Top Dogs: Georgia celebrates title, looks ahead to 2022
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By PAUL NEWBERRY
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kirby Smart learned from his former boss that the time for celebrating is short in college football.
Even while he reveled Tuesday in the hangover from Georgia’s first national title since 1980, the coach was already thinking about what comes next.
“The wind blows a lot stronger at the top,” Smart said. “I’ve seen it.”
Indeed, he has.
Smart worked nine seasons at Alabama under Nick Saban, helping win four national titles.
Now, he’s got one of his own after Georgia rallied for a 33-18 victory over Saban and the Crimson Tide in the championship game Monday night.
The long-overdue party stretched from Indianapolis all the way back to Athens, Georgia, where fans and students stormed the streets in a raucous celebration.
But Smart’s time with Saban taught him that he’s already a bit behind on the 2022 season.
“I know people don’t understand it, but other teams are 10 days up on you because they finished January 1st,” Smart said. “Fortunately, I had a really good mentor and teacher in dealing with that because he’s in it every year. But you fall behind because you’re trying to manage your roster.”
Smart is already concerned about complacency seeping into a team that will spend the entire offseason hearing how great it is.
He doesn’t want the Bulldogs to go another 41 years without a championship.
“I don’t know that our team that’s coming back is prepared for what they’re about to see because there’s a sense of entitlement, there’s a sense of the disease, that has always crept in at Georgia,” Smart said bluntly of his alma mater.
“There’s a huge anointment and entitlement that can affect your program. So now it turns for us to … what we’ve got to do to keep it going.”
Smart knows that he’ll have to replace a number of key players, especially on the defensive side.
Nose tackle Jordan Davis, linebacker Nakobe Dean and end Travon Walker all have a shot at going in the first round of the NFL draft. Tackle Devonte Wyatt, cornerback Derion Kendrick, and linebackers Channing Tindall and Quay Walker are expected to move on as well.
On the offensive side, running back James Cook and linemen Jamaree Salyer and Justin Shaffer have their sights on the pros. Receiver George Pickens missed much of the season with a knee injury, but he also could be headed to the NFL draft.
Smart has several players who plan to enter the transfer portal, though they held off on making their decisions public until after the national championship game.
Finally, Georgia is still putting the finishing touches on another stellar recruiting class.
“We don’t know how many spots we have because we don’t know what some guys are doing,” Smart said. “There’s a lot of work to be done.”
The most intriguing position is quarterback.
Stetson Bennett, a former walk-on who took over the starting job after JT Daniels was injured, is a fifth-year senior but does have another year of eligibility because of COVID-19.
Daniels, a former top recruit who transferred to Georgia from Southern California after the 2019 season, also has an extra year of eligibility remaining. Further down the depth chart are Carson Beck and Brock Vandagriff, soon to be joined by 2022 signee Gunner Stockton.
Hard to envision all of them being with the Bulldogs next season.
Bennett, the offensive MVP of both the Orange Bowl semifinal and the national championship game, isn’t regarded as a top NFL prospect, so he could come back for a sixth season.
Then again, what a way to go out if he decides to get on with his post-college life.
Bennett was tight-lipped about his future Tuesday morning.
“I don’t want to spill all my personal stuff out here on the table,” he said. ”We’ll keep that between me and coach Smart.”
In the meantime, there’s a championship to savor.
The Bulldogs certainly earned it, knocking off college football’s greatest dynasty and the coach generally considered the best to ever walk the sideline.
“Bama is a world-class caliber team,” said safety Lewis Cine, the defensive MVP of the national championship game. “We knew that Bama has always been at the top. And to beat the team at the top is something really surreal.
“It’s something that goes down in history and something that I’ll remember forever.”
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Workers putting finishing touches on UGA’s championship celebration, fans excited
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Georgia football offers Oconee County star Whit Weeks during national title celebration
Oconee County’s Whit Weeks (4) moves the ball down the field during a GHSA high school football game between Monroe Area and Oconee County in Watkinsville, Ga., on Friday, Oct. 22, 2021.
With tons of recruits on Georgia’s campus Saturday for the Bulldogs’ national championship celebration and parade, an Athens-area athlete was one of several to pick up a scholarship offer from UGA.
Whit Weeks, a three-star linebacker from Oconee County, tweeted Saturday that he received an offer from Kirby Smart and UGA. This is Weeks’ 13th Power 5 offer.
Prior to Saturday, Weeks’ most recent offer came from LSU on Thursday.
Relive Georgia football’s historic season with exclusive, commemorative book
The talented two-way player for the Warriors recorded 134 total tackles, a fumble recovery, an interception and four total touchdowns this season as a junior in 12 games.
Weeks’ brother, West, played linebacker at Virginia in 2021 and was a member of the Cavaliers’ 2021 recruiting class. Earlier this month, West entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. Their father David Weeks was a three-year starter for the Bulldogs on the offensive line in the 90s.
More local recruiting
More: Which underclassman football players in the Athens area have offers to play at the next level?
