Georgia's 2017 football season featured the program's first Southeastern Conference championship in 12 years and its first trip to the Rose Bowl in 75 years.
It was the most memorable autumn for the Bulldogs since the Herschel Walker era, but it's ancient history according to third-year coach Kirby Smart. Georgia held its first of 15 spring practices Tuesday, the first time the Bulldogs had worked out with their coaches since the loss to Alabama in the national championship game Jan. 8.
"Change is inevitable, but growth is optional," Smart said in a news conference. "These kids have a very loyal, ambitious, hungry fan base that pats them on the back every day, and our job is to bring the reality that there would not have been a national championship game if we don't have the things happen in the second half against Oklahoma. They have to understand that we can improve in a lot of areas, and they have to have a maturity level to now deal with a different side of things.
"Everybody is talking about what we should do this year, but if we don't come with the same hunger - we had a 2016 season and a 2017 season where there wasn't a whole lot of difference on the roster. The outcomes were completely different, so why was that? This team is going to be the target for everyone they play, and we're not going to sit back and let people hunt us. We're going to continue to hunt."
This time last year, the Bulldogs were coming off an 8-5 season that ended in the Liberty Bowl, but they were in full hunt mode once September arrived, racing to a 9-0 start. Georgia suffered a lopsided loss at Auburn before exacting revenge against the Tigers in the SEC title game, and the Bulldogs were within 30 minutes of their first national championship since 1980 after snatching a 13-0 halftime lead over the Crimson Tide in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The 26-23 overtime defeat against Alabama was as gut-wrenching as the 54-48 double-overtime win over Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl was euphoric, but Smart made it clear Tuesday that the Crimson Tide's final-play victory is not at the top of his motivating list moving forward.
"That team is that team," he said. "We kind of absorbed that and worked through that, but the expectations are what they are at Georgia, and that's to win every game. We expect to go out and dominate our opponent. That's what we strive to do.
"We're not going out there with the mantra that we were a play away or two plays away. The bottom line is that this team is distinctly different than that team, and what the identity of this team will be is all that I'm worried about."
Last year's Bulldogs were overrun with leaders, from undersized left tackle Isaiah Wynn to the tailback tandem of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel to award-winning inside linebacker Roquan Smith to outside linebackers Davin Bellamy and Lorenzo Carter.
Smart listed leadership as "the biggest question about this team." When pressed for early candidates, he suggested a quartet of seniors: center Lamont Gaillard, receiver Terry Godwin, defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter and outside linebacker D'Andre Walker.
"It's a big role that we all have to fill," Godwin said. "I was with those guys for three years, and now they're gone. It's something you've got to get used to, and it's something you've got to go through in life."
Tuesday was one of many expected instances in the weeks and months ahead in which Smart was asked about the quarterback competition between sophomore and returning starter Jake Fromm and heralded early enrollee Justin Fields.
His answer may be cut and pasted in the weeks and months ahead as well.
"The fact that Justin and Jake are competing is no different from every guy on our team," Smart said. "We've got four or five spots in our secondary that are open for 12 guys. We've got guards, centers and tackles who are competing, and none of that ever changes.
"There are a lot of questions about this team, and that's what I'm excited about - the challenge of finding the personalities on this team who will lead the right way."
Offensive shuffle
After spending the past two seasons as Georgia's receivers coach, James Coley now is overseeing quarterbacks with an added title of co-offensive coordinator.
"He's a guy who's been a coordinator before, worked with quarterbacks before and has had success working with quarterbacks in his history," Smart said. "I thought it was a good move for our program."
Third-year offensive coordinator Jim Chaney will shift his position responsibility from quarterbacks to tight ends, replacing departed assistant Shane Beamer, with Cortez Hankton now handling receivers. Hankton spent the past three seasons as Vanderbilt's receivers coach.
"I don't see a ton of difference," junior tight end Isaac Nauta said when asked about Chaney being his position coach, "but it is a new perspective for us."
Odds and ends
Georgia's first-team line Tuesday consisted of Andrew Thomas at left tackle, Kendall Baker at left guard, Gaillard at center, Ben Cleveland at right guard and Isaiah Wilson at right tackle. ... Two offensive linemen, fifth-year senior walk-on Sean Fogerty and sophomore Justin Shaffer, will miss spring practice following knee surgeries. ... Smart on freshman running back Zamir White, who tore his ACL in November: "He's maybe ahead of where we expected him to be, but I can't say that he's going to be ready to go for fall camp, because I don't know that." ... Sophomore defensive back Deangelo Gibbs is expected to return by preseason camp after undergoing surgery on his left shoulder. ... Smart said senior inside linebacker Natrez Patrick has done "everything we've asked" since his suspension from the Rose Bowl.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.