Kirby Smart sounds the alarm on Georgia football

Opening remarks about camp and school and team as a whole um we're in process of going through Camp obviously I don't look at Camp as ending until um Saturday scrimmage so we get through scrimmage 2 uh I would consider that the close of uh our camp uh unfortunately our academic calendar doesn't match up perfectly with what we got going on so School uh will start for the players uh tomorrow they're getting their books um they're um back to being student athletes and it's hard to do that in in Camp early on so we get them for a lot more time up until tomorrow and uh makes it a little bit tighter schedule for us but progress has been good um wouldn't say that the the first crage was really up to the standard or our expectations um we did not have a lot of enthusiasm didn't um play to the level that I think we need to play to uh but good news is I got another chance uh this Saturday and really every day um to go out and practice I have been pleased with like all the det dets that go into uh the leadership in terms of like showing a younger player how to do it guys are coaching guys guys are on time uh we must have 6,000 checks and balances in the last two weeks of what time you got to be somewhere and the guys have been great about that which says a lot about them as people but we got a long way to go as a football team we are nowhere near where we close close to where we need to be I feel like we have less depth than we've ever had and that's kind of a common theme talking to other coaches I talk to I I call it the deterioration of football because every year we've been here I feel like we've had more players uh capable of going in and play winning football and every year that goes down so we got to keep working to increase that number yeah coach I'm I'm just curious Injuries and playing physical this time of year are injuries a byproduct of football at this time of the year when you're getting your football team prepared for the season or is there anything that you can do to maybe limit the exposure to that as a football coach while still remaining physical in practice Yeah that's the the unanswerable question I mean like H how how do you play football and practice football uh without getting injured the guy that figures that out is going to be worth a lot of money because you can't do that um you have to be smart you have to be calculated you have to know uh your positions but I mean injuries are part of football year round it's not like this time of year we don't really do anything different this time of year than we do in Spring um we don't do anything really different this time of year than we do in November and December injuries are part of football so um we've been lucky so far we haven't had like sign significant injuries but we have a lot of guys that are soft tissue beat up banged up and we're trying to get them back going off the injuries what is Jared Wilson and Chaz Chambliss injury situation Jared and Chaz each of them dealing with and just what they look like at this point in the week uh Jared's doing well he's been dealing with Achilles tendonitis um he's been great he's worked on the side he's been able to push um but it was able to do some things yesterday and and continues to uh ramp up his uh uh exposure and ramp up his reps so he's doing well Chaz is dealing with the soft tissue ham string he's dealt with before but um he's he's been able to do some things too he he did more yesterday and he'll do a little more today but um both dealing with some nagging injuries yeah with the lack of depth how Transfer portals affecting depth much of that is because of the transfer portal and guys are just leaving the program more and two how much easier is it for a freshman now to find themselves in a position to help you guys from a depth standpoint because there is just less of it at the upper levels yeah I don't know I don't know if it's transfer portal or the deterioration of football could be less people playing um high schools not having uh as much of an opportunity to develop kids because their practice uh regimen and and practice schedule is tougher it's a trickle up effect so we get the guys coming from the high school level but we have the same number of players so it you can't blame the transfer portal for that I think we lose some continuity um in terms of guys that have been in the program multiple years Therefore your next statement of making it easier for a younger player to play um I don't know it's any easier cuz he's up against um guys that come out of the portal but we have less guys that know uh and execute our system um and we're not even really considered a portal team I mean I don't know how many we've averaged over the last four years I can't imagine it's it's even double digits I mean we don't have many guys uh coming from that so um but it's not as much quality depth that I'm used to uh but we probably have more than a lot of people Update on Jordan Hall Kirby can you provide an update on Jordan Hall what he's dealing with uh you know did he have a setback of some sort uh yeah he he Jordan Hall was coming back starting to run um from his what was the exact word there he he had a stress fracture in uh his tibia um and he is now dealing with the exact same thing on the other uh uh leg so the other leg uh had the same thing that that was strange for it to occur but he didn't a until he started running and he was coming back from the the first one so we had to fix the other one but he's on a good timeline it's not a long-term deal and now he actually knows what to expect because he's had it done to uh the left and the right so I don't know the order of those but it doesn't matter he he he he he had had the other one fixed he's going to be back and we don't know the exact timeline for that but he's been in great spirits and uh I'm just glad they found it when they did Explosive plays on both sides of the ball Kirby you've spoken at length about the import of explosive play margin I'm through your first sever practices what have you seen from both sides as far as being able to create explosives and and prevent them I I've seen both sides of it I mean it's it's it's one day it's one way and the other day it's the other way there's not been a dominant side of the ball if that's what you're asking there's been explosives and then there's not been explosives um and a little bit of that predicated off of uh eye control uh execution depth U