More: Keeping up with which Athens area seniors signed to play college football
McClain Baxley is a recruiting reporter for the Athens Banner-Herald and the USA TODAY Network. Reach him by email at mbaxley@onlineathens.com or on Twitter at @mcclainbaxley.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football recruiting: Bulldogs offer Oconee County’s Whit Weeks
Doctor gives advice on staying COVID-19 free during Georgia Bulldogs championship celebrations
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There is a measurable difference, he says, between how the omicron variant spreads outdoors versus indoors.
ATLANTA — Georgia Bulldogs fans across the country, planning to travel to Athens on Saturday to take part in the celebrations of the football team’s national championship, are hearing some straight talk, and hopeful words of advice, from infectious disease experts. Even though the COVID-19 omicron variant is still spreading fast, chances are that most people should pretty much be safe from catching the virus at the celebrations that are outdoors.
11Alive talked Wednesday with a sports epidemiologist at Emory University’s Oxford Campus, who said that - with the omicron variant, especially - there is a measurable difference in how it spreads indoors versus outdoors.
“Omicron is everywhere, right now,” said Dr. Zach Binney. “It’s not just limited to colleges, it’s spreading like wildfire, and it spreads very, very effectively and very, very fast. Even if you are vaccinated. We’ve seen it absolutely tear through, for example, football teams in the NFL, almost before you even know it’s there.”
Dr. Binney is aware of the rising numbers of COVID cases at UGA. UGA reports that there were at least 804 cases as of last week–the week of January 3–and that total was three times higher than it was the week before, and up from just 22 cases at the beginning of last month.
Dr. Binney said the tens of thousands of students and faculty and staff and alumni and others who are in Athens celebrating the Bulldogs’ national football championship, and those who will be arriving for the Saturday celebrations, should know that omicron doesn’t spread as easily outdoors as it does indoors.
“If you’re outdoors, even though omicron is very transmissible, it still doesn’t seem to transmit very well outdoors,” he said. “So as long as you stay outside celebrating, I think you’re pretty safe.
“We’re probably not going to see a ton of spread from the parades themselves or even outdoor events at Sanford Stadium” on Saturday, he said. “My worry is any indoor celebrations that are going to take place around that. Going into the bars or restaurants in downtown Athens, going into frat houses, or other people’s homes, that’s really where I’m worried we could see a large amount of transmission…. And people just need to be aware if they’re going into an environment like that, without everyone wearing very good masks, you should assume you are going to get infected with omicron at this point, in that kind of environment.”
And he said he’s worried about unmasked people who are asymptomatic, unknowingly spreading the virus later to people who are at high risk for getting very sick.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to celebrate a championship for UGA. ‘Go Dawgs,’ that’s great, I’m as excited as you are. Just think about the consequences, and think about what you can do to keep those you care about safe," he said.
Gators guard Phlandrous Fleming celebrates UGA win, apologizes
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Every Florida Gators fan’s worst fears came true on Monday night when the Georgia Bulldogs seized the College Football Playoff national championship from the Alabama Crimson Tide for their first title since 1980. To put that into perspective, Jimmy Carter was still the president of the United States when they last achieved that glory.
While fans draped in orange and blue sulked over a disappointing season that culminated with their beloved team losing to the Central Florida Knights in the Gasparilla Bowl, ‘Dawgs fans rejoiced for the first time in 41 years. Among those giving their hoots and hollers in response to the Black and Red’s triumph was an unexpected face — Florida basketball’s Phlandrous Fleming Jr., who was seen celebrating on an Instagram Live feed after the win.
like actually tho wtf is wrong with the culture in our basketball program??? pic.twitter.com/mNvzn6tmZB — 🧡💙 (@itsthatgatorguy) January 11, 2022
As social media is wont to do, the Florida fanbase experienced a minor meltdown in response to the Gators guard’s elation over their most hated rival’s success. What most of them probably did not realize is that Fleming is from Athens, Georgia. You know, the city that UGA resides in. Not everyone exactly cared in light of that information, either.
In response, Fleming took the high road and announced his open apology on Twitter, expressing to the Gator Nation regret for his exuberant response to the Bulldogs’ historic win.
“To Gator Nation, I apologize for the uproar that my actions have caused. I grew up in Athens my entire life rooting for Georgia Football, and last night was an overjoyed reaction to the ending of the game. I am very grateful for the opportunity that the University Of Florida granted me and I am totally committed to the Gators. Again I am deeply sorry to the fans, the school, and the athletic department for any disrespect that my words or celebration have caused.”
While his celebration was certainly a faux pas in the grand scheme of things, given his connection to Georgia’s flagship university growing up, his response really should not be shocking to anyone — especially since he came to Florida through the transfer portal as opposed to traditional recruiting means.
Nonetheless, the fanbase will have eagle eyes on him until the Gators host the Bulldogs in the O’Connell Center on Feb. 9, when he gets a chance to prove his loyalty in front of the Rowdy Reptiles.
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