Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart and two players, running back Cash Jones and defensive lineman Jordan Hall, spoke with the media on Monday about their 2025 season-opener against the Marshall Thundering Herd.
Fifth-ranked Georgia and Marshall will square off on Saturday, Aug. 30 at Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga. The game will be televised by ESPN at 3:30pm ET (Buy Tickets).
Mike Monaco will call the play-by-play, Kirk Morrison will provide analysis, while Dawn Davenport will report from the sidelines.
Below is a transcript of the Marshall press conference which was provided by UGA.
Head Coach Kirby Smart
Opening Statement…
“Yeah, we’re opening up with Marshall. Our guys started our prep last week. Coaches kind of started on Thursday, Players kind of started on Friday. So we’ve got two practices in towards that goal of playing these guys. I’m excited for a home opener. We get sometimes the neutral site, sometimes on the road. But this home opener, I know I’m excited. I’m excited about this weather for our fans. Looks like it’s going to be a great weather day in terms of not catching some of the August, September heat we get sometimes. A lot of respect for this head coach and his program. When I look at the similarities between, he’s been a defensive coordinator for a long time, a very successful one, Coach Tony Gibson. He’s also coming kind of home to West Virginia. And he’s got a staff that’s very passionate about Marshall. You know when someone is passionate about the place they coach, they’re going to do a tremendous job, and his staff reflects that. Marshall’s got a tremendous history of a lot of good football players, a lot of good teams. To look and see what they did last year in a really, extremely tough Sunbelt Conference, it kind of speaks for itself. So, our guys are excited to go play. We always say the game’s about us, and it’ll always be about how we play. And we got to go play our best, so that’s the next step for us.”
On preparing for Marshall’s overhauled roster…
“You start with yourself, right. You prepare yourself by how you run to the ball, how you strike people, how you move people, how you run the ball, throw the ball, don’t turn it over. A lot of sloppiness in first games, penalties, so it starts with that. You’re asking about the opponent, the opponent is us, and it’s going to be us every week this year. It is important that we know what they do, and sometimes that’s less information than others. They’ve got an interesting roster makeup of guys from all over, some of which they couldn’t control because they had a lot of guys leave after the head coach left. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a roster that when we write on the depth chart transfer, it’s three deep transfer, four deep transfer, all these spots, a lot of transfers. But that’s more and more evident all over. Probably the first games all over the country this weekend will be a lot of guys figuring out who’s in that spot, who’s in that spot. Nobody has a clue who’s in those spots. The less teams are in the spotlight, the less you’ll know. But again, it’ll be probably more of an adjustment from the kickoff to the first quarter than most games, but it’ll also be about us.”
On Jordan Hall…
“His resilience pops out at me. It was this time last year that we found out he had a tibia fracture and had to put a rod in. Then, right after we got a rod put in his lower leg, we found out he had to have one in the other leg. So, it really set him back, and it wasn’t just the injury that set him back. It was the combination of both those happening at one time. You can usually get by with one leg, maybe not being 100%, but when you’re dealing with both legs. You’re taking on two guys, I don’t know, 25% of your snaps. So, there’s a lot of pressure on those double teams. Jordan number one, he’s bright. Number two, he cares, he’s passionate, and he plays really hard.”
On the depth chart…
“I was telling guys just the other day, there’s three more games before the game. One today, one tomorrow, and one the next day. And those opportunities are really valuable in terms of where guys rep, where guys will play. We’ve got position battles that’ll, I mean, they don’t go on till the game. They go on through the whole year. Because I value Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, sometimes Thursday of practice weeks, probably more than some game reps. So, we’ve got a lot of good battles going on. And we have a saying around our place, if you’re going to play winning football, we wanna play you. We’re looking to have as many guys as possible above that winning threshold line, and that’s the goal, to play all those guys.”
On the defensive line room…
“I don’t think you necessarily learn more in a game with those guys. I get to see them in action. It’s not, it’s, their action in a practice is very similar to their action in a game, where they might be different for a receiver or a defensive back who has to tackle or not. These guys, they’re going to war every day. So, striking blocks, getting off blocks, running to the ball. I mean, who you are is on your tape. That’s your resume. It speaks for itself. We show our guys every day in the team meeting. This is who you are, because this is what you put on tape, especially at the defensive line and offensive line position. So, I don’t expect it to go out in the game and change all of a sudden. The guys with good characteristics, good habits in practice, it’ll show up that way in the game. What I see today will be similar to what I get an opportunity to see Saturday and we’ll measure both those, and we’ll keep advancing and trying to get more guys to play winning football.”
