Kirby Smart isn’t interested in reopening an old coaching spat.
On Monday, Georgia’s coach brushed off the comments Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield made last year when Silverfield was at Memphis, calling the whole thing “much ado about nothing.’” Smart said Silverfield “made a choice to talk about what he wanted to talk about,” then added that Silverfield “apologized about it” and “wasn’t really, I think he was talking about generalities.” Smart also explained the broader coaching point behind the kind of clip Silverfield referenced.
“All coaches, we show things other schools do to make mistakes, to try to educate our team.
“He’s trying to educate his team, and it’s everything he said, but that’s over and done with for me.
Silverfield’s remarks last September came during a radio interview, when he took a public shot at Georgia and Smart while describing how he used examples in team meetings. He said, “Generally, on a Sunday afternoon when we meet with the team, we do two things,” and added, “We always start off with not our standard, always start out with a negative.
And the not our standard is ‘Georgia wide receiver arrested for driving 900 miles per hour over the speed limit.’ That’s a weekly occurrence.
So, that’s one we’ll show.”
The context around that comment was already heavy. Georgia has dealt with multiple driving-related arrests in recent years dating back to the end of the 2022 season. And shortly after the Bulldogs won the national championship, offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy died in a car accident in the hours after the team’s celebration in Athens.
Silverfield addressed the issue again at SEC media days in July, saying he had reached out to Smart after the remarks became public. “When it happened, listen, I’ve got the deep, most respect for Kirby Smart and the Georgia athletic department and everything that he’s about,” Silverfield said.
“Obviously, he’s done it at a high level so certainly a lot of respect for him. When it occurred, I reached out to him.
He’s always been great to me. Even at my time at Memphis.
He allowed us to come be a part of the camps. I think he knew that it was no ill will.
Listen, I’ve got a lot of respect for him and what they’re doing.”
Saturday will be the first time Smart coaches against Silverfield. Georgia enters at 2-0 after wins over Tennessee State and Western Kentucky, while Arkansas comes in off a 43-10 loss at Utah last weekend. The Bulldogs are a 24.5-point favorite.
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Tyriq Greens night ended early after the freshman left the game with an injury on a kickoff return, giving Georgia another health issue to monitor as the season moves into a critical stretch. Kirby Smart said the Bulldogs are still waiting on the full results on Greens status, and the staff will sort out his availability as the week goes on.
Greens situation adds to an injury picture that already has Georgia juggling some missing pieces. Wide receiver Thomas Blackshear and outside linebackers Chase Linton and Amaris Williams are already out, so any setback involving a young contributor on special teams only deepens the uncertainty as the Bulldogs try to stay steady from one week to the next. [Read more 🡒]
Kirby Smart Turned Georgias Big Night Into A Warning
Georgias all-white look turned Saturday night into a milestone long before the game got out of hand, as the Bulldogs wore the uniforms for the first time in school history and buried Western Kentucky in a 70-20 win. Gunner Stockton helped make the evening feel even more like a showcase, tying a school record with five passing touchdowns in the first half and giving the home crowd plenty to talk about well before halftime.
Kirby Smart, though, spent the postgame sounding more concerned than celebratory. Even with the score in Georgias favor by a wide margin, he made clear the second half did not meet his standard, turning what should have been a feel-good blowout into a reminder that the Bulldogs still have details to clean up. For a team with bigger goals ahead, that kind of message matters almost as much as the lopsided result. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Blowout May Have Just Settled A Key Quarterback Debate
Georgias 70-20 rout of Western Kentucky did more than pad the record to 2-0. It also gave the Bulldogs a much clearer picture of where the quarterback room stands behind Gunner Stockton, with a handful of young players using a lopsided game to make their case in a meaningful way.
Ryan Puglisi was among the biggest beneficiaries, with his performance strongly suggesting he has moved to the front in the race for the backup job. Tyriq Green also flashed enough to look like a return option worth watching, while Georgia got mixed results from Ryan Montgomery and Lawson Luckie. For a team still sorting out depth in spots, that kind of clarity is part of what made Saturday matter beyond the final score. [Read more 🡒]