Even if the ending was a disappointment, it’s hard to argue against the idea that Georgia had a good season. The Bulldogs won 12 games and the SEC while making the College Football Playoff.

At the same time, the end of the season prevented anyone from calling the 2025 campaign a great one. Kirby Smart acknowledges as much.

So how do the Bulldogs make the leap from being a good team to a great one in 2026?

For as much winning as the Bulldogs did last season, they were far from perfect. Georgia found itself in a number of one-score games, going 4-2 in these contests.

Georgia figures to be a more talented team this coming season, in addition to being an older one.

As for how the Bulldogs can be a better team, below are three areas Georgia can shore up to make those incremental, but necessary, improvements from good to great.

Increase sack output

This is perhaps the most obvious area of improvement on Georgia’s team. The Bulldogs had only 20 sacks last season. Not only was that last among the 12 College Football Playoff participants, but it was also the lowest total in Smart’s 10 years in Athens.

Georgia tried to address this concern in the transfer portal by bringing Amaris Williams from Auburn, but the outside linebacker tore his ACL during spring practice.

That means the Bulldogs will be banking on internal improvement to up the sack total. There’s a lot to like between Chris Cole, Zayden Walker, Chase Linton, Elijah Griffin and others. But someone from that group is going to need to emerge as a dominant player in 2026 if the Georgia pass rush is to have more punch this coming season.

Georgia does not need to have the best pass rush in the country to make a noticeable improvement here. It just can’t rank outside the top-100 once again.

Stop falling in multi-score holes

Georgia played in six one-score games last season. But the Bulldogs found themselves trailing by multiple scores in five games as well, including both losses.

Georgia rallied in wins against Tennessee, Auburn, Ole Miss but couldn’t do so against Alabama and in the rematch against Ole Miss.

It’s a credit to Georgia that it was able to win so many of those games. Even in the losses against Ole Miss and Alabama, Georgia had chances to win both of those games in the fourth quarter.

Of course, it’s better if Georgia doesn’t fall behind as it did at all last season. Indiana never trailed by multiple scores last season as it won the national championship.

If Georgia can do a better job in the first half of games, it may not have to expend the same level of energy to come back. That reduces wear and tear, which should lead to a healthier team at the end of the season.

Get tight ends more involved

You could make the case for being more explosive, especially with how much of an emphasis Smart put on that aspect this spring.

But we’re looking at Georgia’s deepest and likely best position group to have a bigger statistical impact than it did last season.

The Bulldogs had only 43 receptions from the position group, which included third-round pick Oscar Delp.

Georgia leaned heavily on its wide receivers a season ago, but London Humphreys is the only returnee who caught more than 15 passes.

Georgia’s tight ends all figure to be mismatches in a variety of ways. Elyiss Williams can use his size to box out smaller defenders, while Jaden Reddell has rare speed for the Bulldogs.

In the spring game, Georgia used Kaiden Prothro as a power slot to funnel him the football.

The Bulldogs may not have a Brock Bowers type player in this group, but the sum of the parts can be very strong for Georgia in 2026.

If utilized properly, this group can make things extremely difficult for opposing defenses. This should lighten the load for Gunner Stockton and a new-look wide receiver room.