WATCH: Brock Vandagriff ‘hammering the nail’ in Georgia football QB competition

ATHENS — Brock Vandagriff sounds like someone who has mastered the process even though he’s still learning the game.

Vandagriff, a third-year quarterback splitting reps with fourth-year quarterback Carson Beck as Georgia looks to replace starter Stetson Bennett, is secure in knowing he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be.

“It’s just what you come here to do; you come to UGA for competition, I knew that coming in,” Vandagriff said, explaining how he takes the daily rigors of the ongoing Georgia QB derby in stride.

WATCH: Carson Beck learning to control competitive fire, striving to win Georgia QB job

“Coach Smart, he’s going to put the best guy out there. He’s going to give the best guy that gives Georgia the best chance to win, he’s going to be out there. It’s just being in this competition, it’s a blessing, and I feel like I’m going to be a better player for it regardless of the outcome.”

Vandagriff referred to himself as a young man of faith who believes there’s a higher plan, even it’s not necessarily the dream he saw himself chasing during his childhood.

“So, kind of a plot twist, I grew up an Auburn fan because my mom went to Auburn,” Vandagriff said. “I think when I was being recruited that was my first time being at a Georgia game.”

All it took was one time at Sanford Stadium to stir Vandagriff’s emotions.

“That pinch me moment, just the first time we went out to stretch,” Vandagriff said. “It was the first home game, and I teared up. I hadn’t made it, but I’m one step closer and it was surreal.”

Vandagriff knows that he could be starting at Oklahoma had he decided to stick to his commitment to the Sooners, and there have been multiple Power 5 schools using backchannels to gauge his interest in the NCAA portal.

But Vandagriff has a plan and a vision to quarterback the Georgia Bulldogs and receive a University of Georgia degree.

The Prince Avenue Christian product obviously has more control of one thing than the other, and he will graduate in just three years with his degree in communications.

As for winning the quarterback job, Vandagriff knows better than to obsess.

“It’s something I try not to think about,” he said. “Controlling the controlables is a big thing in my life. Heck, you can’t control what other people are doing. You can’t control the reps you get, the reps they give you.

“Go in there, do your job, do your best and hopefully good things follow.”

Smart has noted Vandagriff’s development as a quarterback as well as an athlete, sharing how he added 12 to 15 pounds of muscle this offseason.

Vandagriff explained that hard work did go into it, but so too did living with an elite Georgia tight end and outside linebacker.

“Living with Brock Bowers and Chaz Chambliss, I didn’t really have a choice but to eat (more) food,” Vandagriff said. “I’ve been eating — I’ve been finishing my meals is the main thing and having a fourth meal a day, that’s just something that they do that was new to me. Doing that and lifting a lot and making sure I’m going up on my weight in certain areas.”

It is indeed a process, and Vandagriff understands his role in it is to follow direction and adapt to the coaches’ ideology.

“When it comes to decision making, it’s all about being consistent,” Vandagriff said. “When stuff doesn’t go your way, you can’t make a bad play a catastrophe, is what Coach Bobo always tells us.

“I’ve been getting better at, making sure I stay the same and not having great plays and really bad plays, just keeping it the same and hammering the nail.”