the wall, they came out scratching, clawing. Like, if we had a bad practice, we'd have a great practice. They responded to everything. So, the team's makeup: I didn't talk about this enough last night.”

As for next year, of course, going for three straight national titles is going to be tough.

Georgia must go about the business of replacing Bennett at quarterback, along with other key pieces on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

“I do think it's going to be much tougher. And I do think we're going to have to reinvent ourselves next year, because you can't just stay the same. Like these two guys up here, they're coming back,” Smart said. “We have a lot of guys, in my opinion, that are going to come back, and it's easy to get comfortable. And comfortable does not win.”

Backup tight end Brett Seither placed his name in the NCAA transfer portal on Tuesday.

The decision was not unexpected.

Seither played in 12 games for the Bulldogs but did not catch a pass.

Georgia will celebrate the Bulldogs going back-to-back to win the 2022 National Championship on Saturday, January 14 in a ceremony at Sanford Stadium.

…Stadium gates open at noon.

…A parade down Lumpkin Street to Sanford Stadium will start at 12:30 with a Dawg Walk at 1 p.m., and a formal program beginning at 2 p.m.

…Due to ongoing construction on the South side of Sanford Stadium, there will be several changes from last year’s championship celebration:

Dawg Walk will begin at the Baxter Street extension and proceed thru the Tate Student Center Plaza.

Entry for this event will be through gates 1,2,3, 4, 4A and 5 only.

Seating in the stadium will be limited to the West, East, and North stands only, in addition to reserved seating on the field.

All tickets are complimentary and will be available to Hartman Fund season ticket holders, faculty & Staff season ticket holders and students who received full or partial season ticket packages beginning January 10th at 9 a.m., by logging into their ticket account. Remaining tickets will be available to the general public beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday, January 12th via Georgiadogs.com.

All regular gameday procedures will be followed, with campus opening up to visitors on Saturday at 7 a.m.

Parking will be available on a first-come-first-served basis throughout campus with the exception of Tate Center Deck, Reed Hall, Psychology-Journalism, Railroad, East Campus Road, Legion, and Stem Deck parking lots.

Additional details will be forthcoming on GeorgiaDogs.com and via UGAAA social media channels.