From the Field: A Beginning in Atlanta

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From the Field: A Beginning in Atlanta

Kirby Smart – College Football Playoff  National Championship
Kirby Smart – College Football Playoff National Championship

 
 
This defeat at the hands of Alabama cannot be sugar-coated. Alabama won the game and the Dawgs must go back to Athens to dry their tears and look ahead. Looking ahead is exactly what the fanbase and the team should be doing this morning. We should not lose sight of the fact that the team that took the field in Atlanta is the least talented team that UGA will field in the next five years.

 

The 2017 Dawgs learned how to win. They accepted the level of effort and focus necessary to get to the top of the college football world. Yes, a great group of seniors are leaving but they have established the winning foundation and trained a cadre of underclassmen leaders.
 
 
Anyone who looks at he the outcome of this season and sees a negative is not paying attention. Kirby Smart has transformed UGA into a legitimate national title contender in TWO years. Georgia did not choke – they did not blow it – they were beaten by a deeper and more talented team. Those assets (talent and depth) are exactly what Kirby and his staff are in the process of changing. Do you remember that early signing day recruiting haul that we were celebrating just a couple of weeks ago? Well, Alabama has been recruiting at that level for over a decade and Georgia just took them to overtime in the national championship game in year two of the new culture. Just smile and be confident that Georgia is just getting started.
 
 
I feel for the seniors who spearheaded the culture change. They brought the team and fanbase to undreamed of heights but fell just short of the big prize. However, they will be remembered as the class that bought into the changes demanded by Coach Smart and set the program on the path to sustained championship success.
 
 
Get ready for September 2018 Dawgs and while you’re at it, check out flights to the Bay Area for January 2019.
 
 
Go Dawgs!
 
 


 
 

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Greg is closing in on 15 years writing about and photographing UGA sports. While often wrong and/or out of focus, it has been a long, strange trip full of fun and new friends.