who's in practice who's out of practice but at at the end of the day you know both units have had glaring moments of like success and in in moments of of not success I mean there was a consecutive four-play stretch by the offense where they had four explosives in a row uh Saturday but then there was stretches where they didn't so I mean it's like every year I can't I can't sit here and tell you that that one side of the ball has been explosive and the other side has given them all up it's about bance speaking of explosives I think Explosive runs occurring more over the last few years you all have had more explosive runs than previous years despite running the ball a little less is it kind of an example of not only opening up the offense but when you still retain a physical style it allows you to do multiple things not just pass yeah I you know I would have thought before you said that we had less explosives running than we have in the past but but maybe that's just when you start getting to the big numbers we do have a lot of 10 to 12 yard runs but we didn't have the home runs the long runs that historically uh we've had which are like another category of explosive more explosive um but it's something that we pride ourselves on and to be honest with you you're not going to be an explosive passing team because explosive passes happen off playay action and you can't be an explosive passing team off play action if you can't run the ball so the balance of those two is really critical um we've been more explosive passing the ball in the last two years than previous years um a lot of that has to do with the skill players it has to do with the quarterback has to do with how the coordinator calls the game um but we certainly need to be explosive in both um I think we've got the backs to be an explosive run team we've got the perimeter blockers to be an explosive run team and we've got the offensive line to be an explosive run team and uh I hope that we're more capable of longer explosives meaning when we get through there to 10 to 12 we can turn those into 4050 and not 20 30 yard plays yeah coach I know you're still in Fall camp but when you start that prep for Clemson do you think there's going Familiarity on preparing for Clemson to be a level of familiarity with that roster considering there's been a lot of recruiting battles or at least a lot of players that you've attempted to recruit on that roster that you might be well aware of yeah I I reserve that to when we start worrying about them we we we we got a lot to fix guys we are we we we we were not where we need to be in terms of like depth and and and enough guys to play winning football um and I'm really so focused on like how we can get better today and and how our team can get better and and that I I mean that's that's down the road yeah what have you seen out of What have you seen from Nate Frazier and other freshmen running backs freshman running back Nate Frasier and what sort of makes him different from the other guys that you have in that room well I don't know that we know that yet um he certainly uh a guy that's trying hard to learn to understand I don't think he's ever had the detail of on this run this is your key he gets the ball and runs and there's a lot to our blocking schemes in term of who who who is he reading who is he looking at what are his steps um what does he have to do in protection he's got a lot to learn in terms of that he didn't go through spring so his his spring is now his spring was in in the summer so he's got a lot of catching up to do he is an explosive uh kid he's got good track times he's got good speed he's got great toughness um he's a little ball of energy but you know there's a bunch of guys in that room that are they're doing a great job johnon is doing a great job the young kids White's doing a good job I mean those guys are all doing a great job and and we need them toh help us this year K can you give us a couple updates Other running back updates: Trever Etienne as well Roderick and Branson Robinson on the running backs will Trevor ATN be available for the Clemson game and what is the health of Rod Robinson and Branson Robinson how are they holding up yeah those room those that room has been uh really good in Camp they've worked really hard you know cash is a guy that people just don't give enough credit to and he's a really good back he's he's great picking things up uh I feel like Trevor's the leader of the room and understands thing and does a really good job of setting the tempo and setting the standard uh uh Branson's uh been great Rod's been dealing with a little bit of a toe uh toe injury that he's dealing with and then the three freshman so we're looking forward to getting all those guys ready to go Kirby two things one you were pretty Carson Beck and his progress with depth on skill positions open challenging Carson to become more assertive where is he at on that and then two uh you mentioned that his ability to be effective has a lot to do with the players around him and what they can pick up and what have you seen in terms of the progress there yeah I think I talked about it a little bit like the ones can go out there and execute get calls line up I mean might not do it just right but there's there's not a lot of uh eras there's there's a there's a good nucleus 11 guys who've played a lot of football when you count Arian Dylan Oscar uh uh um Dom and and and those guys but there's not the the depth around Carson at the skill positions that there's been in the past and you know it puts more pressure on him to probably feel like he's got to be perfect to feel like he's got to make the right decision the protection check do this do this and and can I count on that guy that hadn't done it yet to do the right thing and trust that he's going to do it even though he may be a freshman those are things that that that that Carson's he's he's got to get familiar with those other guys um and that's the hardest part in the depth is you know we we we count on uh our quarterback to put us in the right play or or make the right decision on so many plays and Carson does a great job of that you know I think he's had a very detailed attentive Camp um assertive is not something that he is he's just not naturally going to go out there and just um be assertive vocally he he he's assertive in his check and he's assertive in his decision making that's certainly much more important than just what he says to the group as a whole