On what position group has improved the most…
“I can’t pick one. I mean, you try to get me to single somebody out and say, this group’s just been unbelievable. They’ve all gotten better. And everybody needs to improve still. I can’t single one group out because there’s too many days involved in that to single one group, so this group has moved the furthest. I can’t pinpoint. There’s individuals that have gotten better, and there’s individuals that still need to get better. But as a whole, I’m pleased with where our group is.”
On the running back group…
“They’ve worked really hard. They’re going to continue to work. They all have different traits, size, speed, protection, catch the ball out of the backfield. I mean, you’re looking for a complete back that can do them all. We’ve got a good group that’s really been competitive, and I look forward to seeing all those guys go out and play.”
On the status of Brett Thorson…
“He has continued to kick. And I don’t know that he’s going to be kicking in this game. That hasn’t been decided yet. He has punted more reps each day, and he’s gone up. But in terms of what I call live kicking, which we don’t really ever kick live, meaning we don’t hit our kickers, but he has not done a lot of live kicking. So, it’ll be one of those times, one of the things we decide by the end of the week.”
On the success of the offensive and defensive run game…
“Yeah, I measure how we play in games throughout the year, but the SEC schedule, because there’s a consistency in the SEC schedule. Our out of conference schedule changes every year, who we play, who we play when, where do we play them, was it on the road, crowd noise, was it neutral side, all those things. So, the most consistent thing on our schedule is our SEC schedule, and we try to measure at the end of the year based on that. There’s metrics for every game, right? Yards per carry is a good metric. Sometimes yards per carry can be skewed. If it’s third and 15 and you run for nine, is that success? Probably not, because you didn’t get a first down. So, for us, it’ll vary based on the way we measure it, but it is important. And to the level of confidence, I think there’s no complete confidence on where your run game and your run stopping is until you play somebody else. Because each and every day we go out in the field, somebody wins and loses a play. So, there’s confidence gained, confidence lost when you’re against each other.”
On the next step for Cash Jones…
“Leadership has been really on his forefront. He and I talked about his return would be his confidence, his experience, his leadership and wisdom he can impart on the running back room with three guys that are sophomores and one that’s a true freshman and a transfer. He brings a lot of continuity back in that room, and he just does it the right way. The guy gives you everything he’s got every day, and he embodies our fire, passion, energy the way he practices.”
On measuring offensive success for Saturday…
“Hitting goals, we have some really lofty goals. We go in and we say, okay, we got about 15, 20 goals up there that we look for. And if we hit those goals, then we usually play well. And if we don’t, then we usually didn’t, as run goals involved in that, third down conversion rate, red zone rate, yards per completion rate, turnover rate, I mean, penalty rate, there’s a lot that goes into that. So, I can’t simply say just win the game; there’s more to it than that. And we’ll look at it, and we’ll see where we are, and then we’ll figure out what we need to work on.”
On the SEC moving to a nine-game conference schedule…
“No real shock one way or the other. I had gone through the thoughts and processes, and the outcomes that would come way back in Destin. If it happened and if it didn’t happen, it was just a matter of the decision to come forward. And to be honest with you, when it came forward, I’ve been so into Marshall. It has no effect on this year. And I don’t think people really understand coaches. The way they work is you’re focused on what’s important now. Like, what are we dealing with now? That is not of importance to me right now, and I don’t have any control over the outcome of it. As far as the balance of the three games or the preference of the three games, I don’t really have a preference on that. I do think traditional rivalries are important. I enjoy those, having been a traditionalist and growing up in the state of Georgia, but neither one way nor the other. You got to win the games you play, man.”
On potentially playing multiple quarterbacks…
“That would be very presumptuous to say that. I don’t make the assumption. I don’t get into the forecasting. I get into, what do we have to do on each play to be successful? And that’s basically what we’re thinking about right now, is how we can be successful offense, defense, and special teams in this game.”
