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ICYMI – Video/Transcript: Mike Bobo Fall Camp Interview

On remaining innovative as a play caller…

“That’s a good question. We’ve all got friends in this business that we talk to on a regular basis that are coaching. Trying to stay fresh and new with how you do things. Football is football. We’re really running very similar plays that we ran 27 years ago when I started coaching. Might be just out of different formations and different personnels and using different guys. Then I rely on coaches that have coached me. They’ve had a lot of experience: Coach (Mark) Richt and Coach (Jim) Donnan. Coach Donnan, who I played for and then worked for, and then Coach Richt who I worked for for a long time. They’ve got a lot of experience. So, you lean on guys with experience. My own dad will be at practice today. He was a coach a long time. I ask his opinion about how things looked and what we’re doing. I tell the players all the time, ‘You’ve never arrived, you’re always learning.’ That goes for us as coaches too. We’re always trying to find new ways to do things. Not necessarily new, but ways to do things better where we can be efficient on offense.”

On adapting as a coach over his career…

“Me and Coach T-Rob (Travaris Robinson) were talking about it earlier. Back in the day, the game may have been a little bit simpler. It was a little more physical, but you’ve got to adapt. The game is played in space nowadays. I don’t want to adapt so much that we don’t lose our physicality as an offense. What this program is built on and what Coach (Kirby) Smart is building on is toughness and physical and offense. You want to be innovative and play the game in space and try to be explosive. You’ve got to be explosive on offense nowadays. At the same time, you don’t want to lose your physicality as an offensive unit. That’s something we pride ourselves on. It’s a staple of what Coach Smart’s done here since he’s been here at the University of Georgia.”

On Carson Beck’s changes from last year’s camp…

“I see a guy that’s trying to have a sense of urgency every day. About everything he does and not taking anything for granted. He wrote a bunch of things on our board in our meeting room of what we need to do as a quarterback. Number one was ‘Be where your feet are.’ You hear that a lot. Here’s a guy that had a good season, his first season. There’s a lot of noise outside this building about the future, but he can’t control that. What he can control is being where his feet are every day. In the meeting that we’re going to go to here in less than an hour, it’s going to be an install, but it’s not going to be a new install for him. It’s going to be a lot of things that he’s heard over the four years, four to five years that he’s been here, but he’s going to be locked in, being where his feet are, paying attention. There might be one little nugget today that is a little bit different than last year. Something that’s going to help him be better at whatever play we’re installing. I think he’s got a really, really good mindset of focusing every day and controlling what he can control and getting better, because last year’s last year, tomorrow’s tomorrow. The most important thing is today, and that’s a hard thing to do. That’s a hard thing to do for me, and I’m 50, but we’ve got a head coach that’s going to stress that daily. The most important thing is our meeting here in a minute with the players. Then how we go out there and walk through, how we go out there and do stretch, how we do everything on a day-to-day basis, and he’s doing a good job of that.”

On coaching his son Drew…

“He’s hell on wheels. Jared (Wilson) has missed some things, but he’s got to do as much as possible. It’s always – that’s a very important position in the offensive unit. They communicate really to everybody what goes on up front. Jared is still being able to do that in the large majority of what we’re doing. We’re just being careful with Jared, but it also gives guys more opportunities to work at center and make those calls. We lost a four-year starter in Sed Van Pran, that has made the calls 100 times and was confident making those calls and communicating. So, everything we do from walkthrough to practice is an opportunity for those centers if Jared is not getting work to make those calls and communicate with those other guys. It’s probably more important this year because we’ve got so many young linemen that might not be able to hear the call and know what they got. And a lot of times, that center has got to pass everything down the line and make the call frontside and backside for those guys. It’s a little bit uncomfortable for guys like Drew (Bobo). But the only way they’re going to get comfortable is keep doing it and putting them under those pressure situations.”

On the Georgia offense in EA Sports College Football 25…

“I don’t know. The only video game I ever played was Tecmo Bowl and Super Tecmo Bowl, which is a lot better. A couple times I sat down with my sons, Jake and Drew, and they were playing when we had some time off over the summer. It’s amazing, you know, the plays, the concept, the defense. There’s a lot of good things in there. My son is trying to play, battling for the quarterback job at Prince (Avenue Christian School)) and sitting down and seeing what the defense does and making decisions. But I’d go with Tecmo and Super Tecmo Bowl. You know, I always play with the Oilers. Warren Moon was hell, and then Cris Dishman on defense. He could pick off about anything on Tecmo Bowl.”