what uh stood out to you about the Defensive backs evaluation defensive backs in that first scrimmage and just where do you feel like that group as a whole is at this point in Camp got a long way to go um we don't have a lot of proven Playmakers they have to prove it by how they play um they've got to have you know better eye control we got to tackle much better we did not tackle very well uh we didn't run to the ball and punch the ball out at the level we need to I got a lot of confidence um in the the players in the secondary they have to go do it live action scrimmage this Saturday practices every day um to get where you know we're going to be really comfortable with them coach re realizing you're in the How to do you manage recruiting with new scholarship rules coming midst of Camp right now the it it seems like there's a lot of traction about the all scholarship model coming on pretty fast and I'm I'm just wondering you guys are always in the throws of recruiting how how are you managing that when it comes to looking at your 2025 roster you recruiting more guys in anticipation of that or um how are you kind of handling it not really doing anything with it I mean we're focused on our team our roster we'll have to make some decisions uh we we have a timeline set apart for like the off weeks um different times in the season when we sit down and look at our roster currently our roster next year how that looks in terms of what do we have committed what do we need what are our numbers going to be I think you're referring to the 85 versus the you know potentially 105 and that's that's that's there there's a lot of uh gray area in that cuz you know you you don't have to go to 105 um a lot of people may choose to I don't know that5 scholarship players is uh the right way to go about it because you've got 105 nil capabilities there you've got more people that would be unhappy you don't have Walk-Ons when you do that and um you know I I don't think has set in stone yet that everybody's going to rush off and go to 105 that's a huge burden on uh the budg the budget of the athletic department and honestly there's a lot of kids here that you know I I think do a great job for us uh as walk-on and you would be dismissing them to go out and say you're going to sign 20 more high school kids so um we really haven't gone down the the path of the numbers yet when you talk about the depth of Concerns on depth charts your team can you identify one or two areas areas in particular that are most concerning at this stage yes can you identify it with us no coach I wondering far as the helmet in the I mean the radio in the helmet how has that kind of been going in Helmet communications situation practice in the scrim last weekend it's great I mean we it's not a I mean do it every day we do it every every opportunity we get we uh we use it we use scrimmages and uh we communicate with the guys and you know I think logistically it may be an issue when all the people in the stands the crowd noise I'm really interested to see how this is going to work for guys can they hear it in an SEC Stadium because you see a lot of NFL players covering their ears and they're like trying to really hear it and a lot of times our our stadiums especially at the the national level in the SEC um can be hard and so you there's no rule for that you know there's no like got to tell them to be quiet so we can hear you know so that you got to have a plan for how you're going to execute it Kirby what have you seen from railan and CJ as they go into that second CJ Allen and Raylen Wilson and how they are adjusting season especially with smile banged up coming into Camp more comfortable they've been thrust into the Limelight had to play earlier probably before they were ready to be honest and um you grow up when you have to do that the amount of time I think you forget sometimes like what year they are it happens to me all the time I think R and CJ are like experienced vets on our team because they're in the upper echine of playtime and upper echelon in terms of years here because majority of your team is Young um even our mid years I'm out at practice and I'm thinking like man this kid's already been here a year no he hadn't he's only been here five six months um and you got to grow up fast uh with the way this thing is now because young players have to be ready to play yeah what has Damon Wilson been able to Damon Wilson progress do especially after noticeably bulking up this off season Damon's been good uh he's he's been able to be a a contributing factor Mor on first and second down uh I think learning his assignment like he could go play on third down and play with Reckless abandon and do a really good job last year now he first and second down he knows what to do he understands it he has better keys he has better strike he can hold up against a really physical tackle um he's he's improved um just by merely being here and going through the spring he's improved he's also gotten a good bit of work with uh with Chaz and Chaz and some of the injuries we've had there Kirby can you talk about three of Offensive lineman: Jamal Meriweather, Jahzare Jackson, Daniel Calhoun the offensive linemen specifically Jamal Maryweather Daniel Calhoun and jazir Jackson yeah all three of those guys uh Jamal Maryweather jazir Jackson and who was the other one Daniel yeah they all have gone uh with the twos and threes um Daniel's probably gone a little more uh at the twos with with Jared's uh injury and moving guys around where the other guys have gone with the two some and threes they they they continue to get better they need to um they're still considered uh young uh offensive lineman in our program and that's the hardest place to play besides quarterback in the SEC there's nowhere you will get exposed more than on the offensive line so those guys are going to continue to get better and uh and develop they all three have size on their side time for one more question here we want to ask about uh Jamal Jarrett kind of his journey here Jamaal Jarrett and his weight issues at Georgia and coming in lose a lot of weight and how has he done with all of that stuff and what kind of Camp is he having John's been good uh his weight has been up and down I think it's something that he knows and he he's trying to work on and uh he has moments flashes of being able to help us and we need help at that position in in in terms of depth because we've got you know injuries at those those positions