ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart, along with Arian Smith and Smael Mondon, spoke with media Monday to preview the Bulldogs’ matchup against Alabama on Saturday.
Head Coach Kirby Smart
On the new era of Alabama…
“They're different defensively, for sure. Obviously, the offensive staff and defensive staff changed, but there's remnants. The quarterback's the same, so you keep some things the same with them. Most of college football is doing something similar, so there's some similarities into that. Obviously, the history there that's at Washington, Kalen's [DeBoer] history, and then defensively, the history Kane [Wommack] has and what they've done this year as well, it's different.”
On Travaris Robinson and what he brings to the program…
“He's a really good coach, he's a really good recruiter, he's a great person, so he's brought a lot of energy, enthusiasm, confidence day-to-day in our players. He's a good football coach, so we're very fortunate to have him and he's got a lot of knowledge. As far as pertaining to them, he really hasn't been part of their staff. Intricacies into what they do defensively or offensively, not a lot there. He knows some of their players, but we know a lot of their players too, because we recruited a lot of them. Donte [Williams] was with some of them out in California, so it's not a lot to speak of, a lot of things that you can hang your hat on. You're worried about how we play, not the particulars about their players.”
On facing Alabama without Nick Saban as the coach…
“No, I don't expect it to be strange. That's just the normal course of progression. I think it's strange going back there sometimes because I lived there for, our kids were born there and lived there for nine years and had such great experiences there. We had that in COVID, but it was more strange then because of the stands.”
On Jalen Milroe…
“It's a considerable jump as a just natural pocket passer. You see him make more throws now that are like rhythm throws, on-time throws, RPO throws. You could tell he's become more comfortable with those things. Still, some of his best and most exciting plays are when things break down or when he runs the ball by design.Either one is very dangerous, but you can see him as a deep ball passer, the vertical passing game, the shots, the rhythm throws, the outs, the timing throws, the RPO throws. He's improved immensely at that part of his game, but he's always been good at the athletic part of the game.”
On the nostalgia he feels in Tuscaloosa…
“Less now. You move on. I think the last time we went, it was four or five years from the time we had lived there. It's so weird when you play there because you're in and out. You're there and then you're gone. It's just different. You really focus on the players, what they have to do, what we have to do to execute, and it takes away from that thing. There's a lot of people that are still there in the organization that I'm close with and have a lot of respect for, but that's the case in a lot of these places in the SEC.”
On assessing and the challenges of facing Jalen Milroe…
“Do you look at last year's game? Well, you always look at things like that from a personnel standpoint, matchup. You see guys in that game, our game, that overlap. But with him, the challenges are immense because he's an incredible football player. There is no design to a play that you can draw up and then say, ‘Well, I'm pretty sure this is going to happen on this play,’ with him because you don't know what's going to happen. Sometimes the worst thing you can do is cover everybody with him, and sometimes the best thing you can do is cover everybody. It just depends. Are you capable of getting him down on the ground and tackling him at times? What matchups do you have? He is as different a football player in college football as I've played against in a long time because people think he's just a runner, and that's not the case. He has a tremendous arm and can do things with his arm that other people can't. He can reach spots on the field and get it there faster than you can brake on it, better than most arm talent people. So, it's a tremendous challenge to defend a guy like him.”
On the value of a bye week for Carson Beck and Mike Bobo…
“Value for Coach Bobo and Carson, I think it's relative because they had an off week, too, so it's not like you're going to make these incredible jumps because of a bye week. What do you do in the bye week? You look back at yourself. You look back and you do quality control. You try to find tendency breakers. You try to find new wrinkles. You try to really get better at blocking and tackling, which is what football is. That's what we focused on was that. How do we get better as an entire team, even the younger part of your team? So, that was the focus of the bye week.” “In terms of our linebacking core, I think Smael [Mondon] is closer to healthy. I think this time last year he was having to play with a really hurt foot, and he was pushing through. He pushed through in the SEC Championship game with a significant injury. I don't know if he's 100 percent, but he's much closer. He's come off a significant surgery and playing much better. The two younger guys are a little bit older and a little more experienced. Still, those guys, when I look at Raylen [Wilson] and C.J. [Allen], they're relatively young players. They're in their second year. They got to play a lot more last year than typically they would, and then Jalon's [Walker] playing as well, multiple positions. Those four guys are all playing good.”
