Kirby Smart reacts to Vanderbilt’s attempt to boost CFP chances

ATHENS — Vanderbilt does not have the same opportunity that Georgia does this weekend.

While the Bulldogs are playing in the SEC championship game, Vanderbilt is at home, unable to help its fleeting College Football Playoff chances.

But that isn’t for lack of trying. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that the Commodores looked into playing an additional game this weekend. The hope was to impress the College Football Playoff committee one last time before Sunday’s final rankings.

While speaking ahead of the SEC championship game, Georgia coach Kirby Smart was asked about Vanderbilt’s attempt and whether more teams could try it in the future.

“Everybody on the outside looking in wants another game and people would argue you had plenty of games,” Smart said. “Everybody on the inside looking out says, I’m good. I’ll stay right where I’m at. I’m OK. I played well enough.”

The Vanderbilt news wasn’t the only topic Smart discussed Thursday, providing a number of updates on his team ahead of Saturday’s game against Alabama.

Below is a full transcript of Smart’s comments.

Everything Georgia coach Kirby Smart said before SEC championship game

Opening statement

“Thank you guys. I first want to thank the SEC for such a great, tremendous event. It’s been an awesome opportunity for us to participate in this game many times. It’s not something that we take lightly. It’s one of the best venues and most-viewed games of every entire football season. I think the caliber of the two teams this year is indicative of what it is every year. You’ve got two great programs. They both played really tough in-conference schedules and will battle for an SEC championship in Atlanta on Saturday.

“So our guys are excited. We’re honored to be there and got tremendous respect for Alabama, Coach (Kalen) DeBoer, the job he’s done, the gauntlet his players went through in terms of the games they had to play and them earning their right to play as well.”

His thoughts on Georgia’s 2026 signing class …

“Yeah, really excited about that group. It was a kind of anticlimactic like it normally is nowadays on signing day. Our prep was focused on Alabama. So it’s a tough day organizationally because you’ve got a lot going on at the same time, but very, very pleased. Excited about the guys we’ve got. I always look at it as you look in reverse and you look back, you know, three years from now and you really value that class then. And nowadays more of these kids have to be ready to play. I look at our practice yesterday, our practice the day before, and the number of true freshmen that are in the two deep is probably higher than it’s ever been in my 10 years here. And I got a feeling that’s here to stay. So that’s saying that those guys we signed yesterday would be factors in our depth chart next year, and they’ve got to be ready to play faster because you just don’t have as many people.”

On losing a QB commit late for the second time in three years and how that impacts how Georgia secures those recruitments moving forward …

“I don’t think it changes at all. It’s part of the process. I mean, that’s not completely abnormal for kids to change their mind. You know, we’ve known for both kids a long time that there’s a possibility of that. I mean, it’s a commitment. It’s not a signee. So, you know that. You have plans in place. We talked all along multiple years. It’s not like it’s surprising. I don’t think that changes how you recruit. I think you still recruit the same way you recruit. You just make sure you have a plan in place if it happens.”

On where Ryan Puglisi and Ryan Montgomery are and how they’ve leaned on Gunner Stockton …

“Yeah, I don’t know that they’ve leaned on Gunner. Gunner’s doing his own prep, right? Gunner does a great job preparing for each game, and he prepared last year so that when his number was called he was ready to go perform. Those guys are their own individual selves. They sit in the same room with Gunner and they listen and they learn, they take notes. We get a lot, not a lot of action, but we get enough action with them that should they have to go in, they (have) got to be prepared. Quarterback coaches do a tremendous job of putting those guys on the board, asking them questions. They get reps. They don’t get as many reps as Gunner, and I think that would be the case all across the country is how well do those guys prepare because you never know, you know, when your number is going to be called.”

On the freshmen and sophomores and what he’s looking for in their development …

“Growth. You know, I think it’s really important. We played a clip from a former coach who talked about guys not being prepared and maybe not preparing the right way when their numbers were called. I would never want to feel that way. I don’t want any regret. And you learn through real experiences. And these kids, whether they’re freshmen or sophomores, you know, they’re in a long season. They’re in a longer season than they’ve ever been in. They’ve been in physical practices more than they ever have been. They’ve had a higher expectation put on them in terms of meetings and volume of knowledge than they’ve ever been in.