On working with Arian Smith…

“Well, on a daily basis, I get to spend a lot of time with Arian. He’s definitely a big special teams player for us and that’s been a big role for him. But a lot of times, he’s repped so many things in special teams, I get to have him during those special teams periods and really work on techniques of running certain routes. We’re not running full speed all the time, but talking about routes and body control, working on the deep ball, adjusting to the deep ball with our eyes, not necessarily running a full speed post or a full speed go. But anytime you’ve got a guy like Arian or anybody that’s got speed, track speed when they’re on the field, sometimes you might not see the impact they have on a play because we might not have gone to it. But I guarantee you that defense knows when number 11 is on the field because of the speed and the ability to make not just a 20-yard explosive, but he’s a guy on your team that could have a 70-yard explosive at any time. And the thing with Arian, we’re just trying to be consistent every day. Here’s a track guy that played track I believe his first two years, was injured a lot before I got here. Knock on wood, and he’s trying to be consistent and being an overall receiver. He’s a really good kid and works extremely hard, and we’re excited he’s back this year.”

On challenging Beck to be exuberant on the field…

“First of all, I want Carson to be himself, okay? Carson can’t be Coach Bobo. He can’t be Coach Smart. But the nature of the position and what you play, you’re the leader of the offense and a lot of times the leader of the team. His actions and his body language speak volumes to guys. It could be getting on somebody’s a**, or it could be encouraging somebody. I still want him to be him. He has a great trait that he has such an even temperament, you know, whether we score a touchdown or we go three-and-out or he happens to throw a pick or something. His temperament doesn’t change. That allows him to stay calm in the moment, and that’s one of our core DNA traits is composure, and I think he has great composure. But also, his position and his job has enhanced the play of others. You know, he’s going into his second year. Last year was the first year he started. We’re trying to get him off on solid ground, you know, as the season went on to gain confidence, confidence, confidence, and he has confidence. There’s things he’s got to work on, but he’s a confident young man. He’s got to instill that confidence in the players that are around him, and it could be about, you know, it could be a word to them. It could be putting an arm around them. Knowing the impact that he has on guys because, these young guys that are coming in are the first guy that walks on that field for the first time. They’re looking at a guy like Carson Beck that has done it, done it in SEC games, he’s done it on a big stage, and they’re going to look for him to how to act and how to respond. What he says and what he does goes a long way in building belief in our football team.”

On how the tight end position has innovated…

“I think it’s a little bit more how they’re being used. In today’s game, you see more tight ends – Orson Charles, he didn’t even know how to get in a stance when he got here. Aron White was a receiver in high school. So, a lot of these kids, whether it was 20 years ago or now, these guys were big receivers in high school, and their frame is going to allow them to put on weight and be a tight end. So, and again, the game is spaced, so they’re probably playing in space more, using tight ends, the last guy (Brock Bowers) we had. We were handing him the ball on jet sweeps, putting him in the backfield, throwing screens to him. And obviously, using him downfield vertically and running option routes and stuff like that, I think they become valuable because of matchups that they can create. Your running backs and your tight ends create matchups on linebackers and safeties that gives you an advantage some. Now, you know, I think football is evolving more and more where tight ends are getting more and more into the core. I mean, you look at the game at the next level, you see them playing 12, 13 personnel, tight ends and hands in the dirt. They’re running counters and powers, not just cutting off on the backside. And our offense is a little bit more where we’re going to ask the guy to do everything, where some offenses nowadays are just totally spread guys. I think here at a tight end position, you know, you’re going to learn how to play in the core, you’re going to learn how to move as to be an H-back, so to speak, and you’re going to learn, when we split you out and how to run routes. So, we try to do it all and have a big volume of offense, and all positions for us offensively it takes a lot of learning. We put a lot on them. But that position in particular, because it’s the run game and the pass game that they’re heavily involved in, it takes the guy that’s extremely bright.”