On the analysis of the linebacker core…
“In terms of our linebacking core, I think Smael [Mondon] is closer to healthy. I think this time last year he was having to play with a really hurt foot, and he was pushing through. He pushed through in the SEC Championship game with a significant injury. I don't know if he's 100 percent, but he's much closer. He's come off a significant surgery and playing much better. The two younger guys are a little bit older and a little more experienced. Still, those guys, when I look at Raylen [Wilson] and C.J. [Allen], they're relatively young players. They're in their second year. They got to play a lot more last year than typically they would, and then Jalon's [Walker] playing as well, multiple positions. Those four guys are all playing good.”
On an update on Mykel Williams…
“I'm hopeful. We'll see. He didn't do much last week. He got a lot of rehab Friday and Sunday and was able to run and do some things Friday and Sunday, which is positive. He hasn't been out of practice today, and we'll see how today goes.”
On adjustments made from the Alabama game last season…
“I don't watch the games in the offseason. We watch the games after it. We go through and critique those and then try to get better at the tendencies and the things we have to. We look at future opponents, and Alabama's a future opponent, but it wasn't the same staff as it was prior to that.”
On Warren Brinson and Jordan Hall…
“Warren Brinson practiced last week, the end of the week, and then we're hopeful to get Jordan Hall back who's been working really hard, tirelessly, doing rehab, and been busting his butt all weekend. So, we'll see where he's at today.”
On preparing for Alabama’s explosive plays…
“You do your job. They've got explosive plays that are what would you call off-schedule explosive plays, and they've got on-schedule explosive plays. So, when you have a chance at both those, it just increases your opportunity. And their explosives are super explosive. They're not talking about the 15-20 variety. They're talking about the 50-60-70 variety. They've got some really good, skilled players out on the perimeter that are explosive. They've got a quarterback that defines explosive, and they've got good backs. So, when you've got good football players and weapons that they have out on the perimeter, it can be explosive. Our job is to try to prevent those, not give up big plays, and a lot of that starts with how well we play around the quarterback.”
On Ryan Williams…
“He's in the same line with the guys they've had in the past. Super quick, talented, confident with the ball, great ball skills, great quickness. He's a track athlete that was elite as a junior. He comes out, and he's already performing at a high level. I don't think that there's a lot of anxiety or nerves for him. He's not one of these guys where the moment's too big for him. He naturally jumped right in and has made plays in every game, and they have a lot of really good skill players out on the perimeter, and I think that Jalen does a good job of using his skill set to get them the ball.”
On Alabama’s defense…
“Played really hard. They’ve got guys flying to the ball, punching at the ball, getting the ball out, disrupting the quarterbacks. They've been really disruptive in terms of things up front they do to create issues, batting balls, and they're physical. They're physical and fast. When you look at them, they have a depth in their front that they're able to play a lot of guys with size that are hard to move. So, they do a really good job defensively, and they're multiple. They've got split safety and single high looks. They do a good job changing it up.”
On going against an Alabama team Nick Saban is not coaching…
“Well, he recruited a lot of them, and they're good players, you know, and I think any time you go against a really good team that's a powerhouse in college football, it's a challenge. I really look at it like this is a hell of an opportunity for our kids, our program, on a national stage. We're on the national stage a lot. We've been on the national stage a lot, especially the last three to four years. So it's the reason kids want to come to Georgia. They say, I want to play in games like that. You know, most viewed game two weeks ago Saturday night was our game. It's going to probably be that way this Saturday night. When you start looking at it, kids want to have an opportunity to play in those type games, and we're going to have more of them after this. So, it's a great opportunity to play on the national stage, and that's what we built our program on is playing tough opponents.”
On the difference between Alabama’s team from last year…
“I don't know that. I don't know their game plan. So, I don't know how similar or different it will be. We're a different team. They're a different team. They're a different staff. We're a similar staff. So, I can't compare last year's game to this year.”
