Would you like to receive DawgNation news alerts? Excellent! News alerts will be displayed in your browser.

Georgia football: The best quotes from SEC Media Days

Georgia coach Kirby Smart makes Nick Chubb laugh after the 2016 win over North Carolina.
Brant Sanderlin/AJC
Cy Brown
Cy Brown

Welcome to your one-stop shop for Georgia football news and takes every Monday through Friday. Today we take a look back at all that was said by Kirby Smart, Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, and Roquan Smith at SEC Media Days.

What they said: Georgia football at SEC Media Days

There was a lot of info to come out of Georgia’s turn at SEC Media Days on Tuesday. Like, a lot. To give you a cursory glimpse of some of the things Kirby Smart, Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, Roquan Smith, and others said at the annual event, I’ve compiled 10 of the most essential quotes from Tuesday.

Smart on his reaction when he learned Chubb decided to return for his senior season:

“Total elation. I think Nick was the first guy to inform me, and I think maybe his decision weighed a little bit on the other guys that were deciding. I think he made it okay to do. He showed the confidence, not only in our coaching staff, in our total program, that he knows he’s going to have an opportunity to get better and grow.”

Smart on Mecole Hardman’s move to wide receiver:

“I think that’s safe to say. You guys have finally cracked the egg. Mecole worked over there about 95 percent of the spring. He did a lot of work there. He did double as a DB on some occasions when we were very down on DBs in the spring.”

Smart on Georgia’s quarterback pecking order:

“Jacob Eason is our starter going into the season. Jake Fromm’s got to do something to beat him out.”

Smart on Robert Beal and Devonte Wyatt, the two signees from the recruiting class of 2017 who have yet to enroll:

“They’re not ready yet to come in yet. We think we could get them in any day, any minute. And that’s the hope.”

Smart on how Georgia’s offense can improve:

“It starts, let’s be honest, with quarterback play. We’ve got to complete with a higher completion percentage. We’ve got to finish drives in the red area.”

Chubb on Georgia’s three-year winning streak against Auburn:

“It’d be great to retire from Georgia by beating Auburn four years in a row.”

Smith on his progression as a player through two years in college:

“My freshman year I had a guy in front of me named (Jake) Ganus, who I actually learned a lot from. He’s a great friend of mine still. I didn’t have the grasp of playbook I have now. I actually had no idea what to do. The second year I gained a lot of knowledge. So I just wasn’t able to showcase it till then. And it’s great to be developed by a guy like Kirby Smart.”

Michel on the changes under Smart from his first to second year as head coach:

“The expectations he brought and the standard, just got higher and higher and bigger and bigger. We just have to live up to it. I’m excited, the challenges he brings to the team. It shows that coach has faith in us that we can possibly accomplish those goals.”

SEC Network analyst and former Alabama QB Greg McElroy on UGA-Notre Dame:

“On paper, Georgia should win the game by at least 20 points.”

Chubb on his ambition to own a hop farm after his football career is over:

“I heard of it a week ago. I kind of read over it. It is for breweries, for beer. I know in the past, it was not as popular. Too many people had it. People backed up, but nowadays it is kind of popular again. The idea sounded good to me.”

ICYMI: SEC Media Days edition

Oh man, even with those quotes in the books, there is still a ton to get through from Georgia’s turn Tuesday at SEC Media Days. Almost too much. (Almost.)

I’m front-loading the ‘ICYMI’ section of this post so you can jump right into all the news, notes, and analysis you may have missed on Tuesday.

Felony charges filed in UGA tennis investigation

One story that shouldn’t be lost in all the hullabaloo of SEC Media Days is the apparent conclusion of the UGA Police Department’s investigation into the Georgia men’s tennis program.

Former men’s assistant coach Bo Hodge was charged with a felony for purchasing a controlled substance and a misdemeanor for theft by taking. Alex Diaz, son of UGA head coach Manny Diaz, was also arrested and charged with a felony count of selling a controlled substance.

You can read about it in depth in this report from Chip Towers of DawgNation.

Dawgs on Twitter

Good dog

“Except roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair.”

NEXT Low-key Roquan Smith living up to hype at UGA
Get Breaking News Fast!
Download the new DawgNation app.
Get it on the AppStore
Get it on Google Play

Listen to daily DawgNation podcast

We have a new way to comment on our DawgNation stories. To do so, you must be a registered user on the DawgNation forum. If you haven’t registered, please go to the Forum homepage on DawgNation and look for “register” on the right side.