ESPN’s Paul Finebaum had Georgia head coach Kirby Smart on his show this Thursday to discuss the coronavirus and how it’s affecting Georgia football.
“It’s unique. If you’re not ready to embrace a challenge or getting comfortable with being uncomfortable; we always use that statement around our place, this is the ultimate get comfortable being uncomfortable.” said Smart on the overall experience thus far. “When coaches have to go onto virtual networks like Zoom it’s not always good for guys that aren’t as young as these players. I’ve found that most of our guys are much more compatible with dealing with computers than some of the older guys are. So it’s been an experience, we do staff meetings by Zoom, I know NFL teams we’ve talked are doing the same thing and we’re able to do Zoom meetings with our players.”
Smart expressed his concerns with not having his new quarterback Jamie Newman getting any spring practice reps. Newman, the Wake Forest transfer was rated as the #3 returning college QB, having 16-1 starting Heisman Trophy odds.
Along with a new QB, the Dawgs will also be showcasing a new offensive coordinator, Todd Monken this season.
“I think if everybody didn’t have it (spring practices), it probably wouldn’t bother me as bad.” Smart told Finebaum. “It certainly, you know, we’ve got a new offensive coordinator and a new quarterback coming in, whoever it’s going to be, and to not get those practices, boy, that’s tough.” But not very many people got a lot of it. On average I think we got three to four practices, or some of the SEC teams got in before they shut everything down. In the grand scheme of things that’s not a lot. I certainly think some young players, some mid-year guys that maybe came in thinking they were going to get a leg up on people, that may not be as big of a leg at all because they weren’t able to have those practices. If you were fortunate enough to have spring practice early, like some programs do, I certainly think that helps. To get 10 more practices in is huge.”
If issues pertaining to the coronavirus start to settle down, and the college football season is good to go, it is going to be an outright race for schools to get their players mentally and physically ready for the 2020 season.
On the matter of recruiting, Smart said:
“I think it definitely depends on when we get back and when kids are able to come to campus. Because you know as of right now we’re working off a May 31 date that anybody can come on a campus. Well, if that date keeps getting pushed back, it’s getting closer and closer to that early signing date. There’s a lot of debate and speculation out there. Should that early signing date apply? The problem with that is if you push that, you’re now pushing back on the next class.”
Finebaum asked Smart when he thinks team activities need to return in order for the season to realistically happen.
“I don’t think anybody should be really thinking about that right now as much as if we could put all our energy into washing our hands and the social distancing, we would do a lot better for ourselves than speculating on some of those things. We just don’t know the answer to so many things right now. The best thing we can do is batten down the hatches so we can have a season.”
Coach Smart’s concerns right now are not when things will return to normal, but more so trying to help contain the virus and do his part in preventing the rapid spread. This is the best thing we can all do right now if we really want a college football season this year.
Smart finished with some lighthearted comments about his family’s quarantine routine and how he’s using this time to spend quality time with his wife and kids.
“I can tell you this. I’ve figured this out. I’m not getting up at 6:30 again and going down with my wife to the Peloton to ride a bike. That only happened once and that won’t happen again. I made that mistake thinking that I could go down there and compete. I learned real quick that at 44, I’m not near as competitive as I used to be in the workout rooms. I’ve got to find other ways to get my exercise done, but I’ve enjoyed the time around the kids. So many people say it happens so fast that you blink and their gone. We’re actually getting to be present in their lives more than we ever have. I may never get this time again. So just trying to make the most of that.”