Smart's view on success and failure
As you might have noticed from the video of Kirby Smart’s Wednesday press conference, Georgia’s head coach was in a testy mood during his mid-week session with reporters.
Among the questions that seemed to raise his hackles; Would anything less than a national championship be considered a failure?
Silly? Perhaps.
But based on the expectations many have for Smart’s 2019 Bulldogs; it wasn’t a surprise that someone decided to ask.
“That question is just…I don’t view success and failure just on that. I think you guys do,” Smart said. “Some of the things you guys right where it’s this or bust or this or that. Here’s what we’re focused on — how good can we be tomorrow? Can we be the best we can?”
Many are predicting the Bulldogs to be just that.
Sports oddsmaker Danny Sheridan recently went on the Paul Finebaum show and predicted that Georgia would indeed win the national championship, something the program obviously hasn’t done since 1980.
Smart would obviously love to prove Sheridan correct, although the notion that the season would be a failure if that did not occur definitely rubs Georgia’s coach the wrong way.
“Do they have expectations at Georgia? Absolutely they’ve got expectations and we’ve got them for ourselves, but I’m not going to measure success and failure on one thing,” Smart said. “That’s not fair to these kids who give everything they’ve got to the program, the blood, sweat and tears and all of the people in the organization who give everything they’ve got to measure success and failure on one thing. I’m not going to do that.
“You guys may do it; fans may do it. Everybody has their right when it comes to that. I’m worried about what we’re going to do in the next 15 minutes when I go up there and watch this tape.”
Yes, Smart knows there’s plenty of work to do if the Bulldogs want to reach the pinnacle of the sport after going a combined 24-5 over the past two seasons.
“When you go 24-5, we want to do more. That’s really what the mantra is. 24-5, we want to do more. If we were 29-0, I would say we need to win the other ones by more. It’s never enough,” Smart said. “You show me a person who’s satisfied with what they’ve done, they’re done. It’s called retired. That’s just not the way I look at things and that’s not the way this program is going to be run. You’re in constant pursuit of excellence, not perfection.”
Kindley says Dawgs are ready for a game
Count left guard Solomon Kindley has someone who’s ready for the Bulldogs to play their first game.
“I’m so ready to hit another opponent,” Kindley said after practice Thursday. “Like Coach Smart says, iron sharpens iron. We’ve been working on each other, guys we think are the best we’ll see. We play the best team every day. That’s how I see it.”
Kindley won’t have long to wait.
After practice on Friday, Georgia will conclude the week on Saturday with what Smart described as a “physical practice with a focus on Vanderbilt” before being their regular game-week routine Monday.
Kickoff next Saturday at Vanderbilt is set for 7:30 p.m. on the SEC Network.
Hudson knows importance of special teams
Prather Hudson gets overlooked a lot when talking about the running back talented that Georgia has accrued in recent years.
However, when it comes to the role, he plays on special teams for Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs, he’s just about indispensable.
“Special teams are obviously very important,” Hudson said. “That’s how I’m going to get on the bus and that’s how I’m going to play this year.”
A regular on Georgia’s kickoff and punt coverage units, Hudson has made a name for himself as one of the Bulldogs’ more dependable performers.
He hasn’t missed a game in the past two years.
“If I shy away from competition now, there’s no expectation that I can make it in the league,” Hudson said. “That’s how it’s going to be in the league so I better prepare for it now.”
Quotable
“That’s the number one thing that Coach [Sam] Pittman, and not only Coach Pittman but the team, is trying to do. If we have a good offensive line, we can beat anybody in the world. Our chemistry is coming along very, very solid, not just on the football field. We’re a brotherhood. We commit to looking out for each other on the field and off the field so that’s going to tie into the field so we can be the best that we can be.” – Solomon Kindley on the chemistry of the offensive line.
This and that
…As we mentioned in our earlier practice report, freshman linebacker Nakobe Dean was spotted working out on the outside field while the rest of his teammates were inside during the early portion of Thursday’s workout.
From what we could tell, Dean – who was dressed in full pads – did not appear to be limited while he went through his paces under the eye of team trainers.
…There was still no sign of offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer (undisclosed injury), although Smart said Wednesday that he – along with Dean – have been at practice following their work with trainers.