“So, you know, we’ve challenged them, and now it’s time to reap some of the rewards from guys having to step up and play from different guys being injured, different guys being out. You just don’t know when your number is going to be called. So that’s why we try so hard to two-spot things, two-spot walks, grow kids, challenge kids, put kids in and put them in an environment where they (have) got to respond because we just don’t know who that might be.”

On if he expects Drew Bobo to miss the rest of the season …

“You know, Marc, I’d be speculating because I still don’t know or determined what we’re going to do with the injury he has and until we determine that, I would rather not comment on it.”

On how he feels about center going into this game …

“Yeah, we’ve got a lot of guys that have worked at that position throughout the year. Drew has been dealing with an injury the past three to four weeks prior to this week, and so we had the good fortune of getting a lot of reps for Cortez (Smith) and Malachi (Toliver) and Donnie Glover, and all those guys have been getting reps at center for probably three to four weeks. They all got reps during camp.

“Malachi and Cortez have gotten some invaluable reps down with us in terms of scout reps, which I love. They get to go against really big, physical people and practice against us, and they’ve kind of rotated down and back each week and gotten better. So I’m excited to see them have an opportunity to play.”

On if he’s decided on a starting center …

“Again, that’s not something that we’re prepared to disclose right now. I think those guys are working and they’re getting better. Good thing is we got three of them that are very capable.”

On how effective Chauncey Bowens has looked …

“Chauncey has been like he has the last couple weeks, so he’s been doing good.”

On JaCorey Thomas down the stretch of this season …

“Yeah, JaCorey is a veteran guy in our program defense, four years. He’s been a really good special teams player. He’s played a lot of snaps. He’s played dime, nickel, safety, free safety, strong safety. He’s one of the guys that’s played four spots for us and done a tremendous job and continues to grow and get better.”

On Bo Walker …

“Yeah, Bo’s not going to be with us. He was required to have a surgery, so he’ll be out for this game.”

On Ellis Robinson IV and Demello Jones’ progress since the first Alabama game …

“I think those guys have progressed well since they arrived. Again, they both hit the weight room hard last year. Got bigger, stronger, understanding our system, playing well, learning from Daylen (Everette). They continue to grow and get better. Donte’s (Williams) done a great job with them. Those guys are good football players, they love football, they’re instinctive. They challenge people. They cover our wideouts every day in practice, which I think is a huge benefit for them in their growth.”

On Zayden Walker …

“He’s grown up a lot. He’s still developing in terms of his growth in our defense. You know, he came from a high school that he was required to play a lot of different positions, and he didn’t get always to play inside linebacker. So it’s a position that he’s growing at. He’s got a lot to learn. He’s growing. He gets reps on the scout team each day, and he works really hard. He’s going to be a good football player.

“He’s been a good rusher. He’s been a good third-down guy for us. He’s been a good special teams player for us, and he’s gaining more confidence. And I think as he gains more confidence, he’ll be able to contribute even more.”

On what kind of advantage it is to have played in the SEC championship game before …

“Yeah, I think playing in the venue is a big experience key. I think having been in there with even the freshmen last week, but the guys that played last year, I always think experience is a weapon. So is talent. So is preparedness and all those things will be a factor in the game. But our kids have played in this game quite a bit and they enjoy it and it’s really a credit, a reward to a season that was extremely tough and a lot of really tough games in the fourth quarter for both teams. So this is what it is. It’s a chance to win a championship.”

On playing a team a second time in a championship game …

“I don’t know. There’s no real advantages. There’s no real disadvantages, you know, both teams have the same tape. Both teams have a, you know, a common thread that we played each other. So it’s not a huge advantage one way or the other. I don’t feel like I think it’s sometimes coaches overdo it or overthink it and I just think it boils down to, you know, who blocks, who tackles, who prepares the best, who mentally prepares the best, who handles it the best. I mean, I think we’re both dealing with different injuries. And so there’ll be a lot of next man up mentality in this game. And, you know, a lot of times that plays a role in it. Maybe it wasn’t the same matchup the last time. It’s a different matchup this time and where that highlights or helps or changes for each team. Who knows? We’ll find out.”

