Hours still the same for Georgia's Smart

Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart looks at his notes during a scrimmage earlier this month in Sanford Stadium.
Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart looks at his notes during a scrimmage earlier this month in Sanford Stadium.

One week from today, Kirby Smart will be on the eve of his first game as a head football coach.

Smart has spent nearly two decades working under others, most notably as Alabama's defensive coordinator for Nick Saban the past several seasons, but he will lead Georgia next Saturday afternoon against North Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic.

His first preseason as a head coach, at least to this point, has felt like those that came before.

"It's the exact same as far as your time, because the hours you work are the hours you work," Smart said this week in a news conference. "You have to stay a long time to prepare for the next practice and prepare for the next meeting. Making decisions on how to set the practice up is probably the biggest difference."

Smart is making $3.75 million for working long hours and dealing with the pressures of running a high-profile program. He may be new to the head-coaching ranks, but the experience of beginning another season in the Southeastern Conference has become old hat.

This is the 12th time in the last 13 years Smart has entered a season working in the SEC, with the exception being his one-year stint as safeties coach for Saban's Miami Dolphins in 2006. Smart and Saban are entering their 10th consecutive seasons coaching in the league, a figure topped among SEC head coaches by only LSU's Les Miles and Mississippi State's Dan Mullen, who are entering their 12th straight years in the conference.

The biggest adjustment Smart may have made this month was in handling inclement conditions. He pointed out earlier this week at the Touchdown Club of Athens that 16 of the first 19 practices were affected by rain. When it rained at Alabama, the Crimson Tide would move to the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility.

"If you want to know my frustration level, it's out of the roof because it's out of my control," Smart said.

Georgia is the last SEC school to have a waterproof, 100-yard home but has one under construction that could be ready before the end of the year. A December opening could aid the Bulldogs if they qualify for a league-leading 20th straight bowl game.

Chubb return nears

Smart has yet to announce whether junior tailback Nick Chubb will start - let alone play - in next week's game. Smart said Wednesday that Chubb has done everything that's been asked of him, and Chubb met with reporters after Thursday's practice and said, "I wouldn't mind getting out there."

Chubb was smiling when he said it, but even if he does play, could he shoulder a 25- or 30-carry load?

"I won't be able to know until it happens," he said, "but I feel good about where I'm at and where my team is at."

Odds and ends

Junior tight end Jeb Blazevich on Thursday's practice: "I think we took another step forward. We started to game-plan for UNC, so going forward it's learning how to practice efficiently, keep on the gas pedal and keep our energy level high." The quarterback order during Thursday's portion of practice open to the media continued to be Jacob Eason, Greyson Lambert and Brice Ramsey. Rhode Island transfer Tyler Catalina has been working as the first-team left tackle in recent practices, with Isaiah Wynn at left guard and Lamont Gaillard at right guard.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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