Kirby Smart, Bulldogs discuss 2026 fall football practices

Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart and three players spoke on Tuesday following the completion of Georgia’s fall 2026 football camp.

Smart touched on the freshmen, defensive linemen, quarterback depth chart, and more. Below is a transcript of the fall camp comments that was provided by UGA:

Head Coach Kirby Smart

Opening Statement…
“We’re through with what we consider to be fall camp. We finished up practice 15 or 16 on Saturday. We’re moving on to some special needs areas, areas that we’ve got to work on. Some finer points. Some things we have to clean up before game time, and we’re starting to work a little bit on opponents. It’s the second phase of camp for us that we’ve led into and the school part more than anything. Getting the guys caught up and better in every facet of what we want to try to get with each side of the ball. Each coordinator is given things they want to work on, and we’re going to try to target those things this week.”

On his review of the team following the second fall scrimmage…
“I thought there were some positives on both sides of the ball. The offense continues to be effective and efficient in the red area. Our run game, in terms of putting dents in the defense and being physical was really good. Defensively, I think there were some good turnovers in there, some sacks and created some havoc, which is important. All in all, I thought both sides of the ball continued to get better. I was very pleased with the performance on both sides of the ball.”

On freshman OL Zykie Helton…
“He’s a pleasure to coach. He’s in good spirits each day. He has FPE [Fire, Passion and Energy]. That’s what we challenge players to have, and he has that. He has toughness. Combine that with talent, then you’ve got a good player. He’s grown into a role for us. Not afraid to be challenged or afraid to be coached, and I think that’s a great quality in any age player. It’s important that he sustains that and doesn’t become entitled, sensitive or complacent because he is a talented player that has to challenge himself day in and day out. From what he came from in terms of Crohn’s disease and the things he went through, it’s a pretty incredible story. He’s a product of a great home environment and great leadership.”

On the young defensive linemen…
“Valdin [Sone] has worked really hard. He’s created a role in terms of his twitch, his disruption. He’s really athletic. Maybe he could get stronger and be able to hold the point better, but when it comes to getting off blocks, running the ball, chasing the ball, he’s going to make us better. He’s going to have a role this year and play in some form or fashion. He plays on special teams because he can run. He’s bright. He’s intelligent. He loves football. Then PJ [Dean] is probably just starting to scratch the surface. He did not get to go through all of spring. He had an injury when he first got here in the weight room, and he had injuries in the spring. He’s just consistently missed time. Now that fall camp is here, he’s growing up rapidly. He’s helping us. He’s going to be a good football player. He’s got to get a lot of the mistakes out of the way. We’ve moved him, and he’s worked with the outside backers more lately than defensive ends. He’s a little bit lighter than we imagined he would be, but he can run. With Amaris Williams being out, we’ve got to find ways to rush the passer. I do think he’s going to help us add depth. He’s a tremendous kid. He loves to work.”

On the depth chart at quarterback…
“I think all four of those guys have done a tremendous job. When you start talking about Buddha [Hezekiah Millender] and [Bryson] Beaver and those guys that have gone in and done work. Both those guys have taken reps with the ones. Talking about the two Ryans [Puglisi and Montgomery], they’ve done a tremendous job. That battle’s not over. It’s one of those things that we’ll continue to see, and inevitably you’d like to see it play out in live action. Is that live action through us, or is that live action through a game? I don’t know if we’ll get a chance to do that. We have chances every day for them to go in critical, crucial, two-minute drives, third-down competitions. They both had their good, they both had their bad. They continue to get better and so has Buddha. Bryson’s a guy that we fight every day to try to get more reps for him, so he can continue to grow.”

On Nick Chubb announcing his retirement from the NFL…
“He’s just an incredible person and leader. I think it was more respect than it was necessarily growth. I got two years with him. His demeanor and the way he went about things and bought into what we were demanding; it was two very tough years for him. One was a bounce back from a significant injury year where we made things really hard and tough in the program, and he never questioned any of those things. I don’t know that without he and Sony [Michel] that we would get the same buy-in that they had. Just when you talk about human beings and respect for where they come from, family, name on the back of your jersey; he has tremendous respect from this organization for what he stands for and what he’s done for his hometown and this university. He’s been an incredible ambassador. To look at what he’s gone through, with those two injuries, I don’t think you can find many people that come back from those two significant injuries.”

