DESTIN, Fla. — Kirby Smart wished Brice Ramsey well when the quarterback opted to leave UGA’s program. But Smart didn’t completely say goodbye.

Ramsey, who has yet to commit to a new school, could still end up back on Georgia’s football team, and would be welcome to do so, Smart said Tuesday at SEC meetings. In fact, Smart said “we’ve been actively recruiting Brice.”

“We want him there,” Smart said. “As it stands right now he’s still looking around. We should have some more clarity on that in the next couple weeks.”

Ramsey announced before spring practice that he would be using the option to graduate transfer, which means he could play immediately at his new school. He graduated in May.

But Ramsey remained in good enough standing with the Bulldogs that he participated in spring practice as an extra arm, throwing to receivers in drills when needed. Ramsey wasn’t in uniform and wasn’t at every practice. But it showed that the relationship between the player and the coaches clearly had not soured.

“I’ve always told Brice: You have done a great job here,” Smart said. “You’ve done everything we’ve asked you do, on ad off the field. He’s a great kid. He competed really hard, I thought he did a really great job, he was involved in the competition. When he came and told me he wanted to shop elsewhere, I told him I completely agreed and understood that. He’s continued to do that, he continues to do that. …

Ramsey arrived in 2013 with high expectations that he would eventually become Georgia’s starting quarterback. But in his redshirt sophomore year, when he was the favorite to win the job, he was surprisingly beat out by Greyson Lambert – himself a graduate transfer from Virginia – and then last year both Ramsey and Lambert were beat out by then-freshman Jacob Eason. Ramsey spent last season as the No. 3 quarterback.

In fact, Ramsey’s biggest impact at Georgia has been as a punter, filling in for the latter part of the 2015 and 2016 seasons. This year Georgia brought in graduate transfer Cameron Nizialek to compete with sophomore Marshall Long.

While Ramsey, if he returned to Georgia, would seem unlikely to push for Eason’s starting job, Smart didn’t sound like he was ruling out anything.

“I do think at the quarterback position, it’s a unique position in that there’s only one on the field – unless you’re in a really weird offense,” Smart said. “There’s only one guy on the field so it’s a unique position to him. So if you can’t put him there, you want to go play. But if you don’t have anywhere you’re sold on playing … what a great thing to graduate from Georgia, be a part of a great program, hey we’ve got two quarterbacks. He’s a guy who could come in and compete, first, second or third, and he’s very experienced.”