On if injuries could be an even bigger factor in future SEC championship games as the league moves to nine conference games …

“It could, certainly could, but that’s, it’s speculation. I think any coach will tell you that the nine game season is going to be more wear and tear in terms of our conference for sure. And if rosters are tight tightening, which they are tightening, teams are going to have fewer guys next year than they had this year due to guys aging out and DSAs (designated student athletes) removing themselves and the portal stuff that it’s going to become harder and harder to have the depth you need and maybe whoever does that best. Is that a competitive advantage as well?”

On LT Overton and how his absence changes things …

“Well, first off, I don’t know anything about what’s going on with him in terms of injury, but I have a lot of respect for him. We recruited him out of high school. He’s a Georgia kid. He, his dad was there at Bama while I was there and known him for a long time and have tremendous respect for him as a player and competitor. So I wish him nothing but the best with everything he’s got going on in his family that way as well. For us, it’ll just be next man up. You know, that’s what you do as coaches. You try to prepare for who’s going to be there. Um, again, it’s not, it’s not something that we know how they’re going to change things because he’s not there. They got other good players. They’ve got depth just like we do.”

On Ethan Barbour and Talyn Taylor …

“(Ethan is) just able to do more. He’s able to, you know, run. He’s off the scooter. He’s moving around. He did some indie really light work in terms of getting back out there with the tight ends, but it’s still a slow process for him. It was a significant injury. He’s been in great spirits. I’m really proud of the way that kid has handled things. He’s been attentive. He’s such a good energy guy and a great team guy the way he’s around the team and around walk-throughs and into things like wants to get out there and do it, very eager to do it, get back and learn. So I appreciate the way Ethan has approached that.

“In terms of Talyn, he’s done a good job. He did a good job last week in terms of working. He’s trying to get back in the flow of things. That’s important that you get back in the flow of things. It’s not like you can just click your heels together and magically be back. He’s got to do that from a stamina standpoint. He has to do that from a contact standpoint and from a confidence standpoint. So that’s something that he’s working towards and he’s done a great job of pushing and helping in practice and hopefully going to be ready to do some things.”

On the message to the College Football Playoff committee with regard to strength of schedule …

“You know, I don’t feel like I’m prepared. I wouldn’t say qualified to speak on that because you know when they changed what they talked about last year and it was more of a strength of schedule metric to be measured. I don’t to be honest with you. I don’t know that we’ve seen that measure come out in their rankings. I focus so hard on what we control and what we control is, you know, how we play how we prepare. It makes for a very, very tough job and a tough selection and it seems like we keep going through this each year and we maybe have another year of it this year.”

On what playing in this game means to him and his career …

“Well, I think it’s been a great honor to play in it first. I mean to win SEC championships are one of the hardest things to do. I mean, you look how elusive they’ve been, how few programs have been able to win them across the SEC. It’s a credit to getting to the game. It’s even a bigger credit to win the game and it’s usually an indicator of a quality of team you have if you advance to the playoffs and get to play or whether that you know back in the four-team model or this model in terms of the talent level of our conference the number of teams have gotten in.”

On teams potentially scheduling a 13th game to show their worth to the College Football Playoff committee …

“Not sure, probably depends on what seat you sit in, right? So everybody on the outside looking in wants another game and people would argue you had plenty of games. Everybody on the inside looking out say I’m good. I’ll stay right where I’m at. I’m OK. I played well enough. So, you know, I think it’s been talked about. I think it’s, you know, one of those things that was tossed around early on last year about the possibility of playing within your conference or cross conference to have some play in games, which is nothing more than an extension of the playoffs and you would play in from that perspective, but we’ll still debate about who’s in those games and who would have the right to play in those games to advance and move on. But there was speculation about that early on and you know, I think there’s coaches that think that’s a better model because it gives their fan base something to hope for and wish for outside of the 12. Everybody’s trying to get a piece of the 12 and it’s very elusive. It’s very hard. So, you know, if it gives more people an opportunity, that’s good for some and there’ll be those that probably would have made it in another year that might lose that wish they didn’t have that opportunity.”

On the history between Georgia and Alabama …

“I don’t think these kids pay much attention to any kind of history because I mean their team, their roster is almost as new as ours. I mean, I think both of us are averaging 33, 34% new guys. You know, we did play them last year in a classic game. We played them this year in a classic game and then you know, multiple years in this game. But I think it’s pretty clear that each and every game has a history in life of its own, and you play the game that season with the guys you have and the mindset of the guys you have. So, I don’t think these other games will have any effect on this one.”