ATHENS, Ga. - Less than 24 hours after last season's Georgia-Georgia Tech football game, Mark Richt was fired as Bulldogs coach, and he was on the winning side.
"There were definitely different emotions going on," Georgia senior right tackle Greg Pyke recalled Monday. "We wished nothing but the best for Coach Richt, but we had a new coach coming in, and we had to buy into what he was saying."
That new coach was Kirby Smart, and he will forever cherish his first senior class.
Georgia will recognize 11 seniors Saturday morning before the noon kickoff against Georgia Tech in Sanford Stadium. The small class is not expected to occupy many NFL roster spots this time next season, nor will it have added to the program's 12 Southeastern Conference titles, but it someday may be credited for taking those first baby steps of the Smart era.
"They are the glue that has held this team together through some adverse times," Smart said, "and we appreciate them."
Georgia's 13-7 win in Atlanta last November was its 13th triumph over the Yellow Jackets in 15 tries under Richt, but it was his inability to win league championships that resulted in his ouster. Smart, who was in his eighth season as Alabama's defensive coordinator, became the immediate favorite for the job and was hired within a few days.
"The SEC is a business, and it's not like you get to choose who your coach is," Pyke said. "Coach Smart brought a lot of energy and fire into this organization, and one thing that he sold on the seniors was for us to really just buy into what he's trying to bring to this program. He's really trying to change the culture around Georgia football."
Said Smart: "I think the transition was great. They know that I have a lot of respect for Coach Richt, and so do they. They were recruited by Coach Richt and his staff, and they understand that things like this in this business happen."
Pyke is Georgia's only senior rated by CBSsports.com as a likely draft pick in 2017, with the website projecting him as a fifth- or sixth-round selection. Saturday's honorees will include three graduate transfers - quarterback Greyson Lambert, left tackle Tyler Catalina and defensive back Maurice Smith - starting center Brandon Kublanow and a slew of prominent backups, such as safety Quincy Mauger, inside linebacker Ryne Rankin, outside linebacker Chuks Amaechi, fullback Glenn Welch and receiver Reggie Davis.
It is a class that lost in its last go-around to Vanderbilt before suffering a third straight setback against Florida, but it was after getting back from Jacksonville when the seniors led a team meeting. The Bulldogs were 4-4 at the time and in danger of missing out on a bowl for the first time in 20 years.
"They took an attitude of being positive and that it was not the end of the world," Smart said. "They helped sell that, and I just think that good kids respond well to adversity."
Smart opened the floor and said that Pyke, Kublanow, Davis, Mauger and Rankin were among those who were not afraid to speak their mind.
"When we had that meeting, they said to keep buying in and that things would get better," junior nose tackle John Atkins said. "It's been different since."
The most recent memory of significance compiled by the senior class was a 13-7 upset of No. 9 Auburn on Nov. 12, which marked a third consecutive win over the Tigers. A win over Georgia Tech would result in three victories over the Yellow Jackets in four tries, and it also would result in an 8-4 regular season.
Winning eight games and then a ninth in a bowl would make Smart the first coach in Georgia history with that many triumphs in an inaugural year, but Smart will remember the seniors more for helping get his regime started than any 60-minute outcome.
"They've been very important to our staff and our program," Smart said. "They've done a lot of great things around here, and they're going to be missed. Obviously we want to send them out the right way."
Familiar faces
Georgia Tech has an offensive backfield that includes Marcus Marshall, the younger brother of former Georgia tailback Keith Marshall, and J.J. Green, who signed with Georgia in 2013.
Green rushed 17 times for 129 yards in Georgia's 34-31 overtime win at Tennessee his freshman season, but he was moved to safety as a sophomore and collected nine tackles in eight games. The 5-foot-9, 188-pounder transferred to Georgia Tech and sat out last season, and he has 18 rushes for 103 yards (5.7 per carry) this year.
"He's on the other side, so we're friends, but we're also enemies in between the whistles," Atkins said. "J.J. and I both came in here early and got close over time, and he used to come back here a good bit when he was redshirting."
Odds and ends
Georgia leads the series with Georgia Tech 65-38-5 according to Georgia records and 65-40-5 according to Tech records.... Smart said he expects to have left guard Isaiah Wynn (knee), defensive tackle DaQuan Hawkins-Muckle (ankle) and inside linebacker Natrez Patrick (shoulder) this week, but Patrick worked Monday in a noncontact jersey.... Smart on the Bulldogs being 4-0 this year when he doesn't wear his visor: "I really don't think that a visor or black jerseys has anything to do with the outcome, and if anybody does, then they're too superstitious."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.