MOBILE, Ala. — Kirby Smart is always working toward the next Georgia football championship, but he’s also a believer in supporting his players.
Smart, who makes personal calls to the Senior Bowl on behalf of getting his players invited, took time to make an appearance at the event on Wednesday before jetting back up to Athens to support the UGA men’s basketball team at their home game.
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There’s like six of us here, and it means a lot he came out to support us and hang out with us for a bit,” former UGA receiver Ladd McConkey said after visiting with his former head coach after yet another impressive practice.
“It’s always good to see your coaches.”
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Co-defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann also came through Mobile to visit the former Bulldogs who are taking part in the Senior Bowl practices and game, which will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at Hancock-Whitney Stadium.
Georgia long-snapper William Mote spent an extended amount of time talking to Smart after the Wednesday practice.
“It was just great to catch up, he’s on the recruiting trail right now,” Mote explained. “We were talking about players in Birmingham, where I’m from, and .talking football about snappers at Georgia now, and what’s to come after this.
“Seeing coach Smart today was awesome.”
Georgia receivers coach Bryan McClendon was also on hand, posing for a scrapbook photo with McConkey and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint.
Rosemy-Jacksaint has also enjoyed a very strong week of practice, showing a noticeable uptick in quickness and speed.
McConkey, however, remains the overriding story and UGA headliner
Seeing Smart come out to his event was a full-circle experience for McConkey, who drew interest from UGA despite having a relatively small high school stature at 165 pounds and 3-star rating.
McConkey said he’s not exactly sure how Smart and his staff discovered him, but he had posted good tape from an opening camp workout, leading the UGA staff to follow-up with a visit to Chatsworth.
“It was pretty cool, I got some texts from Coach (Todd) Hartley, one from Coach Hank (Cortez Yankton), and then one from Coach Smart,” McConkey recalled.
“Coach Hank came to a basketball game on Friday, and Coach Hartley and Coach Smart came on Monday. They took a shot on me, and I think it worked out well for all of us.”