On the progress he has seen on the defense to rush the passer…
“I don’t know if I’ve seen that [progress in rushing the passer]. We didn’t have a sack fest out there. That was not what it was at all. We aren’t where we need to be in terms of pass rush because we’re missing some guys in terms of dealing with Amaris not being out there and some talent there. We’re having to do it in other ways, and we’ll have to do that probably all year in terms of the way we create pressure and how we go about it. To say that we’re where we need to be pass rush-wise, I don’t know that we are.”

On the steps Georgia is taking to educate student-athletes on financial literacy…
“We’ve got people in-house that help our players. We bring in speakers, but speakers can only do so much. They can educate in a one-hour seminar. If you’re not providing in-house help, then you’re probably shorting these guys. We have a tremendous group here that meets with our players constantly. We provide tax services for our players and investment opportunities. I think that’s pretty much now the norm. How are you helping these guys, and are they willing to receive help? It’s probably a bigger question than how are we doing it because anything you ask for in this program, we’ll find a way to help you. You have to be willing to receive that help.”

On junior OLB Quintavius Johnson…
“His leadership has grown. His toughness has grown. I love Q because each and every day is important to him. He gets better with each and every rep. He kind of embodies the toughness of this organization. He has a great, durable body. He’s held up. He’s been really competitive and helped us at the ‘SAM’ position and the ‘JACK’ position. We want him to continue to grow.”

On junior WR Isaiah Canion…
“He’s come in and blended really well. I think he was comfortable in the room because of the players on the team and having guys he played high school with and played against all his life. Just the general Georgia consensus of being a Georgia player, he’s been around it. He’s worked really hard. He’s relatively quiet, but he plays physical. He plays hard. He plays tough. He’s not afraid to go down and make hard blocks and dig people out, but he’s also got speed and athleticism to be a weapon on the perimeter. He’s had a really good, quiet camp. I’m very pleased with what he’s brought to our team. Great kid.”

On evaluating the ‘ones’ and fifth-year QB Gunner Stockton…
“We do ones-on-ones the entire scrimmage. It’s the only way we scrimmage. In practice, it’s that way, too, outside of periods when we’re trying to get a look at something and we want somebody to give a look that is not our ones-on-ones. Most of our practice is ones-on-ones. That’s why you rotate quarterbacks in there, too, because you want to see guys go against the one defense, and you want to see them perform with the one offensive line, and see when you’re evaluating these quarterbacks, are you evaluating them across groups and getting across sections. Gunner’s been fine. He’s been good. He had some plays that he wished he had back from the last scrimmage. He had some good plays in the first one and some bad ones in the first one. He had some good plays in the second one and some bad ones in the second one. He’s had a good camp. He’s in a much better place this year than he was last year, in my opinion, just from experience.”

On evaluating Quintavius Johnson as a prep prospect and the adjustments he made on campus…
“There was probably an adjustment, but who is there not an adjustment for when you come into this place? You come in and there’s big, fast, strong people who are older than you. It’s an adjustment for everybody. We like the fact that he was a Wildcat quarterback, but probably the most intriguing thing is he played ‘MIKE’ linebacker. He came at seven-on-seven, and he was an inside linebacker that dropped and played coverage in space. Most kids that have the spatial awareness to play off the ball don’t struggle to move on the ball. They might struggle with the physicality, but they don’t struggle with the instincts, knowledge and ability to communicate to make plays and adjustments. That was the case with him. He was able to pick it up really well, and he’s got the size to go with it.”

On senior DB Kyron Jones’ return from injury and managing players returning from injury…
“I don’t want to say there wasn’t a lot to learn or a lot to improve on [for Kyron]. Everyone has something to learn and improve on, but he’s been a product of our system. He’s a guy that grew up in the system, developed in the system, and his best football was really this time last year. He had a scrimmage two last year where he flashed and played well and earned the ability to be considered a starter and rotate and play. The foot injury has not changed that. It has just changed the volume with which he could practice and the volume with which we could play him. We had to prepare as if he was not there because we don’t know what he’s going to be able to give us. So far, he’s done a good job. He’s been on a little bit of a pitch count, and we’ll have to rotate and play guys with him. He’s done a really nice job as an older player that the more you play in football, period, but the more you play in this defense, the better you play. He’s a product of that. He’s a product of a guy that stuck around and stuck it out. He’s a good football player right now, playing at a really good level. We’ve just got to continue to do that, and we have got to have a plan for him if he can’t. Then, your other question about the other injured players. Injured or not, those guys would’ve been on a pitch count this fall. A couple of them are fifth years, and a couple of them are fourth years. Fifth and fourth years for us, if they’re a returning starter like Gabe Harris Jr. is, and Drew [Bobo] is, and I really count Jordan Hall in that group. You don’t take every snap. There are not enough snaps to go around, so we spread them out more. Those guys have been on pitch counts in terms of snap counts for practices.”

