Kirby Smart takes issue with JT Daniels question: I've been coaching for 25 years
Georgia coach Kirby Smart on one hand understood why media and fans are wondering why it took until now for JT Daniels to start since the quarterback himself said Saturday night that it was a “coaches decision” since Week 2.
Production-wise Daniels had the best numbers for a Georgia quarterback since 2013 when he put up 401 passing yards on 28-for-38 passing with four touchdowns in the win over Mississippi State.
“Absolutely I would,” Smart said of people wondering about his decision. “But I also think people need to take into consideration that I’ve been coaching football for I don’t know how many years, 20 or 25 years and God knows (offensive coordinator Todd) Monken has probably doubled me as old as he is. There’s not a decision that we make as coaches, as a coaching staff, as an offensive coaching staff, five guys that I adore and think the world of … maybe the question should be, man, aren’t they glad they’ve got JT here, when nobody thought that maybe they needed him.”
It is still unclear how mobile Daniels was earlier in the season, and how mobile Smart and Monken believed he needed to be to face the likes of Alabama and Florida. Perhaps they weren’t confident in his confidence in his injured knee to put him out there against those top 10 teams.
“Would I have loved him to go out and do that same thing to other teams? Absolutely. But the decisions were made on who we felt gave us the best opportunity to win, and a lot of that had to do with mobility and Stetson’s play,” Smart said. “As Stet struggled, we had to look for other options. He did a great job with his opportunity, he also had some help in receivers that came back and how Mississippi State played them. I don’t want to use that to demean how he played. He played unbelievable. I’m as proud as hell for the way he played. But every decision we make is who gives us the best opportunity to win the game and the men in that room who are making those decisions, they’ve got a lot of experience doing it.”
Kirby is clearly getting defensive. Funny stuff.
The comments by JT doesn’t help his reasoning and makes it appear he just mismanaged his QBs.
BamaTroll, as usual, you only see what fits your twisted wish it was so mentality.
ON HOW HE PREPARED FOR HIS FIRST START WITH GEORGIA
“I’ve been getting healthy, getting as many reps as I can on the scout team, trying to get with the receivers as much as I can, making sure I know the playbook and just getting ready. It feels really good. This is the first time I’ve taken a snap since August 31, 2019 in a whole other part of the country and ((( I really couldn’t be happier, couldn’t be more appreciative to Coach Smart, Coach Monken and this whole team.”)))
ON WHEN HE WAS CONFIDENT HE WAS HEALTHY ENOUGH TO PLAY
“With the knee and confidence, I haven’t had much of a struggle with confidence and my knee, to be honest with you I think some of that comes from playing the quarterback position, not being asked to do all that much that would really put a knee, especially a right knee, in that much discomfort or a position where I could potentially hurt it again. ((( It’s just been a progression over time, feeling a lot better, I feel really good right now in terms of knee health and overall body health. )))
BT, you clearly only see what makes you feel better about your limited self worth.
There really is nothing to see with this that shows JT was mishandled. If anything, Kirby was erring on the safety for the player side of it.
Now, ignore everything that JT said, and keep pretending to yourself.
Did JT not say he has been cleared since the Arky game?
You’re crying like a little b!tch again because people are questioning your second coming of Mark Richt..
And to point out the obvious.. You’re calling the player a liar… Foolish.
BT, Daniels was cleared by UGA’s staff but not his personal doctor as of the Arkansas game. Regardless, being cleared doesn’t mean he can then immediately start.
The only people that have said anything about a personal doctor are UGA fans. Neither Kirby or JT have said any such thing that I have seen.
Funny stuff… Kirby was wanting JT cleared for Arky according to multiple articles which didn’t happen. However according to JT that was the last game he wasn’t cleared for yet Kirby still didn’t play him..
There is no mention of a personal doctor anywhere other than from UGA fans or blogs… Not a single mention from JT, his dad, or Kirby about a personal doctor.
Seems like some made up bull$hit to me.
UGA beat reporters have consistently said as much. It only seems like BS because you haven’t heard it, which means everything that’s new to you must be BS I guess.
And don’t act like you’ve never relied on the reporting from beat writers. Because of course you have.
It doesn’t seem credible because not a single report as came from anywhere other than fans and someone with ties to UGA…
It just sounds like a made up excuse for your coach to save face… If this was going on somewhere else UGA fans would be all over it questioning the exact same thing everyone else is….
But we know… Kirby can do no wrong.
