"I want him to be ahead of where he is, and he's not.": Kirby Smart gives a reality check to 6'4" Georgia edge

Kirby Smart met with the media on Tuesday as Georgia intensified its spring practice. The coach addressed a host of issues regarding the team and its preparation for the spring game as well as the 2025 college football season.

One of the questions Kirby Smart was asked in the press conference session was an update on how Quintavius Johnson is performing in practice. The coach did not mince words in his reply as he made it known the linebacker isn't yet at the level the program is anticipating.

"I want him to be ahead of where he is and he's not," Smart said. (Timestamp 5:38). "And it's not his fault. Again, he hadn't been here. He's been here a year in like what, two months, three months. So when you're thrust out there into action against experienced tackles, an offense that moves and motions and you have to adjust.

"I'm proud of you, I wanna be clear on that. But he has to get better to be at the level of, let's call it like it is. He's gotta be where Chaz was, or Aziz was, or Nolan was. He's not there. He has the ability to be there, but he is not there yet. And I like Q, 'cause he works really hard. He provides us depth, but he's not getting work right now.”

Quintavius Johnson appeared in four games off the bench for the Bulldogs in the 2024 season, enabling him to take a redshirt. He showed glimpses of brilliance in the fall camp in 2024 but seems to be failing to live up to that at the moment. Nonetheless, he has all the time to improve in the program.

Kirby Smart has other options to turn to at linebacker to replace Jalon Walker

While Quintavius Johnson is not proving to be ready yet, Kirby Smart is breaking no sweat as the program has more experienced players in the position to replace Jalon Walker.

Chris Cole and Justin Williams are two guys expected to take a more prominent role at linebacker this season. Kirby Smart gave a clue on how committed the two have been in practice.

“I started a new ritual of asking a guy in practice who he thinks the hardest worker is, who works the hardest, who practices the hardest, who he wants to take, and who do you say has that passion and fire that's sometimes lacking all over college football now?” Smart said (Timestamp 4:32).

“It's a different climate in college football. So it's funny because Chris Cole and Justin Williams have both been mentioned multiple times by people as extremely hard-working guys.”

Kirby Smart is leaving no stone unturned after Georgia's disappointing end to last season and the defense remains pivotal. Despite winning the SEC championship, the Bulldogs were eliminated from the playoffs in the quarterfinal, which is below their standard.