On the backup quarterbacks and new receivers…

“Well, the quarterback position, how Jaden (Rashada) came about, I mean, y’all have Coach (Smart) on record that we wanted four scholarship quarterbacks. We’ve been looking for four scholarship quarterbacks. Because of the portal we were able to get Jaden. You know, we’d love to have gotten Jaden or a portal quarterback in here before spring. It didn’t work out that way, but he was able to get here early May and start trying to learn the playbook. And he’s in the process of learning it now. All those guys are doing an outstanding job every day of coming in and controlling what they can control. Carson made a great statement in our first meeting. We tried to set the tone. He said, ‘I want to say something to you guys. I want you, you need to take this camp like you’re getting ready to play Clemson the first game. I didn’t do that when I was young. I wasn’t taking advantage of every opportunity, you know, to get ready to be the starter.’ And that’s an easy thing to say, rather than do. And I’ve been saying it for 27 years, coaching quarterbacks, you’re getting ready to play. Your opportunity’s every practice. But then for Carson to step up and say that in a meeting and stop me mid-meeting and say that to those young quarterbacks. He said, ‘Hey, guys, you’re getting ready to play Clemson in that first game. That’s how you should approach it.’ And those guys have done a great job of that this camp. I don’t even know what practice we’re on. I think seven. But they’re doing a great job of preparing every day and going out there and, you know, learning from their mistakes and learning from the things that they do well. The receivers, you know, Colbie Young, London (Humphreys), and Michael Jack (Jackson III) have done a nice job. All three were here in the spring, so that helps the transition when you’re able here to go through the spring, 30-plus days of a practice, and then a walkthrough of practice and a walkthrough, and then all summer. These guys are now at the place in their job where they can actually compete. In spring, they’re just trying to figure out how to line up. ‘I’m running this route. They’re running it like it looks on the playbook.’ Now they’re able to line up faster, and they’re able to coach more on technique of what we’re trying to do on each particular play.”

On Ben Yurosek…

“You saw Ben make plays on the perimeter. You saw Ben make plays downfield. You know, what I’ve seen of him now, I’ve seen those things. I saw him – another guy that didn’t go through spring practice. They got here in May, but he didn’t go through spring practice. So, he’s a little bit behind, but he’s very intelligent. He’s done a great job of continuing to get in the playbook, and we’re asking him to do things that maybe he didn’t do at Stanford. I’ve seen him accept that, accept that challenge. He’s not worried about getting uncomfortable, meaning if he doesn’t do something well, he’s going to work at it. You don’t see him making the same mistake twice, which is a good thing. Anytime you add depth to your program is a good thing. Here’s a guy that’s played a lot of football. He’s here trying to figure out how we do it the Georgia way. He’s playing out and done a nice job so far.”

On the running back room…

“We have more depth than we had last year at this time. We were dealing with a couple injuries in camp. We’ve got more depth at that position, which allows one, we’re not wearing down our guys. We’re able to space out the reps, which you’ve got to always be careful of. But you see a group of guys that pay attention to Coach (Josh) Crawford. They don’t mind being coached hard, and they’re picking it up day by day. But you see guys that do a good job in the run game but have traits in the passing game, which is what you look for in a running back. So, all those guys have done a nice job and continue to work, and I’m pleased with that group.” 

On Dillon Bell…

“You don’t really get into your personnel and moving guys around until really you’re through camp mode. You know, right now we’re still installing. We’re on day seven of our install. And in human nature, you want to start moving guys around to try to maybe win the drill or put your guys. But at the end of the day, we’re trying to teach offense, and Dillon is nearly almost 100 percent and has been working at the receiver position. And Coach (James) Coley has really done a nice job teaching him the finer points of route running and execution, and it’s a little thing playing with pad level, working your releases off press and just becoming a complete receiver. Dillon did a great job for us last year making contested catches, which is awesome, but we’re now working on trying to create more space. And how do I create more space? Because a lot of times he is our X-receiver and he’s in the boundary. If you’re in the boundary in this league, you’re not going to get any off coverage. You’re going to get press. And how do you handle press? How do I beat press? Really working on the finer points of winning one-on-one battles.” 

