Five months ago, the raucous caused by Amarius Mims entering the transfer portal was plaguing the minds of Georgia fans far and wide. Now three games into the 2022 season, we’ve seen him reap the rewards of his decision to say.

Yesterday Mims had the opportunity to be interviewed for the first time in his collegiate career and spoke out on his experience with the transfer portal situation and how staying has wound up being the best choice he could have made. 

On getting early playing time in the season opener against Oregon, Mims shared that he was glad that Coach Smart put his trust in him, saying he “had all the confidence in the world.” 

Georgia fans were shocked to see him get playing time so early in such a big matchup, but Mims getting meaningful playing time is starting to become a normal thing around here. 

One of the biggest benefits of staying has been his increased playing time. Speaking on that, Mims said, “I’ll say it’s definitely been a bigger role. More learning experience.” In his second year with the team, we’ve already seen Mims play plenty. In every game, he’s come in as early as the second quarter. 

He’s had to adjust to the amount of time he has to dedicate to his game, both on and off the field. Mims finds that a lot of his time is now spent in the film room with his “big brother” figure, Warren McClendon. McClendon serves as a mentor to Mims, teaching him the technicalities of the position, “I learn so much from him… I’ll watch his game more than anybody you’d ever know… I model my game after him more.”

Mims has invested in his relationships with his fellow tackles, Warren McClendon and Broderick Jones. Since deciding to stay, he’s felt like “learning from them” has been the “most important thing.”

The former five-star appears to be happy with his decision to stay. After all, he did say, “I went and experienced the portal. It’s not nothing like Georgia.” As Georgia enters its second consecutive week ranked No. 1 in the A.P. Poll, I’d say he made a pretty good decision.