Opinion: What else did we learn from Media Days?

ATLANTA – It was a busy day for Georgia during Tuesday’s session at SEC Media Days.

Kirby Smart, along with Jonathan Ledbetter, J.R. Reed and Terry Godwin spent approximately four hours making the rounds, breakout sessions with different media, and even taking some time to sign a few autographs.

There was a lot of info to digest and a lot of quotes to parse at the yearly event, which serves as the unofficial kickoff to the 2018 football campaign.

Here’s what we learned:

National media won’t let Dawgs forget national title game

No surprise here.

You knew there’d be plenty of questions about Georgia’s national championship loss to Alabama and that was certainly the case.

Here’s one reporter’s question to Reed: “What does second and 26 mean to you?”

“The national championship?” Reed said.

Reporter: “How much is that discussed?” Reed: “It’s not discussed at all. We’re players, we’re not fans; we don’t get hung up on things like that. We’ve got to move on to the next play, got to move on to the next game. We’ve just got to keep pushing, keep going. We can’t get hung up on that. It’s over. That’s in the past.”

Smart wasn’t about to escape answering the same question.

“We watched it and evaluated it as a staff afterwards. Obviously, I see it on replays and different ESPN highlights. I got to watch it early with the 'Get Up!' With Mike Greenberg. I thought they might open with the SEC Championship, but of course not. That's part of it. I think we embrace that as coaches. I think that's something that you guys think about a lot, but not really us.”

Smart’s maturing before our eyes

It takes a year or two to grow into the role of being a head coach in the SEC, especially if you’ve never been one before.

That certainly was the case with Smart if you compare his first year with the Bulldogs to going into his third campaign this fall.

Talking strictly from a media standpoint here. During his first trip to media days back in 2016, it wasn’t the polished version we saw take the stage on Tuesday.

His first year flareups with the media have been well-chronicled, but starting last season and so far, this year, we’ve started to notice a change.

Smart’s gears grind 100 mph, he’s as intense and driven a person as I’ve been around, but it’s also clear he’s made a concerted effort to show a more understanding side.

Some questions still get to him. He hates the ones that deal with hypotheticals. However, unlike that first season, he’s not as quick to snap as perhaps he once was.

Tuesday’s turn on the big stage at the College Football Hall of Fame might have been his finest hour.

Smart was poised, professional and took each question seriously--no matter how silly some might have been.

He handled the Jacob Eason question with aplomb (I love using that word), with not even a roll of the eyes (there was plenty of that elsewhere, myself included).

More outside linebacker for Jonathan Ledbetter

This was a little bit of an eye-opener.

We’ve seen Ledbetter last year work a bit at outside backer when the Bulldogs went heavy against the run, but based on his comments Tuesday, we might be seeing it a lot more.

Why? Apparently, grad transfer Jay Hayes is making a bigger impact than some first thought he might.

If Hayes really is all that, he’ll give the Bulldogs a trio of 300-pounders (along with Tyler Clark and Julian Rochester) to use in run-heavy sets, with Ledbetter setting the edge as a 280-pound outside linebacker.

The Tucker native said he loves the idea and praised Hayes for what he’s already brought to the team.

Also, I’m a sucker for happy endings, and I can’t give Ledbetter enough props for getting his life back on track after his well-publicized off-the-field incidents from a couple of years ago. Proud of him.

Yes, Deangelo Gibbs is back with the team

Some outlets made a bigger deal about this, but yes, Smart did confirm Gibbs is back with the squad.

That was already assumed, considering we saw him with teammates at Camp Sunshine three weeks ago, although Tuesday was the first time we heard Smart actually acknowledge that to be the case.

I asked Reed how Gibbs has responded, and was told he’s done everything he’s been asked to do, along with being a good teammate on and off the field.

Gibbs will obviously have to prove himself all over again once fall camp begins shortly, but Reed sees no reason why he can’t compete or ultimately become the starter at Star.

Smart loves him some Monty Rice

Nobody expects Monty Rice to replicate what Roquan Smith was able to do for the Bulldogs last year at middle linebacker.

However, from the sound of it, the sophomore from Alabama has made quite the impression on his head coach.

“Monty is awesome to work with. Every time you see Monty coming down the hallway, you see his face light up. He smiles before you say anything. It's like he's happy. He's fired up. This is a kid that grew up in a community that embraced him,” Smart said. “I'm tough on him. I'm very intense in practice. Last year, sometimes, you forgot he's a freshman, because he came in midyear. Here's a kid that comes in midyear, embraces the role of being a linebacker behind Roquan. He learned from Roquan.”

Rice made 22 tackles for the Bulldogs backing up Smith last fall.

“Those other players really embraced him. Then he comes out and makes a lot of tackles,” Smart said. “The one unique characteristic he has is that he can run. I think the linebacker position, if you had to cut everything else, outside intangibles--you want speed. He can do that. He's an exciting player. I love working with him day to day. He's very serious about academics. I think that embodies what a college student-athlete should be.”