University of Georgia Athletics
Smart, Players Preview Tennessee State
August 31, 2026 | Football
ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart, as well as junior running back Nate Frazier and junior inside linebacker Justin Williams, spoke with the media on Monday afternoon and offered the following comments.
Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart
Opening Statement…
"I'm excited about game week. I know our players are ready to play someone other than each other, so the guys are excited. I know the fans are excited. I'm excited to see this team go out and play their first game. We have to play somebody else to get better, and that's the stage we're in. Our guys have had a really good camp. We've had 20, maybe 21 practices, and we're in a good spot to get better. We worked hard Friday and Saturday. The players had Sunday off. We'll get to work on Tennessee State today. They play a really tight, exciting ball game. They had a tough loss on Saturday night, but played really well against Jackson State, so we'll begin to prepare for these guys today."
On what can be accomplished in a game versus a scrimmage…
"Coaches aren't on the field [in a game]. They have to go out and react to an opponent, somebody that you don't always know exactly what they're going to do. You get to see a reaction from the players. You get to see growth, confidence and exposure to playing in front of fans. In my coaching history, nobody goes out and does something phenomenal that they haven't done in practice. What we see in practice, we see in games. Maybe the reaction to a play they gave up when they get beat and how they respond to it is what I'm looking for. I'm looking at the response more than the actual event."
On RB Bo Walker...
"Bo has really good vision. He's low to the ground. He's hard to tackle. He runs. He protects physical. He's a good football player. What he may lack in speed, he makes up for in vision and quickness. He has had a good camp."
On OL Drew Bobo and OLB Gabe Harris…
"They're great. They've taken every single rep. I don't know what else to say other than they're good to go."
On RB Nate Frazier's biggest steps in his career…
"Leadership in that room. I think he takes personal ownership in the energy. Thsoe three guys all came in together, Chauncey [Bowens], Dwight [Phillips] and him. He takes a lot of pride in having positive energy to affect them. Stamina, carrying the ball further downfield. Pass-pro and pass receiving have become a weapon. Catching the ball out of the backfield has been a big focus for him. All in all, he's worked really hard this camp."
On preparing for the weather conditions…
"We've been in it. We've been in it more than in years past. It's been one of the hottest camps we've measured in terms of practices. We've practiced outside, and we've practiced inside. We measure all the outside ones against previous camps, and it stood out to be the hottest camp we've had. I always worry about our players being acclimated to a game-type atmosphere and in that heat because you don't ever play games a lot of times in it. We practiced in it, and we did get to scrimmage in it. I'll be interested to see how our players, as well as our fans, and you guys - we'll see if you guys can handle it. Y'all can get out of that air conditioning and come out there with us. We'll see if you can handle a 110 heat-index and go up and down the field in 25 pounds of pads on."
On OLB Chase Linton…
"Chase is a great kid. What a great family he comes from. He works hard. He's tough. He's gotten better with every opportunity that he's had, and I'm excited to see him continue to grow."
On the Tennessee State offense…
"Their quarterback [Daylin Lee] does a great job. He's very smooth, hard to tackle and gets out of trouble. He's a great, efficient passer. I thought he played with a lot of moxie and confidence the other night. You can just see that he understands what they're trying to do offensively and executes well. Excited to see. He's a transfer guy that has played well, and he gets an opportunity to come out and play against us."
On the team's competitive character…
"I think the competitive character is yet to be completely shown. We've seen it, and we've been privy to watch the guys compete against each other. Some handle that better than others. They're going against a formidable opponent every day they go out there, and I enjoy watching them compete, go against each other. All the things they've done so far leaves me no doubt that they will go out and respond in game time situations."
On the interior defensive linemen…
"They work hard as a group. They're a very 'by committee' kind of group. They bust their butt every day of practice. They compete. They go against a big physical offensive line. We have a few more twitchy guys in there with JJ [Hanne] sliding in, playing a little more time inside. We've got the size with Nnamdi [Ogboko] in there, and Nasir Johnson playing there. Both of those guys have been good at run-stopping for us. What we need is the twitch, the athleticism that EG [Elijah Griffin] brings and some of those guys to make us better a better pass rush."
On ILB Justin Williams…
"Number one, he wass an extremely high character kid from the first time we met him. I remember he came to a junior day, and he was just all in on the junior day. He was in every competition we had. He was in the front line. He was smiling, laughing, and meeting other recruits. Just felt like a ball of energy, and that's carried over into his play. He plays really hard, with a lot of passion and energy. He leads that way. There's not anything that we do as a team that he's not right at the front line. He and Chris [Cole] have the same personality, in terms of they find joy in whatever they're doing. I appreciate that from Justin. He had a lot of opportunities to play last year, and he's going to get more opportunities to play. He needs to play well and tackle well. He plays fast, and he plays physical. His biggest thing has been maintaining his weight and being able to keep his weight on."
On the Tennessee State defense…
"They're a group that knows how to play blocks and strike blocks. They gave up a couple of explosives early in the game and went back and forth for a couple of quarters with those guys [Jackson State]. They do a tremendous job. I know some of the defensive guys, some of their staff. They're going to play hard and physical. This is an opportunity for their kids to play even on a bigger stage. They just got to play at Vanderbilt's Stadium. They got to play on TV at night, and they are going to have an opportunity to come in here and play at our place."