It sounds like a made up excuse to you because you are very naturally predisposed to view all things UGA as negatively as possible. You employ hyperbolic levels of scrutiny and cynicism towards UGA that you seemingly don’t employ towards other programs. So frankly your particular take about any UGA-related topic is of no interest to me.
You sure appear interested with your replies… I would feel the same way no matter who the team was but nobody defends their coaches without a shred of credible evidence to support him like UGA fans…
BamaTime………..Just feel blessed that you got to play our #5 guy instead of our #1 guy!
AS ALWAYS THAT KING NEGAN GUY WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG!!!!!
I still say. If JT Daniels had been playing the whole season since week 2. Our defense doesn’t have to play as much or as hard!!! WE WOULD HAVE BLOWN MOST TEAMS AWAY! WAIT, WE DID BLOW MOST OF THEM AWAY??? Sorry Arkansas, AUBURN and Tennessee and yea Kentucky. I didn’t mean to look over y’all.
Hey I know we are playing our B team out there. But who believes we win last night without JT DANIELS? I DON’T!!!! In fact I believe we probably LOSE HANDILY!!!!! My point?
MY POINT IS FLORIDA. DON’T BEAT YOUR CHEST BECAUSE YOUR NOT THAT GOOD!!!!!!!
Florida didn’t come even close to playing the REAL UGA TEAM!!!! EVEN WITHOUT THOSE OTHER STARTERS THAT WERE MISSING. I BELIEVE WE COULD HAVE BEATEN THEM HAD WE PLAYED OUR BEST QB!!!! Heck I bet money that Carson Beck would have taken them apart!!!!!
Kirby I love you but I don’t care how long you’ve been coaching. I’ve been coaching from the couch longer!!!! JT DANIELS WOULD HAVE BEATEN FLORIDA AND PROBABLY ALABAMA!!! And instead of wishing upon a star and dreaming of MAYBE! WE WOULD HAVE WON THE SEC EAST AGAIN AND PROBABLY MUCH MORE!!!!
REMEMBER NEXT SEASON…..
Regardless to how this season turns out. We need to remember. We have Ringo and Blaylock and a bunch of young guys hurt. We will have a deadly WR group next season. Pickens, Blaylock, Burton and Jackson and Marcus R and A Smith and a group of elite young guys. I’m sure I forgot someone. Plus the way I understand it. This season is a FREEBIE! I believe anyone who wants to can come back!!!!
EITHER WAY, WE WILL HAVE A TON OF NFL ELIGIBLE GUYS. WHO NEED TO STAY ONE MORE YEAR!!!!! DON’T FALL INTO THE TRENT THOMPSON TRAP!!!! STAY AND HELP TAKE THE EAST BACK FROM FLORIDA!!!!!!! STAY AND GO FOR THAT NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!
REGARDING PEOPLE WHO SAID FIRE KIRBY. THOSE PEOPLE ARE OUT OF THEIR MIND!!!!
Maybe Kirby was way too skittish. Maybe he was way over protective!!!! But the fact is y’all want someone to blame? BLAME THE MAILMAN!!!!
It was his better than average play vs Arkansas, auburn and Tennessee that convinced Kirby that he could probably beat Alabama. If not it was only 1 loss! Then it got late in the season. Players started dropping like flies! KIRBY WANTED TO KEEP THE OFFENSE IN SYNC!!!
The truth is if he had benched the mailman and JT Daniels had an off game his first game back. Everyone would say. KIRBY WHY DIDN’T YOU PLAY THE MAILMAN???? So as a coach it’s hard to win. That is why. KIRBY SHOULD HAVE MADE IT A REAL COMPETITION. AND LET JT DANIELS HAVE A FAIR SHOT ON THE FIELD.
A reminder. JT Daniels could be ONE AND DONE if he wants to be!!!! AT LEAST NOW. HOPEFULLY HE STAYS!!!! That is the silver lining!!!! Maybe that is what Kirby was thinking. LETS SAY THAT ONLY ONE TEAM FROM THE SEC MAKES IT IN. I HAVE A BOWL GAME FOR YOU!
PS. Let’s say either Florida gets destroyed by Alabama and they don’t get in or they just don’t make it in. HOW ABOUT FLORIDA VS GEORGIA PART 2, IN A BOWL GAME THIS SEASON? WE GET SOME PLAYERS BACK AND JT DANIELS AT QB.
BOWL SUGGESTION…..
THE REAL GEORGIA VS FLORIDA PART 2, IN A BOWL GAME. PLAYED IN FLORIDA, SO THAT BOTH TEAMS CAN PACK THEM IN? I FOR ONE AM EXTREMELY INTERESTED. HOW ABOUT YOU DAWG FANS????
