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UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 2, 2019

Kirby Smart

Athens, Georgia

COACH KIRBY SMART: Welcome, golfing season is over. We've had a really good conditioning, off-season session, some really good bars kind of hit from a mat standpoint, summer conditioning. Want to give a lot of credit to Scott Sinclair and his staff. They do tireless work during the summer and we don't get to see a lot of it because the players are on a little different schedule.

But our guys have been excited to get started for camp, and Scott's staff did a great job working with them. It's very time intensive. Sometimes they have to have four and five workouts a day with different groups, so they are repeating the same workout and our strength staff is by far the best in the country in my opinion with what they do. Excited for them and excited to get started. With that, I'll open it up.

Q. What do you look for out of the guys now, especially the defense?
COACH KIRBY SMART: Well, I think when you think about training camp or preseason camp for us, it's about creating an identity.

So we are trying to get effort, toughness, all those intangibles. You can't get all those in one day. We can't go out there today and create a lot of toughness by how we hit people because we don't have pads on. But the biggest thing we're trying to do is to be the best conditioned team in the country, most disciplined team in the country and defensively we are trying to improve our pass rush and a lot of other areas.

But I'm excited about seeing those guys. Got a lot of competition on defense. Going to be wide open.

Q. Secondary getting revamped. What do those guys have to do to earn that spot?
COACH KIRBY SMART: You'd say revamped. I wouldn't say revamped. I feel like we've got a lot of guys coming back that have played a lot of snaps. I'm excited about those guys. When you look at it, the group we went out there in the Bowl game with is the group we're playing with now.

So a lot of those guys have gained experience. Got some really good competition in that room, so I'm excited about those guys. They are a year older. We are really young I felt like last year in the secondary, and now this year we have more experienced players and the best players are going to get to play.

Q. To what extent D'Wan anticipate now?
COACH KIRBY SMART: D'Wan is not fully cleared but D'Wan is able to do passing drills, individual drills. Things where we know that he can be safe and not take a hit and not risk injury. So still don't know when he's going to be fully cleared but I'm excited to see him go out and work today. He gets to do seven-on-seven, individual drills. He gets to do a lot of things.

Q. Talk about the offensive line.
COACH KIRBY SMART: D'Andre ran has done a great job. He's helped reshape his body from a strength standpoint. His weight hasn't changed more but his body fat has come down. We've seen quickness in his ability to reach people, play at center, powerful. He's smart. He's going to be calling a lot of protections and doing a lot of things along with Jake. Excited about D'Andre's attitude and effort. He's done a lot of good things in the off-season.

Q. Jake's coming into his third camp. How does that feel for you?
COACH KIRBY SMART: Well, glad we got him. I mean, Jake's a good football player. He's smart and does a lot of good things from a leadership standpoint. He has tremendous energy in meetings and his enthusiasm rubs off on people, his confidence does. Comforting to know you've got a guy that has that much experience and that's a luxury because you don't always get that in this league.

Q. In terms of the atmosphere in training camp or preseason camp, how important is it to get the guys in the hotel and get them to spend this entire period together, rather than just coming in for practice, going out?
COACH KIRBY SMART: Training camp is a grind and I think it's important that it is that way. You create adversity in camp. We practice almost every day with the exception of we have to give them a day off per week. But it's a grind, and you go to the point of getting exhausted. You go from running 2,000, 3,000 yards a workout in the summer to possibly running 5,000, 6,000 in a practice.

We create adversity with how we practice. The heat creates adversity. Our team will define how they responds to all these situations. You guys may write that it's based on this guy or that guy but really it's who we become in camp, what is our level of toughness, effort, commitment, to all of the things we've got to be good at. It takes what it takes to be great. So there's really no choice, no decision. It takes what it takes and it takes hard work, man. It takes beating the heat and that's what this is about. It's about finding out who has some grit within him.

Q. Seems like you have an advantage of having some good leadership in place. How much flexibility does that give you and your staff to concentrate on some other things:
COACH KIRBY SMART: Well, I would never turn my back on leadership regardless how good our players are as leaders. I think that's still yet to be did he finds. I'm certainly pleased with where they are right now and we have a lot of guys that care about this team and care about this university. It's important to them that they have a successful season.

They still have to confront and demand excellence of anybody, but I would never take my attention away from one thing to another, especially in support of leadership. That's the ethos, all the stuff that goes into our team is way more important than what defense we all what offense we call. It doesn't matter when it comes to that.

Q. Can you update us on the defensive line guys?
COACH KIRBY SMART: Everybody is cleared on the D-Line. Julian is going to be cleared today but we are not in pads. Were we at pad in tackling, he stills had some room to improve there to be in full contact, but all those guys are back, Carter, Julian, all the young guys will be out there. Zamir, same as last time you asked. He's doing well. He's ready to go out and compete. Excited to have him out there. He's excited to be back. He's a lot further post-op obviously than a guy like Julian.

