Georgia’s tight end room looked a tad sparse following the departures of Charlie Woerner and Eli Wolf at the end of the 2019 season. John FitzPatrick and perhaps Ryland Goede remained as the only viable options, although five-star tight end Darnell Washington committed to the Bulldogs at the beginning of January.

Then, a couple of cold January days later, graduate transfer Tre' McKitty, formerly of the Florida State Seminoles, announced his plans to play his final college football season as a Georgia Bulldog.

McKitty brought in 50 receptions for 520 yards and two touchdowns in his time in Tallahassee. As to why he chose Georgia as his final college destination, McKitty pointed to the coaching as a major factor.

“I always liked Georgia growing up [and] took an official here coming out of high school. It just wasn’t the time then, but everything happens for a reason,” he said. “I came into the portal at the beginning of this year and had some great conversations with Coach Smart and Coach Hartley, and I knew Coach Monken was coming in with the NFL-style offense, and it was something I wanted to be a part of."

McKitty looked to be an exciting addition leading up to the season due to the threat he poses as an athletic pass catcher. Unfortunately for Georgia and McKitty, he suffered a knee injury during Georgia’s second scrimmage.

“I was just in the middle of camp and fell on my knee. I took a somewhat minor knee injury and had to be sidelined for a few weeks,” he said.

Following the injury, McKitty underwent arthroscopic surgery to correct an issue with his meniscus. The injury made him unavailable for Georgia’s first two games of the season.

“It was definitely hard to sit on the sidelines and watch my guys out there working, especially for the first two games, but definitely super blessed and exciting to be out there this last week and continue to play the rest of the season with my guys,” he said.

In his Georgia debut, McKitty tallied two catches for 57 yards. The 6'5", 245 lbs. tight end looked to be a lethal weapon over the middle of the field, proving more than capable of making catches in traffic.

While this upcoming matchup of SEC heavyweights will be the first McKitty has featured in, it won’t be the first time he’s standing on the opposite side of the field as Alabama. Florida State lost 24-7 to the Crimson Tide during McKitty’s freshman year. Although he didn’t record any stats in that game, he’s no stranger to the build-up of such a highly anticipated game.

“It’s tough. Night game. No. 2 vs. No. 3,” he said. “But you really have to do your best to blur it out and try to take it like any other week. We play in the SEC, so we have a big game every week. We try to focus on ourselves, blur out the outside noise, and get back to work to get ready for another week of football. We try to bring our best every game, so it’s not like we’re trying to up ourselves for this game. We’re just trying to stay playing Georgia football.”

McKitty remembers watching Georgia and Alabama play against each other in the 2018 National Championship, and is looking forward to being featured in the next rendition of the matchup.

“I sat on my couch and watched it, actually,” he said. “I never thought about playing for Georgia in the Alabama game, but I’m just glad to be here. I know those [UGA-Alabama] games were extremely competitive and exciting to watch, and I can only imagine what it's going to be like playing in it.”