King Negan
UGA’s is mediocre.. TAMU would beat them…
Man, you’re a clown… No one outside of Athens with half a brain is impressed with JT beating Miss St by 7 at home. A Miss St team that had under 50 players travel, a team UGA was nearly a 4 td favorite over. 409 total yards? Lmfao what a juggernaut offense. Go back into hiding.
I challenge you to type all that in one breath.
Yes very defensive. Instead of giving reasons as to why he didn’t play, he pulls out the old coach card. When a coach does that, he has run out of excuses for why he messed up and it’s all he has left.
Well Memphis kitty, I’ll still stick with Kirby!!! One mistake don’t mean anything. Saban makes them all the time!!! Tua was within a half of TRANSFERRING!!!!
King Negan
One mistake? LMaO
Well since Tua didn’t transfer it wasn’t a mistake. Saban didn’t make a mistake when he inserted the 2nd string QB in that half to win a NC. Who did they beat that game? Thanks for the short post.
He seems more frustrated than defensive. I wonder how defensive/frustrated Coach O is going to become when the extent of his knowledge of the sexual assaults comes to light.
Deflection is always a weak defense.
Sure, it can be. But this isn’t deflecting. It’s a legitimate thing to wonder.
I’ve been doing this for 25 years is the mindset of someone who is stuck in his ways and refuses to change. Kirby just confirmed he is an inflexible dinosaur who remains trapped in the past. This fossil and his ancient staff belong in a museum.
You nailed it. That comment alone just proved to us that he messed this up. It’s a defensive one trying to defend something he messed up. We all have been saying play the kid, bc he can’t be any worse, and it showed. There was no reason to delay it this long, after the Bama game esp. This is 100% on Kirby. I have defended him about some things in the past, but this seems like it’s nothing more than him being petty and stubborn. The whole world could see what he could not.
Kirby Smart knows that the Georgia Quarterback room has been grossly mishandled this year but won’t admit it. It is quite obvious to every fan. JT Daniels sure can sling it…impressed with his first outing as a Dawg.
It’s because of his 25 years and his track record with QBs that people are questioning him. If this happened to another HC who has a proven record of QB management, there wouldn’t be as much criticism. To me, I don’t think backups get enough reps and a QB change is too much for Smart to handle unless there’s a bye week.
Any other coach the talk would be — great news. You found your quarterback! But it is. Kirby thing that instead everyone is — what took you so long?
Well as long as that fossil keeps having bad seasons that mean he ONLY LOST 2 GAMES. I’M PRETTY SURE WE ARE IN FOR JURASSIC ERA AT UGA!!!!!
PS. AND I LOVE IT!!!!!
King Negan
Jurassic? Like extinct or antiquated? Prehistoric perhaps? Sorry, PREHISTORIC PERHAPS?
The fact that UGA ran a near air raid offense against MSU proves your miserable analysis wrong. If he was an inflexible dinosaur Daniels wouldn’t have sniffed 200 yards let alone 401. You couldn’t be any more wrong and you should feel bad for spouting off such nonsense and trying to pass it off like you have a clue.
He just pointed out he has more experience than most of the fans. Legitimate take. He has more knowledge about the situation and more experience. That’s why he is a coach and we are posting.
100%
This is a bad loom IMO. I’m not sure why Kirby doesn’t just tell the truth instead of being defensive. It’s simple, he thought the other two were better, more qualified and prepared. So he he started them. He was wrong. It happens. Some kids are just gamers. JT Daniels appeared to be just that on Saturday.
Look*
Perhaps Kirby will learn from this situation that sometimes there’s no need to keep your cards close to the vest, you can just be candid about what is happening. I think most people could deduce the situation, but in hindsight was there really any need to be so mysterious about it?
I really wonder why Kirby thought Mathis was prepared to be the Dawgs Quarterback…that one is a head-scratcher for sure.
I’m sure he has a reason. I’ll take kirby to bama, go on and fire him. Biggest bunch of dummies on the planet
Kirby deserves any and all criticism that is receiving right now. This is the second time in a three year span that he has mismanaged the qb situation. Some of you Dawg fans are delusional talking about Kirby was looking out for Jt’s health. If his personal doctor AND the team doctor cleared him there is no reason he should not have been playing. Miss me with the excuses that you plan on making for Kirby.
Dirty South, ” mismanaged the qb situation” You don’t even know what you’re talking about.
The only reason why Fields left was because the NCAA wanted to bail Ohio ST out. OS had just lost Urban Meyer, and they had no real talent in line for the QB position. They decided to help OS by granting Fields a sweetheart deal, allowing him immediate eligibility.
