From the start of the winter workouts to the final stages of spring practice, Georgia football players have been guarded when asked to compare new coach Kirby Smart with predecessor Mark Richt.
"As far as the change, we haven't really paid any mind to it," senior safety Quincy Mauger said last month. "We were just ready to buy into the process and work. It's not any different from before. We're wanting to get bigger and stronger and faster, and we're always ready to work."
Senior center Brandon Kublanow admitted there have been differences but wouldn't elaborate, pointing out, "I think our team has done a great job of adjusting."
One former player, Ben Jones, attended a Bulldogs practice last month in Sanford Stadium and liked some changes he noticed. Jones was a four-year starter under Richt and was a senior on the 2011 team, which won the program's first Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title in six years before losing to LSU in the Georgia Dome.
The 6-foot-3, 308-pound Jones is beginning his first season with the Tennessee Titans after playing the past four years with the Houston Texans.
"The players were broken up in a lot of groups at a lot of different times and working on a lot of individual and specific stuff," Jones said. "The defense would be working on ball-stripping. The line would be working on blocking fits. They really took the time to explain what the drill was, and they got a lot of reps at it.
"They had a lot of people broken up in groups, and there wasn't anybody standing around. They were running from station to station, and that was very good to see."
Georgia fans, of course, can take note of any differences they might find Saturday afternoon in the G-Day game. Smart has pushed for a packed house of 92,746 fans, and the university announced Thursday that Atlanta rapper Ludacris, a three-time Grammy winner, would perform at 3:45 p.m.
The G-Day game starts at 4 and will be televised by ESPNU.
"Coach Smart wants 93,000, and we want 93,000," Bulldogs junior outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter said after Thursday's practice, the 14th of the spring. "We look forward to seeing a great crowd and competing in a game-like atmosphere."
The two early enrollees who were arrested this week for shooting a BB gun in a dorm room, defensive lineman Julian Rochester and defensive back Chad Clay, returned to practice Thursday. Smart has not announced whether they will play at G-Day.
Like many of Richt's former players, Jones was unhappy to see his coach let go, but he's happy with the replacement choice.
"You never want to see a guy who has impacted a program so much have to leave," said Jones, who was a recent guest on "Press Row" on Chattanooga's ESPN 105.1 FM. "Coach Richt is a great man and a great leader, and I don't know if there is any man out there with more character, so it definitely hurt. I'm glad he got to go back to his roots at Miami.
"We're excited for Kirby Smart. He's a great recruiter, and we're excited to see what he can do for the Georgia program."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.