A lot can change between spring practices.

This time last year, the majority of Stetson Bennett's reps came with the threes. Buried behind the depth chart behind JT Daniels and Carson Beck, Bennett looked like a long shot to see the field in 2021.

One year later, Bennett is now a folk hero, fresh off winning Georgia's first national championship in over four decades. He is now in a position he's never been in—the unquestioned starter for spring practice.

In his comments following the national championship, Bennett mentioned having things he wanted to hear from the Bulldog coaches before deciding to come back.

Bennett and Kirby Smart had several conversations in the days following the win. They talked about what the future could hold for Bennett if he stayed in Athens.

"I just wanted to know, you know, for me as it was time for me to be a little selfish while I was making that decision," Bennett said. "And then now, I'm all aboard. So I wanted to hear a few things, and he told me—some of them were what I wanted, some weren't. They were closed-door conversations, but in the end I thought that for me I wanted to come back and play football at the University of Georgia."

For one, Bennett still wants to grow and improve as a quarterback. His game is far from perfect, and he has a tendency to make throws that put the ball in danger.

One of the focuses this spring is cutting down on those "bonehead mistakes," as Smart called them.

"We showed a lot of confidence in Stetson, if you didn’t notice," Smart said. "He answered that with the way he played. I think he’d be the first to tell you he can still grow and get better."

There's room for intangible growth as well. Bennett has to take on even more of a leadership role now as the starting quarterback. Smart said the team isn't where it needs to be in terms of leadership yet, and it showed up in a disappointing Tuesday practice.

But Bennett is already showing other signs of comfort. He struggled at times last year with correcting receivers and discussing the finer points of route-running in practice.

Now, as the leader of the offense, he feels that much more confident in pointing out mistakes.

"We all knew JT was the guy going into last year, right? I wasn’t taking any reps, so who was I to go over and say ‘Hey, let’s run the route this way,’" Bennett said. "But now, there’s a comfort level and a respect level from both sides that I can go up and say ‘Hey, we’re not going to do that, we’re going to do this.’ I don’t want to be the parent, we’re all brothers on the same football team. If you see me doing something wrong, a drop, whatever, come let me know. But it’s more of a comfort thing, and being more vocal.”

It doesn't seem like there's anything for else to Bennett to accomplish in Athens. He's already defied the odds to even become the starter in the first place. He just claimed a title that ended a 41-year drought.

Now, it's about seeing where the program can go from here.

"I love football. I love this team. I love the relationships, all the things that it teaches you," Bennett said. "I also don’t think I’m as good as I’m going to be, and I don’t think this team is as good as it’s going to be."