“Things are different now”: Kirby Smart weighs in on the changing atmosphere of CFB and its impact on Georgia

Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs won back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022. Keeping that level of excellence would always be hard, but as the Georgia coach mentioned, changes in the college football landscape make it all the more difficult.

In an excerpt from an interview with Josh Pate, due to air Monday, Smart talked about the changes in college football and how he manages that new reality.

"The standard, which is those past years, is the standard," Smart said. "And so we are measuring ourselves against that, not against the rest of the field. At times, I do succumb to the 'I have to accept that it's different now.'

"Portal rates are higher. NIL is higher. There is more transiency among us, so should I accept less? And I wrestle with that."

The toughest part for the coach has been seeing the level of performance of those championship teams and their depth. One of the notable consequences of NIL and the portal is players prefer to transfer to other programs where they can earn playing time rather than wait behind more experienced players.

Kirby Smart has added a new dynamic this spring, putting together cut-ups of training camps from the past few seasons and comparing them to this year's team.

"It’s crazy, the difference," Smart said. "Those are really good teams. Oh, yeah, those are really good teams, but they are being measured within a five-year span against each other, and there is not as much depth. There are many more younger players. There’s sloppiness. There’s not as much attention to detail."

The Bulldogs are coming off an 11-3, SEC title-winning season, but Notre Dame bounced them in their first College Football Playoff game.

The Bulldogs lost some key contributors like Carson Beck, Malaki Starks, Mykel Williams, Jalon Walker and Trevor Etienne.

Kirby Smart, Georgia will wait on Jared Curtis' decision

The Georgia Bulldogs and Oregon Ducks are looking to land five-star quarterback Jared Curtis. After visiting both schools last week, some expected him to come to a decision soon, but that did not happen.

On3’s Steve Wiltfong reported that the top-ranked quarterback, per 247 Sports composite ranking, might not make a decision soon.

At this time, the Ducks and Bulldogs figure to be ahead in the recruitment of the young passer, but with no imminent commitment, perhaps other schools can jump into the race.