Fields was poached. If not for the immediate eligibility deal, Fields would not have left GA for OS. That was not handled by Kirby Smart.
It was handled behind closed doors by the NCAA and Ohio State power brokers.
Sure. Let’s go with that.
“The only reason why Fields left was because the NCAA wanted to bail Ohio ST out. OS had just lost Urban Meyer, and they had no real talent in line for the QB position. They decided to help OS by granting Fields a sweetheart deal, allowing him immediate eligibility.
Fields was poached. If not for the immediate eligibility deal, Fields would not have left GA for OS. That was not handled by Kirby Smart.”
And you are accusing everyone else of having conspiracy theories? You are a dumba$$.
Wow.
Tim it’s sad that you don’t realize how stupid your comment is.
Pretty delusional Tim.
Where do stand on the moon landing conspiracy? Hope this actually goes under the Tim Rupert post. Don’t know if this is because of my IPod or this site but comments seldom post undo the reply.
In his 20 to 25 years, I don’t know, whatever it is. This guy is just as unaware of things today as he has been over his entire career. He was like that at Bama and has continued it at Georgia. Keep up the good works Kirby. Please stay at Georgia as long as you like.
Hippa rules, and just plan tack, restricts a coach from discussing a player’ health and recovery. Obviously, his recovery was of his first priority, followed by game readiness. I think starting or playing a not 100% healthy, zero division one playing experience vs Bama or FL would have been a good idea. Granted, Smart has been fine with a game manager QB in Fromm, while more talented QB talent sat and transferred, but, he won the job, got them to NC game. I think Smart deserves to not be second guest in a huge offensive rebuilding year. No need to rush to saying he is set in his ways, as if his ways have been anything, but a step higher in excellence.If Bama wasn’t the log jam it has been, GA would have played in championship series quite a few more times. LSU was another road block. Srarting a hurt, hobbled, freshman QB wouldn’t change that. The Kid has moxie, of course he thinks he was ready. Smart has his reasons, I am ok with his answer to question and holding his reasons close to the vest.
Smart should just admit he made a mistake in the Qb decision process and move on. You would have thought that he would have learned from the Fromm debacle. But hindsight is 20/20?
Paul, HIPPA has no bearing on coaches. People have “heard” that HIPPA prevents anyone with knowledge of a person’s health from disclosing that information. That is incorrect. The Health Insurance Privacy and Portability Act restricts health care providers, health insurance companies, health care facilities, and employees of all of those from discussing private medical information. There are exceptions, one of which is if the patient makes a public comment about his condition, the restricted folks can discuss the person’s health to that extent. Since that is next to impossible, health professionals tend to be overly cautious and avoid those talks completely.
A head coach is not a medical professional.
HIPPA applies to people outside of the medical industry.
You would be wrong.
Sorry Boxster, you are correct. Willwho is incorrect.
Well hell, yall are arguing over “HIPPA” and there is no such thing. Its actually “HIPAA”, so if you’re claiming to know all about it, at least know what it is.
It was typo, so you should probably try to focus the substance of your retorts on something more meaningful.
. “I think starting or playing a not 100% healthy, zero division one playing experience vs Bama or FL would have been a good idea”
Which QB are you talking about? Daniels has experience in Division 1, and Bennet isn’t a rookie by this time if you are referring to him. Your wording and possible sarcasm make it hard to tell what your point was, so just clarifying what you meant.
Grew up in Georgia. Have many family members and friends that played for Georgia. How anyone can take seriously the comments of a coach that had the probable Heisman trophy winning QB in Justin Fields (2nd in voting last year) sitting on the bench only to transfer to OSU seriously is beyond me. Not worth more keystrokes. Obvious ignorance.
I’m calling BS on spacecat. Name a fe wof your family members that played at UGA.
Yeah “many” does sound suspect.
Actually i don’t blame Smart for the Fields debacle. Fields picked an awfully convenient time to suddenly feel threatened by the culture there. He was fine with it when he thought he would play. It’s not like Fromme stunk up the joint. He made two highly recruited QBs transfer bc they knew Fromme beat them out for the job. Anyone does great in the QB position at OSU. It’s like being surprised a texas tech QB passes for many yards. Does not mean the are great and have an NFL future.
What he did judge wrong was Fromme going pro. Who know he would rather be a lower level pick in the draft than play and work on his game? Someone sold that kid some BS, bc most people knew he wouldn’t be picked high. I have seen more than a few players leave recently only to be picked in the 5th round or lower. Who are these kids getting advice from? Anyway, smart could not have seen that coming, so I don’t blame him for any of that. Or the Wake Forest kid making a highly likely career suicide choice and sitting out. None of that I blame Smart for.
