Tag: swift

Georgia football: Kirby Smart excited about loaded group of WR signees

Georgia football HC Kirby Smart talked about UGA’s loaded group of incoming wide receivers.

After Georgia football landed college football’s No. 1 ranked recruiting class, head coach Kirby Smart spoke with the media about why he recruited each position group the way that he did.

A big reason why Georgia was able to secure the No. 1 class was in part thanks to the signing of five wide receivers, four of them being 4-stars.

We all saw the step back that Georgia football suffered this past season on offense without Mecole Hardman, Terry Godwin, JJ Holloman, Riley Ridley and Isaac Nauta.

Next season Georgia will be without one of its best receivers Lawrence Cager, who shined in 2019 as a grad transfer from Miami before suffering a season ending injury.

Luckily for the Bulldogs, though, Georgia football is in good shape with the return of two five-stars George Pickens and Dominick Blaylock, who are both sure to have big sophomore seasons.

Once Cager was done for the year, it was pretty much Pickens and everyone else. Blaylock did a fine job but did not see enough action.

But there was just no help for Pickens or Blaylock and Smart acknowledged the lack of skill at receiver throughout the 2019 season.

On Wednesday, Smart spoke about the importance of Georgia football landing such a talented class of wide receivers this recruiting cycle.

“Wide receiver was an area that we had to address and I’m excited about the wide receivers that we have as additions to this signing class and those guys are expected to help us. With Justin (Robinson) being here now and going through a couple of bowl practices with us, it’s been a big addition to get those guys.”

Robinson was the only one of the five to enroll early in Athens.

Kirby Smart on importance of Georgia football’s 2020 RB signees

Georgia football HC Kirby Smart discussed the importance of bringing in two running backs in the UGA recruiting class.

After Georgia football landed college football’s No. 1 ranked recruiting class, head coach Kirby Smart spoke with the media about why he recruited each position group the way that he did.

As for the running backs, Georgia is losing starter D’Andre Swift to the NFL Draft and back-up Brian Herrien as well.

Waiting behind those two are former five-stars Zamir White and James Cook. But Georgia football coaches knew they needed to take two ball carriers in this class to reload the running back room, so they brought in 4-stars Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards.

The running back recruiting was a juicy story this recruiting cycle thanks to the drama that accompanied 5-star back Zach Evans, who Georgia eventually just passed on it sounds like.

On Wednesday, Smart discussed the significance of bringing in a second running back in this class to go with Milton.

“Getting a second back in this class was key for us. We’re excited about the young man we have, we’ve been after him for a long time, he’s come up to a lot of camps. He plays in what probably is one of the toughest divisions, regions in our state and he’s played a high level. You talk about the people he’s had to play against, he’s been a really good player, I’m talking about Daijun Edwards, and Kendall joining mid-year has been a big addition, too.”

Nothing to see here: Jake Fromm, D’Andre Swift fine after brief in-game argument

Georgia football QB Jake Fromm, RB D’Andre Swift HC Kirby Smart comment on brief argument in the game vs the Aggies.

I loved what I saw on Saturday late in the game between Georgia and Texas A&M.

There were 2:47 left in Georgia’s win over the Aggies when D’Andre Swift took a draw play from Jake Fromm and was dropped for a loss of two yards. After the play, Swift jumped up and got in his quarterback’s face, expressing his frustration with Fromm for not snapping the ball earlier.

Kirby Smart explained the situation in his postgame press conference and what led to their quick confrontation.

“I wouldn’t call it a dustup,” Smart said. “He was just frustrated. It was a situation where we don’t run that play into a pressure from that side. They did a good job disguising it.

We told Jake to milk the clock and when you milk the clock you can’t change the play. You milk the clock, you’ve got to run the play. It wasn’t a great play, but that’s called passion, it’s not a dustup.”

Sure, seeing your two star players argue is a bit awkward, but at the same time, if you know anything about the passion that goes into playing a team sport, it’s what you love to see.

Passion, that’s what was pouring out of Swift late in the ball game. That very well could have been both of their final games between the hedges and even though the Dawgs struggled to execute and find the end zone, those two left it all on the field.

Anyone who has ever played sports understands this. No, they are not going to go into awkward-mode, not talk to each other, not like each other’s Instagram posts or generate weird eye-contact when passing each other in the football facility.

They are fine. It was an emotional game. It’s an emotional sport.

“I think that was the play, the shot clock was on like one,” Swift said. “We hiked the ball. It wasn’t really a good play. I was telling him that we’ve got to snap the ball earlier but it wasn’t on him. I was just frustrated.”

“If you played football, you know teammates argue sometimes; we’ve got nothing but respect and love for each other. It’s football, it’s a game. Nothing is between us.”

Fromm did not push back. He let Swift express his frustration and carried on, eventually guiding the team to a win.

Fromm’s reaction to Swift’s complaints was exactly what you want to see from your quarterback. That’s the kind of stuff that NFL scouts will love when looking at his college tape. The guy is a leader and understands how to handle the emotions of 10 different players on the field at any given time.

“I think it’s just two competitors that want to compete and do the right thing for the offense,” Fromm said.

“The clock is ticking, they showed a blitz there at the last second and I didn’t have enough time to change it. That’s part of the four-minute scenario, trying to milk out the clock and two guys want to be really competitive and win a football game.”

Smart described it best following the game.

“It’s love,” Smart said. “When you have family, your family doesn’t always get along, right? But they love each other. These two young men love each other as much as anybody.”