Kirby Smart makes it clear what he wants from Georgia during preseason camp

ATHENS — Even if it is the 10th season at Georgia for coach Kirby Smart, some things have not changed.

He still wants his Bulldogs to be a physical football team. He’s excited about the potential of his team this season. And he’s still tight-lipped when it comes to who might be playing quarterback and what the injury situation looks like for the team.

Smart spoke to reporters Thursday ahead of Georgia’s first preseason practice of the 2025 season. While the Georgia coach may not have been all that revealing on certain subjects, it’s clear where his focus lies for this year’s squad.

“We are young, we’ve talked about that at (SEC) Media Days, but we are hungry,” Smart said. “We got a team that’s fun to coach. We go out to practice each day, they’ve been enthusiastic. They’ve been out there working out, just doing all the things you ask. And like I said, a lot of them haven’t had an opportunity to play, and now this is their opportunity. So sometimes when you’re coaching, it’s a lot more exciting for guys when they’re having their first time.”

Kirby Smart talks about Georgia football preseason camp plans

Sometimes that youth shows up, but Smart is willing to work through that, especially if his team plays hard.

Perhaps no one summed that up better than junior linebacker Raylen Wilson.

“I feel like everybody’s more bought into the fire, passion, energy thing because I feel like nowadays college football, mostly people care more about money,” Wilson said. “Here we make sure that’s not the biggest issue. We focus on the passion and the love for the game.”

The motto for this team is “fire, passion and energy.” Smart first uttered the phrase in the spring, and it’s more surprising when it doesn’t come up at a news conference.

The whole team lives by the phrase, including the quarterbacks. Smart didn’t reveal who would be his starting quarterback and that likely isn’t coming before Georgia opens the season against Marshall.

Smart wants the competition between Gunner Stockton and Ryan Puglisi to continue up to and through the opener Aug. 30.

But Smart did seem to indicate how Stockton’s mobility allows Georgia to do more in the running game.

For as much as Smart might not have said, it’s evident that Georgia has gone to real lengths this offseason to improve in the run game.

“I want to see improvement, I want to see buy-in,” Smart said. “It’s a culture thing. It’s like, you get what you demand, and we’re going to demand that we stop it and that we’re able to do it and run it.”

The Georgia coach seemed eager and energized for the new season. Based on his tone, one would be surprised to learn that Georgia won the SEC last season.

Still, Georgia’s season ended with a loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. While finishing the season as the No. 6-ranked team might have been good enough when Smart first arrived as Georgia’s coach, that no longer is the standard for the Bulldogs.