‘There's A Hunger Among This Group’
July 20, 2022 | Football, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
ATLANTA — The cover of the 2022 Georgia football media guide isn't a loud and proud celebration of the 2021 national championship. In fact, coach Kirby Smart and the designers went the exact opposite direction.
Despite the intense joy, pride, exultation, and about a thousand more emotions that came with the Bulldogs winning the program's first football national championship since 1980 — and relief, don't forget that — there's not one word on the cover about Georgia being the top dogs of college football in 2021. In fact, there are only eight words total on the cover, and four of them are "Georgia football" and "media guide." The other four words: "TOUGHNESS • CONNECTION • RESILIENCY • COMPOSURE."
Smart isn't on the cover holding up the national championship trophy. Quarterback Stetson Bennett isn't on the cover throwing one of the five touchdown passes he tossed during the College Football Playoff run. Cornerback Kelee Ringo isn't on the cover returning his Pick Six to seal Georgia's 33-18 win over Alabama in the National Championship Game.
Instead, the three Georgia players on the cover are senior running back Kenny McIntosh, senior receiver Kearis Jackson and senior safety Christopher Smith. And no, none of them is holding a trophy either.
The message the cover is sending is the one Smart voiced during his remarks on the main stage Wednesday morning at the College Football Hall of Fame, on Day 3 of SEC Media Days. Complacency, he said, is not going to be an issue with the 2022 Bulldogs.
"That does not concern me in the least," he said. "To be complacent, you have to have done something and achieved something. The men on this team for this season have not done that. They have not. We had 15 players that have now gone to NFL camps as draft picks. They're gone. We have some returning players, but they're hungry as ever."
With so many stars from last season now off to the NFL, particularly on defense, Smart said he's it's inexperience he's worried about, not complacency. At the same time, he said, "There's a hunger among this group. A lot of guys want to prove that they can replace the other guy. They don't want to be the other guy, they want to be the next guy."
As for being the hunted now instead of the hunter, not so fast.
"We will not be hunted at the University of Georgia. I can promise you that," he said. "The hunting we do will be from us going the other direction. We're not going to sit back and be passive."
While Smart, Bennett, senior linebacker Nolan Smith and redshirt sophomore Sedrick Van Pran each looked like a million bucks in the suits Wednesday, one well-earned accessory was notably absent. None of them were wearing their national championship rings.
Lest you think Smart and the Bulldogs aren't thrilled by what they did last year, and don't want to remind everyone, recruits in particular, that they had a celebration for the ages on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis that January night, the inside cover features photos of Smart and Bennett holding the national championship trophy alongside a shot of Ringo's legendary return, as well as photos of stars like Nakobe Dean and Jordan Davis.
But there's a reason that the celebration page isn't out front. The Bulldogs are embarking on a new season, starting Sept. 3 against Oregon and former defensive coordinator Dan Lanning. That game and every one that follows will demand their full attention.
"We can't control last year," Smith said. "We can't do anything on last year. We can only look forward. Be where our feet are at, and that's now."
Van Plan said he celebrated the national championship for about 30 hours, until he was back in class. Smith said it was about 24 hours for him.
Smart said that one of the things the coaches and players have done this offseason to avoid any kind of complacency or letdown is study during their "skull sessions" the greats — be they programs, kingdoms or whatever — that have been at the top and then fallen.
"We talk about how the mighty have fallen," Smart said. "I'm talking about in business, sports, history. You learn from the mistakes of others."
For Van Pran, it boils down to continuing to do the things that got you to the top in the first place.
"I think the overall message of all of (the lessons) has just been, make sure that you stay humble, make sure that you stay focused, make sure that you stay who you've always been," he said. "I think that when you allow yourself to deviate from what you've always done, that's when the mighty can fall."
The Bulldogs are still on the hunt, as hungry as ever.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
