University of Georgia Athletics
Smart, Players Preview Spring Practices
March 17, 2026 | Football
ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart alongside senior tight end Lawson Luckie, redshirt-senior quarterback Gunner Stockton and senior inside linebacker Raylen Wilson spoke with the media on Tuesday afternoon and offered the following comments on the start of spring practices.
Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart
On injury updates…
"We've got a couple guys that are obviously out for spring dealing with injuries. Drew Bobo will be out for the spring. He should get back to work sometime over the summer. Jordan Hall, from his injury during the season, is out for the spring. He's running and doing some things, but he won't be able to participate. Gabe [Harris Jr.] had the turf toe surgery at the end of the season. He's out for the duration of the spring. Kyron [Jones] is still dealing with his ankle injury. Carter Luckie, who we got from high school, had knee surgery in high school and will be out for the spring. Then, Zayden Walker had a labral repair at the end of the season, and those typically are out for spring. He might be able to do some stuff at the end of spring. We've got several others that have injuries they're coming back from, maybe in or out a couple days of practice, but those are the guys that are out for the majority of practices."
On what they are working on in spring…
"I'm excited about spring. We've got a lot of areas to work on. I know I've seen a lot of things said or written about guys coming back, a number of starters. We have the least number of starters coming back we've ever had in terms of competition for positions. I think a lot of people look at it, 'This guy started three games. This guy started four games.' When I look out there on the field, or when I look at the pro day tomorrow, there's some good players leaving the program with a lot of experience. As these fifth- and sixth-year guys leave, our team always seems younger because we do not have many fifth-year players ever again in the program. It's just more and more rare to have a guy in fifth year, so a lot of new faces. Our goals for the spring are really simple. We want to grow the bottom of the roster to the top, and we want to get our top of the roster better. You can only do that through hard work and preparation. These guys have had a good six, seven-week offseason program. We put more into the offseason program. We went six days at 6 a.m. and tried to create a little more competition and culture among the guys, and they bought into that piece. We're excited to get started at spring ball today. We'll try to follow the same model we always have, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, unless the weather gets us somewhere, and we can adjust."
On Phil Rauscher and Larry Knight…
"Phil [Rauscher] has been with us. He brought a lot of identity to our offense last year and a lot of energy to that room, specifically. I'm excited about what Phil brought last year. He'll continue to do that. He and Stacy [Searels] are both working with the offensive line. Warren [Ericson] and Edmond [Kugbila] both help out with that. I think on the offensive line it's probably the position that has the most need for coaches and eyes because it's a developmental position. Guys do not come in here ready to play, so we need a lot of guys to help with those units to get them better. I know Phil will do that. He's got great experience in the National Football League. He's got a lot of good ideas for us offensively, especially in the run game. He's been a joy to work with, so I'm excited about that. Larry [Knight] has come in and done a great job really quickly. He interviewed. We thought he did an outstanding job. Very detailed in terms of things he believes in. He's worked with some really good coaches, and he's getting to know the guys, still. He's been in workouts with them for a couple weeks now. Getting on the grass should be fun for him to get to coach those guys and get to know them. He's been around defenses similar to ours, and he's very intelligent. He'll pick up on the defense quickly and do a great job helping our unit perform."
On Gunner Stockton with starting experience…
"We've got to be more explosive offensively. That does not fall solely on Gunner, but that does fall partially with him. We have to be able to be more explosive in the run game which some of that is blocking downfield or making people miss. Same thing in the pass game. We ran the ball better last year, so if we run the ball better, our play actions should be more explosive and more effective than they were. That comes from decision-making for him. That comes from protection from the front and making plays vertical down the field for the other guys. His steps are to grow, to get better. All the studies we did, a lot of our explosives came on unscheduled downs, unscheduled play; plays that maybe broke down, or something happened. Then, he was able to scramble and make a play down the field. We've got to simulate those more for him and allow him to grow to make those plays. I think the number one step for him is take what the defense gives you, use the skill set of the players around you, and be more explosive."
On wide receiver Isiah Canion and running back Dante Dowdell…
"Isiah [Canion] is a guy we knew about in high school and someone we knew a lot of. I remember Coach Bobo going down and watching him practice, and he made a couple really acrobatic catches. He was in the back of our mind all along. Of course, we got to play against him last year, and he made some plays against us last year in that game. The more familiar you are with someone through recruiting, the more success we've had. He's a good football player. He's an even better person, and he played with several guys on our team, so there's a relationship there. We know him, so we're excited about him. Dante [Dowdell], we did play against, as well. For us, it became about physicality, having a back that was big, physical, played in our league, knows what it takes to win at this level. He's done nothing but come in and bust his butt and work hard."
On the difficulty that transfer and freshmen experience in spring practice…
"Practices are hard here for everybody, so they're meant to be tough. They're meant to be hard because the game is supposed to be easier. In terms of the defensive back room, we've got some additions and we've got some subtractions. We're trying to figure out where we are and grow those guys. It's a transient position. There in receiver, you typically have guys go in the portal. You typically get guys out of the portal. It usually has something to do with the mindset of their belief and confidence that they should be playing. A lot of those guys that came in think they should have been playing more where they were, and they're going to have an opportunity to prove that here. Some of the guys that left here probably felt they should have been playing more, and maybe we didn't. Then, the guys we signed certainly all believe they can play here, and time is going to tell whether they're ready to or not. Our job is to get the best five or six defensive backs out there we can put out there. I'm excited with the group we have. I don't know that I'm ready to say where they are because we haven't seen them do anything.
On whether there are plans to alter the format of G-Day…
"No, G-Day will stay similar, assuming since it's a long way off. Assuming that we're healthy and we have the number of guys we need to be able to play, G-Day would be a very similar format. As far as overarching things, we have to run the ball and stop the run. That's not ever going to change, and I think that was driven home really hard last year. That's not going to change. I can't change that because when you get down to the end of a game, to win the game, you have to run the ball, or you have to stop the run to get the ball back. It's just what football is, so that's not going anywhere. We do have to be more explosive, and we do have to be more disruptive on defense. Those two things are going to always be there. They don't go away, so I don't know if I can say it's exactly this. It's much clearer that last year in terms we didn't achieve those things. We did achieve much better this past year at running it and stopping the run, but we weren't effective enough in some other areas: being explosive, our downs, and creating havoc in sacks. Disruption on defense has to be better."
On the outside linebacker and transfer EDGE Amaris Williams…
"We know a lot about him [Amaris Williams]. He's got to be able to play within our system, understand our system, but also add value. He can start by taking the reps he's going to get this spring. We've got three young guys that didn't get a lot of playing time last year. I want to see where they are. Quintavius [Johnson] is continuing to grow. With Gabe [Harris Jr.] out, it's going to open a door for a lot of guys to get reps and grow and play. I kind of want to see what they can do. Khamari [Brooks] here. He's a mid-year freshman. We want to see the growth in that room and see those guys continue to get better."
On the leadership Raylen Wilson can provide with CJ Allen's departure for the NFL…
"He was one of the leaders of the defense last year. CJ [Allen], his demeanor and his makeup, sometimes overshadowed Raylen [Wilson]. There were times last year CJ couldn't practice, CJ couldn't play, but Raylen took over. He did a lot of great things along with CJ, and I think he's going to shoulder more of that load along with Justin [Williams] and Chris [Cole], and that's where the leadership in your defense comes from. That middle group that communicates to the defensive line and communicates to the back end, so I have no concerns about Raylen's leadership ability. I want him to continue to grow as a player and get better and have a great season this year."
Players Mentioned