On the offenses’ strengths and weaknesses…

“Well, not necessarily scheme or identity yet. I think we’re still forming our identity as an offense, but one thing I feel really good about us as an offense, I think we have connection as an offense. I think that’s important. We’ve been connected when practices or drills have gone good or gone bad. We’ve addressed it. And nobody’s flinched in that room when they’ve been challenged to respond, whether it’s during a practice or in the meeting the next day. There hasn’t been any pointing fingers, and I think that’s always good because you want connection in that room. It’s going to take everybody in that room. So, that’s something obviously another DNA of ours, of Coach Smart’s connection, but it’s one thing to say it. It’s another thing to live it, and the leadership in that room has done that. I think our offensive line, we’ve got so many guys coming back that have played so much ball and have been through so many camps. They’re leading the way of showing these guys, not necessarily linemen, but the whole team, how to come to practice every day ready to go. There’s a ton of things that we’ve got to continue to improve on. We’re not near ready to play it. That’s okay. That’s part of camp. We’re still trying to form our identity, and that will shape out even more after we have the first scrimmage. Coaches are kind of back, and guys are out playing ball. Then we’ll go through the second scrimmage. We’re going to have a big volume of offense, and we’re going to install it. Then we’re going to shrink it down and figure out what we do best. And maybe we’re not as good at this as we were last year, so not meaning we take it out. We’re going to put it to the side, continue to work on that. But we’re still trying to figure that out as an offense, that’s what we do really well and what we’ve got to work on. Right now, in my mind and those players’ minds, we’ve got a lot to work on every day. There’s nothing we do well.”

On what Beck can improve upon…

“One, he does a great job of processing, getting the ball out quickly, and I don’t remember what his completion percentage was. It was extremely high last year. The one area that we addressed in the spring and at the beginning of the fall camp is the deep ball. The deep ball doesn’t necessarily always need to be the perfectly thrown ball when you hit the guy in stride. Sometimes we want it to be that way as a quarterback. But it’s a lot just giving the guy a chance. Not throwing the ball so far, we don’t have a chance or throwing it out of bounds. Giving the guy a chance to make a play, and he’s done a better job of that. Every time we complete a deep ball, it’s, you know, he’s looking at me or looking at Coach Gummy (Montgomery VanGorder) because he knows that’s what he’s focused on giving those guys a chance. Then sometimes when you struggle hitting something or doing something as a quarterback, you start to aim and thinking about it too much. Take your drop, read your progression, throw the ball and play football and not get in your head of, ‘Oh, I can’t hit it, I’m trying to aim it or throw the perfect ball.’ You know, throw it and give the guy a chance.”

ICYMI – Video/Transcript: Todd Hartley Fall Camp Interview

On the dynamic of coaching a son…

“Man, just a lot of pride. First off, to have a son that has the ability to play college football and then you get the opportunity to coach him, it’s probably a very rare occurrence to be able to coach your son in college, but coach (Bobo) has such pride in Drew and what he’s been able to do, and he’s done an unbelievable job too. And he coaches him like he’s no different than anybody else. He treats him like everybody else, but the sense of pride is there because there will be some highlights he’ll make in the offensive unit meeting. He’ll highlight that and go, ‘Hey, that’s my boy.’ It’s pretty cool to see that. And if I ever had the chance to coach my son, I don’t think he’d be any different.”

On the source of his energy…

“Well, there’s a very high expectation that you bring into it. That comes from the head coach, and so I don’t want to disappoint. First off, I do it because the expectation around here is that you’ve got to be the best coach at your position in the country. If you’re not having juice or you’re not having fun doing it, how can you be that way? The other thing is I get a chance to coach football at the University of Georgia, my alma mater, coaching tight ends, which I believe is the best position group in the country. Why would I not be excited to come to work and do that? And so, I’m very blessed and very thankful to have that opportunity. And not to say that I’m not moody. My kids get on me too sometimes when I’m not in the best moods, but it’s just that excitement to be here. I get to walk in with that G on my chest, and that means something to me. Personally, it has changed my life and my family’s life, so why wouldn’t I be excited and why wouldn’t I bring that juice every day?”

On Ben Yurosek…

“First off, Ben is an unbelievable kid. Very mature, as you would expect from a graduate coming from Stanford. He has a presence about him that’s just calm, poised, in control. Nothing really makes him upset. Not that he’s perfect, but he understands. He’s mature. If a bad play happens, he’s able to put it behind him and move on, and a lot of times younger players can’t do that. So, he does have that maturity and that senior leadership that our room might have been lacking because we have a lot of younger players in that room. But he fits right in. He fits our room from a toughness and a physicality standpoint. He’s physical at the line of scrimmage. And he fits our room from an athletic standpoint, too. The dude can run and catch. That’s one of the main characters you’ve got to have to play tight end, especially on our offense is the ability to run and catch the football and the ability to do something with it in your hands once you do catch it. And he’s shown all those qualities this point in camp.”