I 100% blame him for this, unless he is hiding a big secret and Daniels isn’t in on it. He wasn’t looking out for his health, it wasn’t bc he wasn’t as good as the others. Idk what the hell the reason was, but he did something to piss off Kirby. He didn’t want to play him. If he wasn’t literally forced to play him, he would not have. There has to be something we don’t know about, or smart totally misjudged this one. 99% of non Georgia fans could see that Daniels was not only better, but even if you didn’t think so, he couldn’t be any worse than what they had. I liked Bennet. He was u defeated and had the lead at Bama at halftime. But when he threw that first INT, something changed. He hasn’t been the same since. Mathis, idk how he is even a college QB. You can’t do worse so why did it take so long?
Kirby needs to “take issue” with his teams’ pass defense. Again our defense looked well below average against a team with a potent passing attack.
100%…I can’t believe all the talk is about the QB position when a Freshmen QB and Running Back started for a dumpster fire of a program and offense at Miss St. and lit UGA secondary up like a Christmas tree. This is the conversation to be had.
This is happening across the SEC, not just UGA.
Why do we keep talking about this? UGA isn’t good. It doesn’t matter who their QB is. Kirby isn’t a great in game coach. The defense isn’t even all that great.
It gets talked about so much bc if was obvious to 99% of people outside of Athens that Daniels was their best QB, and for the life of us could not figure out how such a big time coach could not see it would not play him
Georgia would’ve lost as bad or worse to Alabama and Florida with Daniels at QB.
I don’t think Kirby understands that fans know more about football and his players than he does. He doesn’t like to be questioned by people with little or no experience about a situation that they nothing about. I don’t blame him.
He might be in the wrong profession if he doesn’t want fans questioning his tactics. Maybe librarian would have been a better profession for him
Kirby isn’t an offensive mind.
I made 4 mistakes typing this post, and I challenge anybody reading this to confess that they never make any. It’s not like Smart purposely held Daniels out because he wanted to lose games.
Who here besides me played college football? Who has had a knee, ankle, hip, thigh, or other leg injury, or had a close friend and teammate with such? Then, you know that a player can be cleared from additional injury to the body part but not yet able to play.
I became a starter as a sophomore, because the senior quick guard could not pull and lead the sweep and could not trap. He was physically able to do so, but he had a mental block that made him think that if he tried to pivot on the repaired knee, it would re-injure. He was actually faster than me post-recovery, but he could not take the back-step off the 3-point stance and then pivot and turn to the playside or trap block the defensive end.
None of us know if Daniels had an issue like this. He might have been healthy enough to play football, but maybe he could not do the tasks an SEC QB must do to play.
Suddenly every Georgia fan and Georgia haters are brilliant coaches and all say “I saw this before the season started..I told you so”. I didnt realize so many people where present at every practice, every game planning and trying to tell Smart they knew better but he wouldnt listen.
just like with QB Fields…
If you read the post by Daniel’s father, he said his son wasn’t 100% and appreciated Smart putting the health of his son over putting him in too early.
I don’t care what anyone thinks of Smart’s decision, the father’s comments tend to indicate what was true.
They barely even beat Mississippi State with Daniels. Half his passes were 5 yards.
F LSUSMC and Btime.
smart should concentrate on defense and find out why it is so bad now
Never really post on here.
But a few observations.
#1 Quite a few delusional UGA fans on here. UGA is not a good football team; they’re not well coached nor are they being developed. I don’t believe kirby is the answer in Athens.
#2 As always Bama fans(BamaTime) are douches. I can’t help but wonder where all the mouth was when Dubose and Shula were there. Should be more appreciative RICHARD.
3# Fla fans get a glimpse of getting better and the sh*t talking begins. Do it again next year and then run your trap. (@GATORSDONTPLAYNOSH*T)
4# @LSUSMC This is more a question. Why would you run your mouth considering the garbage on the field in Baton Rouge. Y’all caught lightning in a bottle last year. Something so special that I doubt is seen in college football for decades. As bad as UGA is they still beat Miss St. Y’all had people believing leach could win in the SEC. LOL
Why can’t coaches be honest? Ego… Truth JT wasn’t 100%, hadn’t adjusted to system, ect. Who cares how long he coached. NotSo Smart is a magnificent Recruiter, great Defensive Coordinator, but a mediocre Head Coach.