ATHENS — Lamborghinis and new kids on the block. Those were the subjects du jour as the Georgia Bulldogs gathered at the Butts-Mehre football complex Tuesday to discuss spring practice, which got underway later in the day.
The most notable individual to step up to the dais and field questions was quarterback Carson Beck. The rising senior from Jacksonville found himself very quickly and inevitably answering questions about his famous new ride, a Lamborghini Uros Performante.
Beck drew national attention when he appeared on social media posing with his new $300,000 vehicle in early February. While dodging initial queries about the vehicle being leased, purchased or the gratis part of a marketing arrangement with Atlanta Auto Sales, Beck did not apologize for the perceived extravagance.
“It’s not a big deal at all, in my opinion,” said Beck, a self-professed “car guy.” “Like I said, I love cars; I got a car. That’s really all it is. Obviously, a lot of people are going to look at it and say, ‘what a terrible decision, what a terrible choice with his money.’ But it’s just a car at the end of the day, and it’s not that big of a deal.”
One can bet that Beck’s choice of vehicle will come up as the Bulldogs venture into a 2024 football season in which they will again be favored to win the national championship. If they do, having Beck back at quarterback likely will have played a big part of it.
In the meantime, Beck’s job is just doing the best he can to operate as Georgia’s QB1. Even though that was the expectation last spring, he had a very real competition to win over then-sophomore Brock Vandagriff, who since has transferred to Kentucky.
This spring has a decidedly different feel for Beck as he returns as a 14-game starter who completed 71.4% of his passes for 3,941 yards and 24 touchdowns with six interceptions last season. Beck played well enough that it would have surprised no one for the 6-foot-4, 220-pound fourth-year junior to go ahead and enter the NFL draft. Instead, he chose to return to Georgia for what will be his final collegiate football season.
There were many incentives for that, over and above Lamborghinis. Beck has a name, image and likeness arrangement brokered through Everett Sports Marketing that reportedly will net him well over $1 million.
Money, though, was not the primary motivation, Beck insists. Winning a national championship is.
“That would mean everything to me,” Beck said. “That has always been my goal, individually and as a player. It’s always this team’s goal. Some of the decision was based on (coming up short) last year, but every year is a new year, and that goal is always going to stay the same.”
The steps on that journey actually began in late January with offseason workouts, but the real heavy-lifting started Tuesday when the Bulldogs began their first of 15 full-squad workouts on Woodruff Practice Fields. The fact is, in the age of transfer portal, spring practices have become increasingly important as so many new players are coming on board at the beginning of the year.
The Bulldogs this spring are welcoming 33 new players, including transfers and mid-year signees, as well as four new position coaches. None of those individuals have been through a Georgia football practice.
“It’s a big group of guys,” Smart said. “It’s almost one-third of your team that keeps turning over each year. That’s really critical for me. We don’t get to spend much time with them. February, we got to spend a little more time with them. But that’s also a time … we try to spend time with our families. When March hits, we get to actually go out there and practice football and be around our players and implement our systems.”
In addition to player personnel, Georgia has a new running backs coach in Josh Crawford, a new receivers coach in James Coley and new defensive backfield coaches in Donte Williams and Travaris Robinson, who also is co-defensive coordinator.
Williams, who came from Southern Cal, actually went through bowl practices for the Bulldogs. Coley worked at Georgia before, and Robinson worked under Nick Saban at Alabama and Will Muschamp at Florida and South Carolina. So there is at least some familiarity with Georgia’s practice structure.
Crawford, who joined the Bulldogs after a year as receivers coach at Georgia Tech, is the real newbie.
“I’m confident in coach Crawford,” Smart said. “We interviewed him as a wide receivers candidate and felt so strongly about him as a football coach. I don’t think you have to be any certain position if you’re a good football coach. … I have a lot of respect for the places he’s coached, what he’s done and how he’s grown. We think he fits our program.”
Crawford will be counted on to get running back Trevor Etienne, a high-profile transfer from Florida, up to speed on the inner workings of Georgia’s offense. That meant he had to get himself up to speed first.
Likewise, Beck has been throwing on the side as much as possible with three new wide receivers who came in via the portal. Landon Humphreys (Vanderbilt), Michael Jackson III (Southern Cal) and Colbie Young (Miami) join a receiving corps that already included Dillon Bell, Dominic Lovett, Arian Smith and Rara Thomas among a large group of returnees. Thomas (foot) and Young (ankle) are somewhat limited to start with injury recoveries. Tight end Benjamin Yurosek of Stanford also hasn’t arrived, pending graduation at the end of this semester.
All of the additions have Beck licking his chops about the possibilities for the 2024 offense, which will be under the direction of coordinator Mike Bobo for a second consecutive season.
“They’re all really good, and they wouldn’t be here if they weren’t,” Beck said. “Super excited to start to work with them after the very little I’ve been able to work with them so far. I’m excited about what they bring to the table and what they’re able to do.”
Some outside of the football complex might wonder if Beck driving around in a “Lambo” might create tension or jealousy within the locker room. Teammates who were asked about it Tuesday said that most assuredly is not the case.
“We’re happy for him, man. He deserves it,” junior outside linebacker Mykel Williams said. “He deserves everything he’s getting because he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the country, we feel like, and he works hard for everything he gets.”
Said Tate Ratledge, who has been Beck’s roommate throughout his collegiate career: “He let me know he was going to do it, and I think it’s awesome because I know it’s always been a dream of his. He’s a huge car guy, so getting to see him do that was a big deal.”
Beck said he grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, always wanting a Mustang. He never got one.
Since he’s been at Georgia and in pursuit of an NFL career, he began to study high-performance cars in magazines and articles. For some reason, he said, Lamborghinis held a special appeal for him.
“Being able to associate myself with that brand, it’s such a large brand name, being able to get that car is obviously a blessing,” he said. “So, being able to get that car has been awesome.”
The Uros Performante is a highly sought car among “speed freaks” in the automobile enthusiasts community. It has a top speed of 190 mph, goes 0-to-62 mph in 3.3 seconds and sports an 11.25-second, 121.3-mph pass.
But Beck insists that, for him, it’s not about driving fast.
“There’s something about pulling out of the driveway and hearing a well-built engine and exhaust. I don’t know how to explain it,” Beck said. “It just puts a smile on my face.”
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