On Oscar Delp…

“I’ll say this. The biggest growth I’ve seen from Oscar is from a maturity standpoint and from a leadership standpoint. He’s always been here with Brock (Bowers) and Darnell (Washington), so he’s never really had to assume the role of leading the room. And when you’ve never done that before, you don’t know how they’ll respond when they’re put in that situation. From the time that Brock left, Oscar just naturally stepped into that, into that head of the tight end room and really hasn’t looked back. Even having been there, Ben’s new and Ben’s older and we’ll rely on Ben’s senior leadership as well. But Oscar is the unquestioned leader of our room. And so, he’s always been very physical. Run game mechanics as far as just footwork and hand placement and pad level, Oscar Delp is probably one of the best ones I’ve coached in the run game, to be honest with you, so that hasn’t changed. Freshman year to now, obviously, he’s bigger and stronger, but he’s always been really good at the point of attack. We’ve worked really on concessionally catching the football. He’s improved that. But the growth in his leadership ability and the growth in his maturity has been the most pleasant surprise for us. And that’s really what we needed in that room and in our offense.”

On Lawson Luckie’s development…

“I think Lawson is competitive, he has high competitive character, similar to Brock. Like, you know, Lawson wants me to always give him more. He’s always asking for more roles, for more plays. He’s asking for more tape. He has that nature about him where he wants to be the best. And you want all your kids to be that way. And some are more outwardly spoken about wanting to be that way. And so, I think it motivated him even more to be the best tight end in that room. And he doesn’t see him as, ‘I’ve got to compete with this guy for playing time.’ But in reality, he knows that’s probably the truth. But we’re going to need all three of those guys to play significant roles for us this year in order for us to be good in that room and in our offense. So, his response to having been there is no different than having those two freshmen there. He’s going to go do his job the best that he can.”

On believing in having the best tight end room in the country…

“I show belief and confidence in my guys every day that I think they’re the best ones in the country. And that’s our standard is to be the best tight end in the room, in the country. So, if I’m not believing in them, how can they believe in themselves? I do feel like our room is we have some guys in there that are talented. What have they done yet? I don’t know. But I do believe they’re going to get there. If I’m not believing them as a coach, then I’m not doing my job, number one. I’ve had the opportunity to coach some really good players. I’ve been very, very blessed to do that. My time at Marshall with Gator Hoskins, (Eric) Frohnapfel and (Ryan) Yurachek. And my time at Miami with David Njoku, Christopher Herndon, Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory. And then my time at Georgia, even starting with Charlie Woerner, John FitzPatrick, Tre McKitty, Darnell Washington and Brock Bowers. There’s been a long line of some good tight ends that I’ve had the opportunity just to coach them. I’m very thankful that I’ve had that chance.”

On having a large tight end group…

“First off, this is a big deal in college football nowadays, the walk-on. We can’t operate how we practice without these walk-ons. They serve such a pivotal role in the way we do things at Georgia from a practice standpoint, from a walk-through standpoint. And so, we’re very thankful that they are here. And an old coach told me, Jon Fabris used to say, everybody has a role. Embrace your role. One role might be a little bit more valuable than the other, but we all go to the same place in the end. From the top to the bottom, from the starting quarterback to the bottom walk-on. We’re all going to the same place in the end. So, everybody has to embrace their role. Joe T. back in the day said, ‘Don’t treat that guy any different. He might be the governor of the state one day. I’ll always remember that. And so, I don’t treat those walk-ons any different than I treat my starters or my scholarship kids. And I think those guys appreciate that. They get a high five and a chest bump when they make a play, and they get a foot up their butt when they don’t, just like the starters do. So, I’m very thankful for the guys that I have in that room and the guys that we have on our team that help us out. Specifically at tight end, we have 11 total in that room, as far as numbers. We have five scholarships and six walk-ons. And in camp I have four walk-ons in camp, so that gives me nine total here right now. And that’s usually about normal for tight end rooms.”

