This signing day is different than any Kirby Smart has been a part of.

Usually, he's locked into recruiting from dawn until dusk. But with most of the hay in the barn from the early signing period, Smart focused largely on other aspects of the Georgia program on Wednesday.

Still, Smart met with the media to discuss Georgia's new signees among other topics. Here's what Georgia's head coach had to say.

Rivals100 defensive tackle Christen Miller told UGASports earlier Wednesday that Georgia's consistency in recruiting him proved key to landing his commitment.

Smart echoed those sentiments Wednesday afternoon. The staff kept recruiting Miller throughout the ups and downs, a lesson Smart has learned through the years.

"When I’ve lost kids that I feel like we should’ve gotten, probably the No. 1 factor was, ‘Did we recruit him with the correct consistency?’" Smart said. "When a kid honestly tells you he’s going to another place because they recruited him more consistently, it makes it even more evident that you’ve got to be consistent. I’ll say this. We, and Tray Scott and staff, were extremely consistent with Christen Miller and it paid off."

The message didn't change with Miller during process. The staff built strong relationships with him, and the Bulldogs were helped by the relative continuity on the coaching staff.

Miller is now the latest talented player to join Georgia's 2022 defensive line class, joining the likes of Bear Alexander and Shone Washington.

"Christen Miller’s a worker," Smart said. "He’s one of the most impressive kids in terms of leadership I’ve seen at this age. He willed and pushed that Cedar Grove team to success. I value that. I value that seeing the kids leaving here that were just in the last class. I’m excited about what he can do."

On outside linebacker Darris Smith: "He does a wonderful job every time he’s been up here of competing, working out. He’s got a lot of growth potential. He’s long, he runs well. Kids that are that size that run well tend to do well in our system. He played like a receiver at times. He’s running track right now, one of the fastest track kids in that area. We’re certainly excited about him."

On receiver Dillon Bell: "He’s big, he’s built like a running back, he played a lot of running back. He’s got power, got good hands. He’s got tremendous work ethic. He goes to an extremely academic high school which checks a box for us in terms of being able to handle the academics here at the University of Georgia. When we saw him work out, that gave us validation that what we saw on tape was accurate."

On running back Andrew Paul, who committed to Georgia Wednesday: "Any time you go across the state of Texas, there’s a ton of good football players, really good high school football in Texas. Dell reached out to me and sent me his Hudl link. I got to watch him, I really liked him. Dell knew the kid, knew the family. He’s 210-pound back, got a great demeanor about him, he loves working out in the weight room. Just tremendous background checks where he’s played and the people he’s played for have a lot of respect for him. Getting to spend time around him on the actual visit validated that. He comes from a military background family, which fits a criteria for us in terms of discipline and being made of the right things. Once we checked out all that, it became, ‘Is he good enough?’ We loved him."

On linebacker EJ Lightsey, who committed to Georgia Wednesday: "He was a kid we had in camp, a kid we never stopped recruiting that we felt very strongly about. He ran really well at our camp. We put a lot of value on camp evaluations because it’s the only thing we see with our eyes. Once the character checks out, academics check out, play tape checks out, everything goes to the camp. This guy did a great job at our camp and is not afraid of working. In the day and age of speed, space play, covering people, he’s a tremendous athlete."

Smart called NIL an "extremely tangible" part of recruiting in today day and age.

Earlier in Smart's career, he sold program aspects like championships, facilities, and player development. He says many of those same factors are taking a backseat to potential dollar signs presented by NIL.

"I think sometimes, they’re getting misled into the numbers that are actually out there," Smart said. "No. 1, you can’t guarantee that. No. 2, to each kid it may apply differently. Some guys are at developmental positions and they’re going to have to work really hard. I’m not of the opinion kids should be making decisions based on that. You’re probably recruiting the wrong guy if that’s all they’re making their decision based on."

The changes in program management are subtle. Smart said they're not sharp contrasts, but rather gradual shifts as the landscape of the sport changes.

Those adjustments will continue into the future. Smart said coaches are now having to take into account how much players will buy into the program over NIL and having enough "core players" on a squad to withstand any "blinking lights."

"It’s easy to sit here and say, ‘What can I make NIL? How can you help me?’" Smart said. "Well, I can help you a whole lot more if you come out of college with a degree and you come out of college and get drafted. There are a lot more commas on those salaries than there are on NILs. You have to be able to explain that to kids, and they have to understand it and buy into it."