Georgia is facing some lofty expectations this season, and coach Kirby Smart knows it. That’s why he didn’t wait on questions from the media at the podium on Tuesday at SEC Media Days to address the biggest issue facing the Bulldogs this season.

Likely the pick to win the SEC East, and even beat Alabama or LSU to win the SEC Championship in December, Georgia is a bona fide national championship contender. Smart explained how Georgia is handling that, and then shared a quote from Henry David Thoreau, who said, “Success comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”

“For me, I’m too busy working, I’m too busy trying to do the next step to give our team a competitive advantage,” Smart said. “To really worry about expectations. That’s your guys’ question today, that’s usually what people want to know about. But for me, I’m too busy working to worry about that. We want our team to think the same way.”

Smart said Georgia has taken a very introspective look this year after the 2020 season.

“One of the key words, the biggest theme that came out was connection,” Smart said. “When you’re on a Zoom with somebody, it’s hard to have a connection. When you’re not allowed to sit within six feet of somebody, it’s hard to have a connection. We had some players, who weren’t able to meet and know everybody on the team throughout the season because so much was done through Zoom and different methods of communication. So connection is one of the key ingredients for this team. We have been very intentional about it. We’ve given up football time, we’ve given up workout time to spend more time with each other and that’s beginning to pay off.”

Smart said his team doesn’t back down from those expectations.