On recruiting Yurosek…

“The whole portal process, there’s no blueprint for it. The one thing that Coach Smart does a great job of is he is very selective about who he brings in. Sometimes it might look like we’re not as active in the portal as other people, but I think there’s a reason for that. There’s a culture and a standard here, and he is very selective about who he brings in because locker room dynamics are important. You have to fit certain criteria, not just how many catches did he have, how many yards did he have? It’s not just that. It’s usually people that he knows that we’re very familiar with. And Ben really didn’t fit that other than Ben was older, right? And if you look at our room, if we needed anything, we probably needed a little bit of experience in that room. He’s a kid that’s played a lot at major-level college football, and he was very productive. A couple injuries here and there, but very productive. And you just know that coming from Stanford, he’s going to be able to handle the high academic load that Georgia was going to give him. He’s going to be able to handle an NFL-type, pro-style offense. That’s what they did there. Those things were already a given, and then you turn the tape on, and he does run well, catch well, and he hits the physical attributes that you look for too. Even though we didn’t have as much familiarity with him, he didn’t play in our league, we didn’t know that much about him, we knew those other things, and they kind of checked the boxes for us.”

On coaching without Brock Bowers…

“​​You know, I haven’t approached it any differently. Whether Brock was there or Brock wasn’t there. Pre-Brock, post-Brock, okay? You approach it the same way. It’s my job to make sure my unit plays, practices, prepares to the best of their ability. And it’s also my job to make sure I get every ounce out of them that I can. So obviously, personally, I’m going to miss Brock. I love Brock. Recruited Brock, and anytime you can recruit a kid, sign a kid, see it all the way through and now see him in the NFL and kind of achieve that dream that you told them about during recruiting, that is a fulfilling process. And so, I’m going to miss him, but that doesn’t have any effect on our team this year. You know, these guys, we go out and we’ve got the same plays that we’ve always had in this offense. It’s just a different person doing it. He is a monumental player in the history of Georgia football, and I don’t think he’ll ever replace that, but guess what? Oscar Delp.

 I’m going to coach Oscar Delp just like I coached Brock Bowers and Lawson Luckie and Ben Yurosek and those two freshmen as well. I’m not going to coach them any differently.”

On outside linebackers giving him fits in practice…

“Well, if you ask Chidera (Uzo-Diribe), he’ll probably say, all of them are giving us fits. It’s pretty competitive between us and the outside linebackers. He’s got a good room. He’s got a very talented room. And first, I’ll start with Chaz (Chambliss). Chaz has been here so long and he’s so strong. He’s the savvy veteran of the group, and when we’re going against those guys, you got to have a different plan for blocking Chaz. Because, when we go up to the line of scrimmage and we tell the play, Chaz has probably heard that play, I don’t know, a thousand times. So, he knows exactly what’s coming. So, our guys get so frustrated when Chaz seems to be exactly where he needs to be when he’s supposed to be there. And so, you just got to have a different plan for a guy like that. He’s played so many snaps and he’s so tough and physical and such a core Georgia guy. He just epitomizes what Coach Smart believes that makes his program. And so, Chaz, you can’t start talking about the outside linebackers unless you start with Chaz Chambliss first. And then, we’ve got Damon Wilson has done a great job of showing the ability to flash and pass rush and so he gives us some problems off the edge. And you’ve got Sam M’Pemba. Sam M’Pemba has always been naturally strong and physical, so it’s hard to get movement on Sam at the line of scrimmage because he’s so big and he’s so strong. And then the freshman, I mean, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Q Johnson (Quintavius Johnson, Jr.). He had some tape, high school tape, of him playing quarterback. And one of the things you look at in trying to find a tight end sometimes is, hey, sometimes these high school kids don’t always play tight end. You’re like, man, this guy, I know Chidera wants him in his room, but I’ll take him in my room. He’s athletic and, surprisingly, for a freshman, he has not been overwhelmed as much with what our defense is trying to do scheme-wise, schematically, not that I can tell. Chidera might give you a different story on that too. But, very impressed. That’s the one thing about being at Georgia, and that’s the one thing that we preach in development is, hey, you’re going to go against the best in the country every day. And so, when you go against the best in the country every day, you can’t help but get better. Iron sharpens iron. Right? Everybody’s heard that before. It is no truer than being right here at UGA and going on that practice field and seeing those wars that you have between the O-line and the D-line and the tight ends and the outside linebackers and the receivers and the DBs. It’s good on good. It’s iron versus iron. And those guys develop and get better because of who they go against. And going against those outside linebackers every day makes us better for sure.”

