Fire, passion, energy. These are all the adjectives that fans want to describe their favorite football team. The 2025 Georgia Bulldogs started Fall camp on Thursday in Athens. Kirby Smart begins his 10th Fall camp with a young, hungry roster and one of the healthiest teams he’s had in years. Smart spoke to the media on Thursday, and his message was clear. Play with fire, passion, and energy. The message brought a buzz to Georgia Fall camp. Although it will remain to be seen if the young Dawgs can carry that energy and passion into the season.
Georgia Fall Camp Begins: Fire, Passion, Energy
Year 10 with a Young and Hungry Team
“This is year 10 for us, and I am really pleased with the off-season work ethic of this team and the Summer program….We’re probably the healthiest we’ve been starting into a camp in terms of looking at the last five years…We are young. We’ve talked about that in media days, but we are hungry. We got a team that’s fun to coach. We go out to practice each day, and they’ve been enthusiastic.”
It’s hard to believe that this is the start of year ten for Smart in Athens. Smart has raised the bar and the standard in Athens, the SEC, and College Football. He is 105-19 as Georgia’s head coach, appeared in seven SEC Championship games in Atlanta, winning three, and appeared in three national championship games, winning two. Georgia is coming off a 2025 season that saw them win the SEC Championship and reach the College Football Playoff. That is good and acceptable for many programs. Not so for Smart. Even so, three losses and an early exit from the Playoffs is not the standard.
As Smart said, the 2025 team will be young or inexperienced. That is especially true on the offensive side of the ball. Gunner Stockton takes over for Carson Beck as QB1. While most of the Georgia offensive line and receiving corps will also be new. Fall camp and early games against Marshall, Charlotte, and Austin Peay will allow these young players to learn and grow together. They will need to grow up quickly before an early trip to Knoxville, before we see blackouts in Athens for Alabama, Ole Miss, and Texas. Smart and his staff spent extra time this Spring and Summer making sure his players were ready for camp.
Football 101
“54% of our team is made up of younger guys, and it’s a lot, and it worries me as a coach. But it’s probably not any different anywhere else. It’s not like anybody’s sitting back saying, ‘Well, we’ve got 80% guys that have been here and 20% new guys.'”
Georgia used to stack and stash their four and five-star recruits. Furthermore, they had depth and could send wave after wave of elite athletes at opposing teams. However, those days are gone thanks to the Transfer Portal and NIL. Some have bemoaned how this has ruined the sanctity of the game and that nobody is loyal anymore. Smart doesn’t have time to whine. Sure, he would still love to have all that talent, but he knows everyone else is in the same boat. Smart and his staff took a different approach this Spring and Summer. Georgia instituted a Football 101 for their young roster. Ultimately, trying to ramp up and upskill their players with as much information as they legally can so they can hit the ground running for Fall camp and the 2025 season.
“So we’ve done more with these kids than we’ve ever done before. We’re gonna do 30 minutes a day of football school. We’re gonna dedicate our time to football school 101.’ So the onboarding and the process you go through, the Summer plan, every minute we have by NCAA allowed, we use, and we have done more to this point with kids than we’ve ever done before.”
Seize Their Opportunity
“We got a team that’s fun to coach. We go out to practice each day, and they’ve been enthusiastic. They’ve been out there working out, just doing all the things you ask. Like I said, a lot of them haven’t had an opportunity to play, and now this is their opportunity. Sometimes when you’re coaching, it’s a lot more exciting for guys when they’re having their first time.”
While, the early results are encouraging. Smart was saltier earlier this Spring. He complained about the team’s effort and attention to detail. He sounded a bit like a crumegon. As a result, the team got the message. Smart raved about how his young players have taken to the message and have shown great enthusiasm as camp has kicked off in the heat. Anyone can get excited, though, for Day 1 and the start of camp. Smart shared how the process begins with those who can embrace and fight through the grind.
Georgia Fall Camp Grind
“Camp is meant to be a grind, physical toughness, focus, and stamina. Can you stay awake for a week? Can you lock in? Can you learn from walk through to practice, walk through to practice? Can you focus kind of on what’s next?”
You’re not in high school or Kansas anymore. College practice is just different. Smart talked about it this Spring. The grind can make cowards of all players. That has been the key to Smart in his ten years in Athens. He and his staff want to know who specifically wants to work. Who wants to lock in and hunt? The 2025 Georgia Bulldogs do not have the preseason accolades, nor are they the favorites to win the SEC in 2025. The boys in Austin have those honors. You have to think that Smart doesn’t mind that much. He will, by all means, find a way to use it as motivation and get his players to embrace the grind and set their sights on the 2025 season.
Main Photo: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