On how technology has changed evaluations…
"We listen to the numbers. We have people assigned that are experts at that. I'm not. They bring the data to me daily, and we look through it. If somebody is losing velocity, or they haven't hit a max velocity in a while, we have to look into it. We try to hit max velocities one time a week and make sure players are still running fast. Ultimately, to maintain your speed and prevent injury, you have to run fast. We look at the data that comes in each day. We try to have a plan for the week on how we're gonna utilize it. If guys are struggling, then we cut them back."
On what he wants to see from the wide receiver room this weekend…
"Execution. I don't know why I would want to see anything different out of them than I see out of the quarterbacks or the defensive backs. Superior position play. Be the guy that executes higher than the position across from him at tight end, kicker, at any position we've got, defensively, outside linebacker. I want all those guys to perform at a high level, and do it regardless of who the opponent is. It doesn't matter who the opponent is. Our opponent is ourselves. That's pretty much the case for me every week, and the wide outs are no different."
On the importance of in-game reps…
"They're valuable. I put value on the scrimmages, so I don't know that I can say any one rep is more valuable than the first two scrimmage reps we had. We certainly prepared differently for them because we're not tapering off going into scrimmages. We will taper off going into this game, but I put value on everything we do. I try to put them in game-like situations because game-like situations matter. I don't want to devalue what we've done or devalue what we're going to do in this game. They just need reps. I've come to the conclusion that every freshman needs a certain number of times, and every freshman is different. One freshman might need three reps, another freshman might need 1,300 reps. I don't know what that is. I know we've got to get to that number to get them in a position where they can help our team."
On the special teams units…
"Drew [Miller] has punted, so it's not like it's his first time going out there to punt. I think people forget that. He's had a really good camp. He's had some good matching distance and hangs, which is important to us. He hasn't been out-kicking his coverage, and he's been really good at sky kicks. He's getting pushed by Wade [Register], so he's got a challenge. He's got competition, and I've enjoyed watching those two go at it. Peyton [Woodring] has had a good camp, and Harran [Zureikat] had a good camp. Snapping, [Will] Snellings] has done a good job. I feel it's in good hands considering what we've lost. We lost some guys there. In the return game, we'll find out more details this week about where we go from there."
On undrafted Georgia players making NFL rosters…
"I think it happens all over the league. I don't know the numbers on that. You just might have to tell me how many UDFAs made it, but it does happen. It happens from here a lot because I think they know how to practice. [Dillon] Bell reached out yesterday and thanked the staff and myself for how hard we pushed him and how we challenged him. He felt like it came down to his versatility and the things he can do as a wide out, but also his special teams value. They went after him because we told them that's what he was. He had great special teams value. He can do everything on special teams because he is built like a running back, runs like a receiver and has great ball skills. I think anytime you look, as far as the kickers and the specialists themselves, typically those are not drafted positions. Here in the last couple of years, a few of them get picked. As good as our guys have been, not many of them have been picked, but they make teams and make rosters. You've got to be one of the best 32 in the world at what you do to make a team. Thor [Brett Thorson] has proven that, so I'm happy for him."
On OL Ekene Ogboko…
"He's come a long way and continues to get better. He's added some weight. I think the conditioning part and level of play on how many snaps he can play, we'll find out. We hope to be able to get him in there and play some and get better. The only way he's going to get better at this point is to be able to play some, but he goes against good guys every day. He is an extremely hard worker who takes pride in his performance. Traditionally, the people who are extremely hard workers and take pride in their performance are successful. If you want a remedy for success, be an extremely hard worker that takes pride in your performance. He does that."
On bringing back NFL-rostered players…
"We're set in what we got."
On the offensive line rotation…
"We have a lot of guys that will play in multiple spots. Every offensive lineman plays two spots, some play three, some play five, but every one of them has to play two otherwise we can't have enough backups. We'll probably have nine to ten guys that I hope can play winning football like we do year in and year out. We probably sit on a bubble of seven or eight right now, and it depends on who you're playing whether you can play nine or ten. It depends on how you're playing. Some are better than others at the run game, and some are better than others at the pass game. We're trying to get the best at both, but there will be multiple guys playing multiple positions Saturday because they have to."
On TE Elyiss Williams…
"He's a really hard worker. He is as physical a blocker as maybe I've seen in my career coaching for a tight end. He strains. He strains to block you. He enjoys the physicality of what he does. He's really improved as a pass catcher. He's improved as a run after catch guy. To do what he does without complaint or worryubg about his individual numbers - he just works. Whether it's in the run game, pass protection game, or the passing game, I'm really pleased with his effort. Really the tight end room as a whole. Everyone knows that's a strength, but it's their attitude and kind of love for each other that makes them different."
On TE Ethan Barbour…
"He's tough and physical. To come back from that injury he came back from, and even to come back in the same season, was incredible. He fought really hard to make it back. There was no timidness, no 'I'm scared of contact' after he got rolled up on before. He's proven that again, he and Elyiss [Williams] are physical, not afraid of contact and different in different ways. The other guys in the room compliment them, and they've worked really hard. They're an asset to our team, and we're proud of Ethan's work ethic and really his leadership."