On the vibe around the program…

“Coach Smart’s theme, I think he said it at SEC media days, was ‘assume nothing’. And we’ve been preaching that daily since we’ve been in camp. Assume nothing. And it’s been almost like a reset button for everybody. Let’s start fresh. Let’s not assume that the seniors know it, that the juniors know it. Let’s coach and teach to the lowest common denominator in every room and build the foundation from the bottom up again. Don’t assume that it’s already there. Don’t assume we’re already on third base because we’re not. So, it’s been a fresh start for the coaches. It’s been a fresh start for the players. Just embracing that mantra of assume nothing. I’m going to be honest with you, when you’re in it and the way Kirby has built this thing, it’s so process oriented. And one thing in this camp is we talked about the process and not the outcomes. And when you’re not thinking about the outcomes and you’re focusing on the process, you don’t even think about the playoff. Like you don’t have time to think about 12 teams. You don’t have time to think about SEC and away schedule and whatever it is we have. You’re thinking about today. I’m thinking about what I have to do at 1 o’clock. It’s 12:40 and I’m getting a little nervous because I’ve got a 1 o’clock meeting. And that’s kind of how he’s built this thing. It’s so segmented. The process is so detailed and so disciplined that you can’t look ahead. You can’t look behind. You have to look right now, what we have to do to get better today as a team, as an offense, as a unit. And you’re not allowed to look ahead. And that, I think, has contributed to our success that Kirby’s had and will contribute to our success moving forward.”

On the freshmen tight ends…

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised, actually, to see the growth from spring football to summer to now to fall camp. If there’s ever a great example of why kids, the advantage, of graduating midyear and coming in and having 15 spring practices and a winter workout program and a summer workout program and getting a college semester of academic courses under your belt already, you can look at those two freshmen tight ends in Colton Heinrich and Jaden Reddell. Because they were swimming in the deep end in January through May, and then they come back in June, and it’s like they’ve already been here for a year. I’m not saying they’re where they need to be to help us contribute right now, and I’m not even saying that we’re asking them to do that. Heck, they might. We might need them at some point this season, and we’re preparing them like we will. But to see the growth from the spring into right now, I’ve been pleasantly surprised, and I’m very happy with their progress.”

Olympic Dawgs: Anthony Edwards and USA Men Advance

 Anthony Edwards and the United States men’s basketball team moved on to the gold medal final, while Bulldog track stars competed Thursday at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

Basketball

• Anthony Edwards tallied two points, two rebounds, and a block in the United States’ 95-91 comeback win over Serbia in the men’s semifinals. Despite trailing most of the game, a 32-15 USA fourth-quarter advantage and 36 points from Stephen Curry helped power the Americans into the gold medal game for the fifth-consecutive Olympic Games.
• The U.S. will face France Saturday in the gold medal game at 3:30 p.m. EDT on NBC and Peacock. The U.S. defeated France, 87-82, in the gold medal game in Tokyo three years ago. Edwards is guaranteed to be the third member of the Georgia men’s basketball program to win an Olympic medal, joining Vern Fleming (1984 – gold) and Willie Anderson (1988 – bronze).

Track & Field

• Ana da Silva recorded a throw of 17.09 meters/ 56 feet, 1 inch in the women’s shot put qualification to finish 23^rd overall. The former Bulldog represented Brazil in her first Olympic Games.
• Incoming freshmen Sole and Sanaa Frederick represented Trinidad and Tobago in the women’s 4×100-meter relay first round, running the second and third legs to help the squad clock a time of 43.99 for 14^th overall.
• Jehlani Gordon ran the third leg of Jamaica’s men’s 4x100m relay, which finished 11^th in the first round with a time of 38.45. The Jamaicans finished fourth in their heat to narrowly miss out on qualification for Friday’s final.
• Marie-Therese Obst will cap off Georgia’s final track & field event of Paris 2024 on Saturday when she competes in the women’s javelin final at 1:40 p.m. EDT. 

Coming Up Saturday

• Croix Bethune and the United States women’s soccer team face Brazil in the gold medal match on Saturday at 11 a.m. EDT in Paris. The match will air live on USA Network and Peacock.
• Bethune has not appeared on the main roster during the knockout round, but is eligible for a medal after appearing in group play against Australia.

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