ATHENS — Kirby Smart was back on the microphone while prowling the Georgia football practice fields on Thursday, his words coming out as hot as the blazing sun that hung overhead.

“Ain’t no way we’re jogging out here,” Smart said, his voice booming out over the speakers. “This is the practice you’ve looked forward to all year.”

It was clear Smart looked forward to seeing his young team get after it en masse after an offseason of voluntary workouts and group drills.

The Georgia head coach, now entering his 10th season, clearly has taken a strong liking to this particular group of Bulldogs.

“We are young …. but we are hungry, (and) we’ve got a team that’s fun to coach,” Smart said at his Thursday press conference. “When we go out to practice each day, they’ve been enthusiastic.”

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It takes what it takes to keep the main thing the main thing, right?

“I see it in the players every day, and it starts with 110 heat index last week, seeing them out there running in that and facing it,” Smart said. “And, you know, they don’t always have it all the way through that 110 heat index with, you know, five or 10 or 20 53s they got to run. But they do push and challenge each other.

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“That’s what I’m enjoying about this team so far is they’re not afraid to hold each other accountable and get after each other because they know that they’re stronger together than they are apart.”

Fact is, turnover is sometimes a good thing when older players have grown stale and perhaps lost enthusiasm.

It’s no secret Georgia was sparse in the leadership department last season with two players — Tate Ratledge and Jalon Walker — dominating team captain voting like never before, getting 94 percent of the votes.

Smart has said teams are best when they are player led — with several leaders.

That seems to be the early trend with this 2025 Georgia football team.

“They’ve been out there working out, like just doing all the things you ask, and like I said, a lot of them haven’t had an opportunity to play,” Smart said. “And now this is their opportunity. So sometimes when you’re coaching, it’s a lot more exciting for guys when they’re having their first time.”

Judging from Smart’s messaging and tone at the press conference and practice on Friday, the head coach is as excited as ever, too.