NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Less than 50 days until the Georgia Bulldogs kick off the 2023 football season in Athens. In Nashville, they gave a sneak peek at what's been going on in the offseason.
Kirby Smart addressed media for the first time Tuesday morning, preaching in his words, that "retention is the key to success," pointing out the fact that every member of this year's coaching staff was a part of last year's championship team.
Maybe a year ago it was Georgia trying to prove the doubters wrong. Now, it's Georgia trying to live up to a new standard, along with a new threat to this program.
"The threat for us is complacency," Smart said. "The first thing you have to do is acknowledge that it's a threat. Like if you acknowledge that complacency is a threat, it's the first step towards stomping it out. That's not what we do at Georgia. That's not what we bring into our place. That's not what we bring into the culture we want to have. We want selfless people who love football, and that's what we build around."
FULL PRESS CONFERENCE
On Baldwin County's Javon Bullard, who is new to the role of safety, Smart said, "JB, that's a guy that he comes to work in day-in, day-out." "He's the same guy every day, a hard worker, first-guy-in, last-guy-out type of guy, and he attacks everything with the same mindset and same heart."
Tight end Brock Bowers, defensive back Kamari Lassiter and offensive lineman Sedrick Van Pran represented Georgia players at Media Days in Nashville.
Another guy out of the 478, Bleckley County native and offensive lineman Amarius Mims. Mims entered the transfer portal before last season unsure of what he wanted to do next, safe to say he's happy he stuck around.
Sedrick Van Pran said of Mims, "He's the guy that provides comic relief whenever things are getting serious and hot." He continued, "You know, you may be a hundred degrees and running guys are ready to get after it, and he says something funny to kind of calm guys down. He's that kind of guy."
Georgia kicks off against UT-Martin on September 2 in Athens.