A New Statement from Kirby Smart Suggests How Georgia Really Treats Players Who Avoid Physical Play

Kirby Smart doesn’t waste words when it comes to explaining what Georgia football stands for. The head coach of the Bulldogs made that abundantly clear on Monday when he was asked about players who transfer because they find the program’s physical demands too much to handle.

Smart said Georgia tries to schedule games against those players and their new teams. “We schedule them,” Smart said in comments as reported by On3’s Anthony Dasher. “The ones that want to leave, we schedule them.” That’s not typical coaching language about wishing departing players well.

Smart went further. He explained the reasoning behind this approach in a way that shows how confident Georgia is in what they do. Players who leave because of physicality usually land at programs that don’t emphasize it. Those programs become targets for the Bulldogs.

Smart’s comments came two days after Georgia destroyed Texas 35-10 in a game that proved the value of the program’s demanding practices. The Bulldogs outscored the Longhorns 21-0 in the fourth quarter, the kind of finish that happens when one team has been hit harder in practice all season.

Smart talked after that game about what he sees as a problem in college football right now. Too many players want NIL money without putting in physical work. “I don’t know that a lot of these kids nowadays, they want the check,” Smart said Saturday. “They don’t want physicality. When you have the check and no physicality, you end up with nothing. So you’re not just getting checks at our place. We’re hitting people.”

Georgia’s Head Coach Explains Why the Program Targets Teams That Take Their Former Players

Smart was asked how he handles it when players want to transfer out because Georgia’s practices are too physical.

Most coaches would give some version of “we wish them the best” and move on. Smart took a different path. “We try to get them on the schedule,” he said, according to On3. “Because when they want to leave, because they’re not physical, that means they’re probably going to a place that’s not physical. We like those places; we like to play them. We prefer them, actually, if you can get them on the schedule.”

NEW: Kirby Smart comments on players who transfer because of Georgia’s emphasis on physicality:

“We schedule them. The ones that want to leave, we schedule them. We try to get them on the schedule, because when they want to leave, because they’re not physical, that means… pic.twitter.com/PeD9y8tvbb

— On3 (@On3sports) November 17, 2025

A player who leaves Georgia because the physical demands are too high will choose a program where those demands are lower. Smart sees those programs as easier opponents.

Georgia has won two national championships in the last four years by being the most physical team in college football. The approach has worked. Smart isn’t about to change it because some players would rather have an easier path.

The transfer portal and NIL have changed college football. Programs compete for players with money as much as playing time or development. Smart acknowledged that reality Saturday when he talked about players wanting checks.

But he’s not adjusting Georgia’s culture to fit the new environment. He’s betting the old formula still works. Based on how Georgia played against Texas, that bet looks solid. The Bulldogs were tougher, faster, and better conditioned in the fourth quarter. That doesn’t happen by accident.