Q. What's the plan for Zamir once you put the pads on?
COACH KIRBY SMART: Zamir is clear, so again, we'll do everything like normal. He'll be thudded, just like every other back will be thudded and we'll progress from there. We won't practice live until the first scrimmage.

Q. You talked a lot about not finish strong last year. Is there anything as you looked that stems from preseason camp last year that you might change in camp this year?
COACH KIRBY SMART: Not really. I mean, what we did at the finish of last year is behind us. We are looking forward. We are excited about this year. Thought we had a good camp last year and it's really important to have a good camp this year.

Q. All the players you've had a hand in bringing to Georgia -- in terms of systems and expectations that, they understand your expectations?
COACH KIRBY SMART: I don't think it changes much. I don't look at the guys that weren't the guys I brought here any different than the ones that I did. I mean, they are part of the University of Georgia program. They adhere to our principles and values, and I love the guys that I inherited as much as the guys that we recruited, so it doesn't change much in my mind.

Q. How much of an asset has Dell McGee been to this program?
COACH KIRBY SMART: Well, he's a great person for me to lean on. He's a guy that's been a head coach at the high school level. He's done a head coaching short stint there at Georgia Southern, went to the Bowl game. Is very live. Can relate to the players. Is a great recruiter. Very knowledgeable. Making adjustments on the offense. He's been a huge bonus for me personally and when I'm not here, he's usually the guy in charge.

Q. Demetris Robertson is a fascinating character. How much has he changed to meet your criteria physically since this time last year when he was first showing up?
COACH KIRBY SMART: I don't know, to meet my criteria -- those are your words. Those wouldn't be my words. He doesn't have to.

What he has to do is play within our system and play well within our system and play better than the people in front of him and that's his challenge. That hasn't changed from that was last year. He still has to play the best three to be the first three out there. To be in the top six and rotate, he's got to be in the top six and I fully expect him to do that. He did that in the spring.

He did really well. He's done a lot of good things. There are a lot of things that he can still work on, as all our guys can. But he's fast. He's explosive. I think he understands the system a little better and I think he's probably more prepared for the competition level he's going against now.

Q. When you look at the outside linebackers, pass rushers, do you think this is an exciting time -- looking back at the spring, Channing (ph)?
COACH KIRBY SMART: Yeah, he has that depth, he had that depth kind of in the spring, a guy like watt her where he was working both sides -- we've got good depth there. I'm excited about that but at the same time, the guys that were there, other than Nolan and Jermaine were all there last year and we weren't as productive as we needed to be at that position.

So we have to improve some production and create some ways for those guys to take advantage of their skill-set which is fast, big, where we've got to get rush. The bottom line is, we don't get the rush, it doesn't matter what we do.

Q. How are the receivers coming along?
COACH KIRBY SMART: You know, I haven't got to see them enough. I see them lift. I see them do conditioning at times. But it's hard to answer that question without some practice.

Q. On the receivers, you have guys, there's pure, raw talent, in terms of run out, catch a pass. What about the blocking part of it, the other fundamentals required to be able to play?
COACH KIRBY SMART: Yeah, I think we'll find out a lot more about that when we put pads on. Hard to say right now where they are if you're referencing the three new ones, and Cager who has done it at a high level but he hasn't done it with us. They have a chip on our shoulder. You guys continue to call them out. We continue to all them out and that gives them an opportunity to go shine.

I hope the growth happens fast and we need to get the guys touches as much as possible so they can get should confidence, because the biggest thing they are missing is experience.

Q. Some of the things you can't teach, how cool to see him make a play like that check, D'Andre?
COACH KIRBY SMART: It's fascinating for all of us, the runs he had at Kentucky. He's an incredible guy with the ball in his hands. We have to find ways to do that and certainly excited for him to be 100 percent and to play at a high level.

Q. What's the biggest challenge initially for the defensive line?
COACH KIRBY SMART: Create havoc. That's the mantra for all of them. No. 1, they have to get on the field. They have to beat people out and they have to compete and we have to be in unbelievable conditioning and shape to be able to play, play after play, at the pace that these offenses play.

But at the end of the day, we've got to be productive. We've got to cause havoc and we've got to tackle for a loss, sacks, ball disruptions and get those things out of the defensive front.

Q. A guy you've asked about once or twice since you've been here is Justin Young, it seemed like he may have been catching his footing here in spring practice. Where is he at right now and is he a guy you feel like can jump into that rotation and help you up front?
COACH KIRBY SMART: He's the product of a program. Very rarely do you find a guy that's a fifth-year senior that gets better every single year, because what happens is a guy comes out for the Draft, guy transfers, guy plays four years because he didn't get red-shirted. Jay is a unique guy in that he's stronger for most of the guys. He's been in the weight room for five years. He more mature and understands the defensive system. There's a lot of value in having seniors.

I mean, the best teams I've been around have been senior laden, and fewer and fewer college teams have a lot of seniors. But he's a guy that's been a product of development and been a part of this program and he gives you consistency and he gives you toughness and that's something we're trying to create in our team.

