New Georgia coach Kirby Smart has already traveled to visit recruits and meet the media at his introductory press conference. But as he settles into his job, here are 10 things he needs to know about the current climate at his alma mater.

1. Fractured fan base. Smart addressed it at his introductory press conference, but there’s a considerable amount of the fan base that didn’t want the school to move on from Mark Richt, almost disregarding wins and losses. The other fans are now wondering the timeline for Smart to get to, and win, the SEC Championship as Richt did with three appearances and two titles in his first five years.

“I’d like to issue a call to action of sorts to the Georgia people,” Smart said. “We need to channel our faith, trust, and energy in the same direction to support this team and this university.”

2. If not Jacob Eason, who? The night he was officially introduced, Smart traveled to Washington to visit with five-star QB Jacob Eason, who has visited Florida since Richt’s departure and is at least listening to schools other than Georgia. If Eason still enrolls at Georgia, how quickly will he be expected to start? Will there be a competition similar to last spring and summer with Greyson Lambert and Brice Ramsey? A lot of that comes down to Smart’s offensive philosophy and who he selects as coordinator.

3. How much will facilities help? The new indoor practice facility is expected to break ground this month, and it’s been well-documented that Georgia is the last SEC school to have such a facility. Now that it’s a reality, how much a difference will it make in recruiting and preparation. Because of steady rain, the Bulldogs traveled several times this past season to Flowery Branch and the Atlanta Falcons facility.

4. Expanded non-football staff. Nick Saban has said that the number of staff, especially lower lever graduate assistants, dietitians, analysts and travel planners, is underrated and not talked about enough. Georgia has expanded off-the-field resources through hiring three staff members to address diet and nutrition. But will Smart see any gaps in the staff, and will he have the money to hire additional staff?

5. How much money to spend on staff? Similar to the indoor practice facility, Georgia previously lagged rival schools in paying assistant coaches. That changed in recent years as Georgia climbed to third in SEC behind LSU and Alabama. A coach dedicated to special teams as well as calling the plays for offense and defense will likely determine the level at which Smart’s assistants will be paid. Georgia paid its coordinators $2.26 million this past season.

6. In-state recruiting. A popular question on the traveling caravan and alumni tour stops when Richt was coach was how many in-state recruits would land in Athens. Richt’s common refrain was that the state had more than 100 Division I recruits each year, and the program could only sign about 25 players, and several of those would come from other states. Securing some early five-star recruits could calm an uneasy fan base concerned about not losing whatever ground Richt established in the state, which is among the top five recruiting areas in the country.

7. Coaching changes across SEC East. Every head coach in the SEC East now has less than five years at his current school, and more than half, including Smart, are in their first or second year. Adding a bit of pressure to Smart is the fact that first-year Florida coach Jim McElwain made it to Atlanta in his first attempt. Stemming the momentum Tennessee has built with Butch Jones, while staying ahead of South Carolina and Missouri, which have been problems for Georgia in the last four years, is imperative for Smart.

8. Expectations. If Georgia wins its bowl game, Smart will take over a 10-win team, so that bar itself is considerably higher than your average first-year coach. Losing to rivals is one thing, but not being in the mix for a January bowl will make many fans restless. Richt survived the 6-7 season in 2010 when Georgia lost to Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl, but he had cache. How much slack will Smart be given after a down season?

9. Who will serve as leaders? With uncertainty at quarterback, soft-spoken RB Nick Chubb coming off of a knee injury and the graduation of the “dream team” recruiting class, leadership is a major unknown for the Bulldogs.

10. NFL pipeline. Georgia has no shortage of NFL draft picks, and under Richt that number was 74. If that continues under Smart, the coaching between high school and the NFL will be the disconnect Smart is charged to fill as expectations to continue top five and 10 recruiting classes remains.