On the offensive line group…
“Those guys have really been competitive and gotten better. I mean, we’ve had young players show up, play well. We’ve had old players have days where they play well. They’ve all had some nicks and bumps and bruises. Some guys have missed a little time in that guard competition. But I mean, it’s continuous, right? It’s not even about this game and how we’re going to play in this game. It’s about today, and how we’re going to play them today, and how we’re going to practice them, and keep getting guys better.”
On choosing to play a freshman early in the season…
“That’s more is what it is for me. I mean, it’s like the glass of water. Is it half full, half empty? It’s just half a glass of water. It’s not half empty or half full. I mean, I don’t look at it and say, the freshman’s there. Is that disappointing? Is that promising? I look at it, and it is what it is. Who’s the best player that gives us the best chance to win, that can go in and be the most effective? That’s simply it. And what do we tell them? Tell them to go do what they did in practice. Cuz if they’re out there for us, they earned it. They didn’t get anything handed to them. They go out, they earn it, they compete, they play the best. And that’s the guys that get to play. Dylan Bills, a guy who’s been here for a while at this point. What do you feel like his role is in that room, and just what he brings to that room on a daily basis? He brings size, toughness, and experience. He can play every position across the board. He lines up at X, Z, and F, and he’s been a back. He catches the ball well out of the backfield. He’s extremely tough, knowledgeable, and a good special teams player. But more than anything, he embodies what we want at that position. Because he’s got the ability to run after the catch, and he’s got vertical speed, a great route runner. I mean, Dylan’s an all-around really good football player.”
On Dillon Bell…
“He brings size, toughness and experience. He can play every position across the board. He lines up at X, Z, and F, and he’s been a back. He catches the ball well out of the backfield. He’s extremely tough, knowledgeable, good special teams’ player. But more than anything, he embodies what we want at that position because he’s got the ability to run after the catch, and he’s got vertical speed. A great route runner. Dillon’s an all-around really good football player.”
On Colbie Young’s return to the program…
“He’s been a tremendous leader throughout. He’s practiced with toughness. He understands that position in that room really well. I think [James] Coley and [Mike] Bobo have done a great job with him of putting him in positions to be successful. He’s one of the leaders in the group, quietly. Just puts in really good days work every day, really physical. Can block just incredibly, and has been a vertical jump ball, really good player for us in camp. I want him to keep doing what he’s doing and continue to lead that young group of guys in that room.”
On the leadership traits he wants to see…
“Number one trait of a leader for us is not worrying about what other people think about you. And holding people to a standard of excellence that has been set around here in terms of practice, the behavior in meetings, the attitude to hard work, the commitment to lifting and running and doing things the hard way. If you have a commitment to that and you embody it yourself, then you can be a good leader here.”
On Zachariah Branch…
“He’s been a really high energy, enthusiastic guy that loves football, enjoys practicing each day. He talked about that, that he wants to be part of a group that loves to compete and go at it every day and bring their best. The guy loves football, he loves working out, he loves taking care of his body. Very pleased with the energy he’s brought to our team, the enthusiasm. I’m looking forward to seeing him play because he’s had a good camp and I think he really enjoys football. Those are the kind of guys that really enjoy Saturdays.”
On the wide receiver room…
“It’s hard to compare from year to year. Certainly, guys in that room that are contributing in many areas, like when we look across special teams and we rank players on our team, just based on special teams, there’s more receivers in the top 85 players than there has been in the past, because there are some good football players in there. I’m proud of the group, of what they’ve done so far, and I think they want to go out and prove it, put it on tape.”
On Marshall players who have stood out…
“I think when you look across the board, there’s so many different guys coming in and going out, it’s really hard. You start with the quarterback position, where they may play multiple guys. When you look at their history, they’ve got guys that can run it, guys that can throw it. Defensively, they’ve had really good players come through there, and not to single anybody out, I just think they’ve got really good football players. When you look across the backs they’ve got coming in, and you watch the tape of the backs of where they played the year before, a tremendous group of backs.”
On creating opportunities for backups to play…
“Yeah, focus is on first impressions, and the first impression of this team is how we play in this game. If you can play winning football, and we think you’re a really good player, we’re going to try to play guys in this game regardless of where they sit on the depth chart. We want to play the guys that can be rewarded and play winning football consistently, but they do that by what they do in practice. It’s not about twos and threes. It’s about our one’s going out, competing, and playing really well and we’ll see how it goes.”