Q. How much fun and how productive --
COACH KIRBY SMART: Yeah, that was two days ago. It would have been illegal. We're not around to do that (Laughter).

I enjoy those situations, and I think the kids do. They want a chance to compete. They want a chance to have fun and a chance to change things up. As long as they are getting the work a lot of times, difference running around that track and running around that field is not different. Those kids enjoy that and I enjoy watching them compete.

Q. What type of progressions will we see from James Cook in preseason camp?
COACH KIRBY SMART: No. 1, health. He's got to stay healthy and be able to maintain his health and body weight. He's explosive. He's got to learn the offense to the point where he's comfortable being in the lineup at all positions. We've had a lot of packages with him involved last year and some games we didn't need it, and some games, we did, and he wasn't able to execute it, but that's not where he's at now.

He's a much more mature individual and we're excited to see what he can do. We think he's one of our most explosive players.

Q. The way the last two seasons ended, is that motivation for this group? And do you worry about any lingering scars from the last couple years?
COACH KIRBY SMART: I don't think so. I think the biggest thing -- how we finish is important, and you learn from that, and you learn from that in the off-season, we learn from the day we get back with those games and we start our workouts and we emphasize dog time, which for us is the fourth quarter all the time.

We're always looking forward and we're always looking for an opportunity to put ourselves in a good situation to execute. You learn from your mistakes, but you don't dwell on them.

Q. How much has Richard LeCounte's role grown as a safety and as a leader of the defense?
COACH KIRBY SMART: Yeah, Richard is much wiser. He's very -- much more coachable. He understands that he's in pursuit of excellence, not perfection and there's a difference. I think that as he grows, he can help younger players in that room realize that you're not going to be perfect, but we are in pursuit of excellence. When a coach asks you something, challenges you, it's just to help you and he's now much more receptive of that and I think it's made him a lot better player.

Q. What's your expectations for Davis (ph)? He's a little more healthy this season?
COACH KIRBY SMART: I don't play -- you've got to have 64 tackles, three sacks. My expectation is that he leads our defense; that he gives us all he's got and he competes and he teaches the younger players.

Q. How much of a committee, I guess, are you comfortable with at linebacker? I know you did that last year out of necessity. Are you looking at that as being more of a package deal?
COACH KIRBY SMART: It's going to depends on how the set ratio is. If there's a lot of separation, you won't see a package, if there's not much separation and it becomes an advantage for us to keep a fresh guy out there, then he'll play more. The bottom line is we want the best players on the field at the right time and if somebody stands out, somebody is exceptional -- inaudible -- we didn't have a package -- we're going to have by committee if it's dead even.

Q. This is the start of your fourth season as a head coach. What have you learned the most about the job in those three years prior?
COACH KIRBY SMART: Don't sweat the little things. At the end of the day, a lot of big things going on. They are a lot more important than the little things and don't sweat them, and whatever it is, keep moving because it will pass.

Q. What are some of the little things?
COACH KIRBY SMART: I don't know. There's a lot of details I still really focus on because I like to and I think it's important every inch of practice. We only get a limited amount of time on that grass so every inch of that is really important. Outside of that, making sure that your coaches have the freedom to coach and your coaches have their personality impacting their position groups.

Q. You've got a lot of new faces on the defensive line. Can you tell us about those guys and what you expect from them?
COACH KIRBY SMART: We've had them here this summer and haven't seen them actually go out there and do one-on-ones. That and receiver -- I felt like the rest of our team was here in the spring. The new spot is the three wide-outs, four if you include Cager and the defensive line, Travon, Bill, Tymon, Zion and those guys have made really big strides in the summer.

But I don't go out there expecting these guys are going to be better than the veterans we have. We're going to have to identify quickly who has the potential by week four, five, six, to pass up someone. Because it's going to be hard for them to do that right away. That's part of our job is positioning the people that are getting on the bus, the buses, the group that goes to Vanderbilt and putting them in the right seats. We always talk about that, and I'm excited to see Bill, Zion, Tymon and Travon help us. To what extent, I really won't have good judgment until we get to some practices.

Q. Monty, whenever we get the chance to talk to him, he's got this stoic two-point personality and feels like he's on a mission. How does that correlate to how he practices and how he plays?
COACH KIRBY SMART: It's the exact same. Monty is a businessman when it comes to that. He's not cutting up, messing around at practice. He's very serious about what he does. He's got a purpose about him. That's what we knew about him in high school. His high school coaches were a really good high school program and they said this guy takes it serious. He buys in, he leads, and everything he does there, he's done for us and we love the way he practices.

Q. Tymon was a bit of a concern, with the addition of Wolf, Fitzpatrick is a guy we've heard good things about. How are you feeling about that position going into this camp?
COACH KIRBY SMART: Hard to answer that question. Probably until we get a couple practices under our belt. Wolf has done a tremendous job and put up really good numbers this summer, lifting, running, but we haven't done it on the grass we and Brett and the new kid and so we are going to have a good group there, really competitive group. John has done a good job. It's going to be interesting to see how that comes out but we'll find out in a couple practices.

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