ATHENS — Kirby Smart provided insight into his Georgia football team when breaking down the scrimmage that took place Saturday.

The visor was pulled down, Smart’s eyes shadowed, a busy day of corrections had taken place and the head coach had a sobering message to deliver.

Yes, Smart said, he understands people want to know which players stood out and showed progress in the scrimmage.

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But the 10th-year two-time national championship coach had more important things he wanted to share at his Tuesday press conference.

“We have a long way to go, that was the consensus,” Smart said. “I did think that cooler temperatures prevailed, which made for less adversity in terms of camp push-through.”

Smart revealed that was disappointing for him, as he was hoping for sweltering heat, as he explained.

“I sometimes like it when it’s one of those, ‘how hot can it be-who’s going to push,’ and it becomes a toughness battle,” Smart said. “The mental part of, ‘Can I push through this? Can I make it through this? Can I play this game in these conditions?’ It was not like that.”

Instead, the Georgia players enjoyed the luxury of moderate temperatures.

“It’s more game-like to me the cooler it is,” Smart said, “because they have fresher legs, they can play more snaps, I think it makes for a faster game.”

If only, Smart lamented, this young Georgia football team could execute up to the proverbial “standard” that has made the Bulldogs a championship contender.

“I know you’re asking about like, specifically, who did well, who did this, who did that — that’s really not important right now,” Smart said.

“It’s more important that we can execute a play on offense and defense.”

Smart was not attempting humor, so much as delivering a harsh dose of reality of what Georgia will be up against if it’s to defend its SEC crown.

" We have got more new people, in new positions, than in the 10 years I;ve been here,” Smart said, a massive reload on his hands. “Every year that (number of younger players) has ratcheted up a little bit.”

The transfer portal has much to do with that, as in previous pre-NIL and pre-portal times, Georgia would keep would-be second- and third-team players who would stay in the program and develop.

Now, those types of players transfer to schools where they can start immediately and earn more NIL money on the front end of their careers.

That’s put Smart and his staff in position to do more teaching and spend more time on development than ever.

Or, as Smart calls it, “coaching up the bottom of the roster” as he looks to build championship depth quickly.

“It is to the point where you almost have to start like no one knows anything, make no assumptions, don’t assume anything,” Smart said, “and start all over and go ground up, because we had a lot of mistakes, (and) a lot of sloppiness.”

Smart said Georgia is working at an accelerated rated because of the high number of mid-term player additions.

“This used to be the first fall camp scrimmage,” Smart said, “but when you have 25 mid-years (enrollees) and six portals (transfers), or whatever the numbers, that is the first fall scrimmage, and it was not what it needed to be.”

Georgia will hold its 11th practice on Thursday, building up to the G-Day scrimmage on April 12 — the 15th and final NCAA-allotted spring team practice in equipment.