On veteran leadership…
“I think each one has a different impact. There are guys in the locker room, upset, and everybody handles that in different ways. I think the motivation it gives to guys to want to come back and have an opportunity to win an SEC championship, which this group didn't do last year. They have a chance to do that. It doesn't all hinge on this game, but that game did. I certainly think that a lot of our guys, you know, remember it, and they want to use that as motivation where the motivation should be to play your best and to beat your opponent on a big stage on the road in the SEC, which is always a challenge. It's really about the preparation we do today in these next three to four days.”
On Nick Saban’s broadcasting career and life after coaching…
“He's extremely thorough and he enjoys what he does. I'm thrilled that he gets an opportunity to do what he wants to do and be with who he wants to be with within his family and enjoy that. I'm really happy he's still part of college football because he makes college football better.”
On the evaluation of how the team starts games…
“Well, I wouldn't say that we've started fast. I would say that everybody wants to start fast, but sometimes it's like that. Sometimes there's no rhyme or reason and then sometimes there's things you do that you can do better; you can execute better. Sometimes they just beat you and they just whip you, and it's gone both ways, offensively and defensively. We've had drives defensively where we gave up too much field position and too many consecutive third downs that we didn't get off the field that maybe just made our offense start backed up. It hasn't been perfect, but we have shown resiliency and that's a trait that I would probably trade outside of perfect. I would trade a lot of traits for resiliency.”
On not focusing on last year’s SEC Championship this week…
“Nope. I don't think we chase the past at all. I think that you watch the tape, the two different teams, we're focused on what we can do to be our best this week. The ghost we're chasing is past performances this year and what we can do to clean that up and how we can be more efficient. I wouldn't say it's anything to do with them.”
On Daniel Harris’s arrest…
“Yeah, I'm terribly disappointed and something that we don't stand for.”
On what winning the game against Alabama would mean…
“It means we've got to get ready for Auburn. It's really that simple, guys. It's a conference schedule game. It's going to be a really tough environment on the road, which sounds like a broken record because the last one we were talking about was a tough environment on the road. Win or lose, the next one's going to be really hard and the next one's going to be really hard and the next one's going to be really hard. They all are hard. In our league, in our conference, you see it every week. It's tough and it's physical. So, we've got to have a great week of preparation. They've got a tremendous team. I have nothing but respect for Kalen DeBoer and what he's done with that team and that staff. I think he's done a great job of putting them in a position to grow and get better, and they've gotten better with each game. So we need to do the same this week.”
Sr. WR Arian Smith
On his assessment of the receivers after three games…
“We’re in a good place. We’ve made some plays on the perimeter, and helped our team when we needed plays. I feel like we’ve come a long way, and we’ve still got ways to improve. I’m looking forward to the future and what else is to come.”
On facing man-to-man coverage…
“I love playing against man, because it gives me that opportunity to go against just one other person. It’s who’s going to come out on top. Are we better than them? That’s a coverage that we can show that, so I’m looking forward to that.”
On the mental process of having big games like Alabama on the schedule…
“We definitely have a chip on our shoulder, because we’re a good team just like they are. People can say what they say about the game or predictions, so we just try to not let it bother us and play the game like we do any other game. Coach tells us we don’t have to do anything different to win the game that we’ve been practicing, just do what you do in practice, and take it to Saturday.”
Sr. ILB Smael Mondon
On the challenges of facing a quarterback like Jalen Milroe…
"Just how explosive he is. He's a dynamic athlete, but he's also a good quarterback too, throwing the ball. He throws a really good deep ball and with his feet, he's really explosive."
On his play after coming back from injury…
"I'm feeling good. I'm getting better and better every week health wise and game play wise, so I'm feeling good."
On the mentality of the team this week…
"With the Kentucky game, we kind of put that to bed early. On Monday, we looked at what we could have done better, what we did well, and what we could improve on. This week was really about self-scouting. Getting better ourselves, seeing what we need to work on, what we did well, and what we did poorly throughout the first few games of the season, and just going from there."