On sophomore WR Tyler J. Williams and sophomore WR Thomas Blackshear…
“They both have flashed and made plays. They need to contribute on special teams. They both have ability. They wouldn’t be here if they didn’t. I’m pleased with that entire room, and those guys enjoy work. They come out to get better every day. They both have shining moments. They both made some plays in the scrimmages and did a nice job. They need to continue to do that.”

On using the microphone at practice…
“I start thinking about that [the public can hear him talking on the microphone], but by about period three, I haven’t thought about that anymore. There was no inspiration for it. It came from my voice, and I couldn’t get across what I wanted to say without being hoarse every day or having a headache. It was a better solution to a communication problem that I couldn’t get to the other end of the field with my voice. That thing [microphone] would. Personally, I think it’s overrated because some of the players can’t even hear it. Some players have headphones in, and they listen to the dots. A lot of times it’s for organization purposes when we change drills and things like that.”

On whether his staff is evaluating current NFL players…
“We’re not currently evaluating anybody that are on NFL rosters. My thought is just to each his own. I’m worried about our team, our organization, how we do things. The opportunities presented to the guys on our team are important to me. They’ve earned those opportunities through an offseason, through a summer program, through a really tough fall camp. You have to decide, each and every person, if that’s valuable enough to warrant replacing your players that have worked with your team with others. They might be better, so our job is to upgrade and try to get better as much as we can and win games. If some people feel like that gives them an opportunity to be better and doesn’t change their culture, then more power to them. This thing is tough. It’s not affecting us in terms of timing. I think it’s affecting everyone else. People don’t follow the chronological history of this thing as in the years of experience where 25 years ago we had a guy play one play in the SEC Championship, and he lost an entire year of eligibility at LSU because he played one play. He was only given four years to play, and that one play cost him an entire year. He didn’t get that year back. He didn’t get those opportunities back. The advent of the rule went so far as to say, ‘We’re going to give you four games plus four years.’ Some people during that time lost out on a chance to get that because the rule came into place at a time when they lost the opportunity to play in those four games. I didn’t get afforded that opportunity to play in four games. When we did redshirts, redshirts were one play, and that was it. Then, they came in and said, ‘Okay, you can have postseason be exempt.’ Then, some people missed out on those postseason exemptions. They didn’t get to be a part of those postseason exemptions, SEC Championships, bowl games. All those rules came about because they were needed, because rosters were dwindling and people were transferring. People were not playing in bowl games, so they made the exempt and changed them. It affected different people each time they changed those rules, and this is a better rule. Five-for-five is a better rule. You can play as much or as little, and you get five years. It’s affecting different people in different ways.”

On junior RB Nate Frazier and how the program helps players navigate grief…
“I think you could ask Nate that question. He’s a tremendous young man. He’s really close with his mother and respects his dad so much. The loss of his father was impactful on him. We have a tremendous mental health staff here. University of Georgia Athletics support that piece, and we have numerous people that our players can reach out to. Brad Hamburg does a tremendous job and T-Set [Thomas Settles]. T-Set’s been a part of our program for long before I was here. Coach Richt brought T-Set on, and I don’t know that I have met someone as talented as him at his profession, career, as caring as he is about the players. He’s married double digits of players as the official person acting in the wedding. He has spent a lot of time with Nate and knows Nate well. He spends time with our injured players. There are so many things behind the scenes that we’re very fortunate to have, people like Brad and T-set that I’m thankful that the University of Georgia supports us to have those guys be part of our program.

On fifth-year ILB Terrell Foster…
“He’s already contributed to this team. His character is undeniably one of the best on the team. He’s one of the highest-character individuals I’ve been a part of. Never heard the guy complain. I saw him out there three years ago, hitting sleds all by himself outside my office, just trying to get better. He’s been on the scout team in some form or fashion every year. He doesn’t take a scout team rep any different than his own rep. He’s started on special teams units. He’s one of the most dependable, accountable, upstanding Georgia representatives there is, and we’re very fortunate to have him. He’s fighting for time in the rotation. He’s probably in that top four linebacker group to get playing time and help our team.”

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The third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs are scheduled to open the 2026 season on Saturday, September 5 against the Tennessee State Tigers at Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga. The game will kickoff at 3:00pm ET and will be a streaming-only event on SEC Network+ (Buy Tickets).

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