Morning, y’all!

Today marks the last day of SEC media days, with Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield, LSU coach Lane Kiffin, Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby and Texas coach Steve Sarkisian set to address the media.

The Georgia contingent spoke Tuesday, and we’ve still got a little bit to unpack from all that was said.

Even if no bombshell news came out of Georgia’s media day appearance, we did learn more about this year’s Bulldogs from coach Kirby Smart and company.

Today’s newsletter is a compilation of five takeaways:

The importance of Gabe Harris

Georgia fans know this one quite well.

The emergence of Harris last November was a big reason the Bulldogs seemed primed for a deep College Football Playoff run. Harris had four tackles for loss in games against Texas, Georgia Tech and Alabama.

Yet Harris picked up a toe injury against Alabama. That injury required surgery, forcing Harris to miss the season-ending loss to Ole Miss in the CFP quarterfinal and all of spring practice.

In the wins over Texas, Georgia Tech and Alabama, Georgia gave up just 26 points combined. Without Harris, Georgia’s defense gave up 37 points in a loss (Ole Miss added two more points on a safety).

Georgia is being cautious in how it brings back Harris. Especially with how important the senior outside linebacker is to the program.

“He’s similar to Drew (Bobo),” Smart said. “It was a very significant injury. Those two were the two biggest missing pieces for us towards the end of the year and made it really tough. But he’s out there doing everything now. He did not do anything in the spring. And we need him to have a big year.

“But, yeah, he’s on a load-management deal, so he’s not like out there every day doing everything. But he’s healthy.”

Georgia does have capable depth behind Harris, as it can lean on Quintavius Johnson at outside linebacker and Joseph Jonah-Ajonye as a defensive end.

But if the Bulldogs are going to have a better finish to the season than they did a season ago, they know they need Harris out there.

Read more from Connor Riley on the importance of Harris here.

Georgia Bulldogs linebacker Gabe Harris Jr. wheels himself onto the Caesars Superdome field before the Georgia Bulldogs and Ole Miss NCAA football quarterfinal matchup, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New Orleans. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Georgia linebacker Gabe Harris (center) goes against UT Martin offensive lineman Lamar Morgan during their game at Sanford Stadium, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in Athens, Ga. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Trivia section

This Georgia linebacker finished third on the team with 74 tackles last season.

(Hint: He’s a returning player and attended SEC media days for Georgia.)

Smart defends player acquisition model

Smart knows he’s come under fire for how he elects to build the Georgia roster.

The Bulldogs added only nine players via the transfer portal, the fewest in the SEC. Two of those players have already suffered significant injuries, as the Bulldogs will be without running back Dante Dowdell and outside linebacker Amaris Williams.

Smart wants to build through the high school ranks, even if there are drawbacks to that model.

“We’re going to be young every year because we still believe in a high school model,” Smart said. “So I think somebody sent me something where (we have) 27 freshmen, 27 sophomores, 26 juniors, so we’re like right at, I don’t know what it is, 30% of our roster or something is freshman, sophomore, junior. And then the rest is other, for the fourth year and fifth year. It’s a low percentage of it.”

In his next breath, Smart spoke about the importance of retaining talent. Georgia has done a better job in that regard with the 2024 and 2025 classes than it did with 2023. That partially explains why this Georgia team is slightly older and better suited to contend for a national championship.

“We think that our investment in our player is better than your investment in your player that I would get from you in the portal,” Smart said. “So we just keep thinking that if we pour into our guys, that our development is going to be better than taking a guy that’s (on his) second, third, fourth year that somebody else developed.”

Smart wants to continue to build his program the way he’s always done it. He’s more in the minority in that regard among his conference peers, especially compared with the likes of Texas and LSU.

“But when you’re upgrading at the expense of telling somebody they’ve got to go and that happens, then maybe that’s not culturally and ethically, morally right, and we don’t really want to do that,” Smart said.

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Bulletin board material for wide receivers

A reporter raised concerns about the Georgia wide receiver position.

The Georgia head coach turned the question into the bulletin board material for his position group.

“I am just very thankful for people like you, Steve, that keep questioning them, because the more you question them, the more it helps me motivate them,” Smart said. “So everybody says they don’t listen to you guys. The wide receivers are listening, so they’ll have a new challenge issued based on your question.”

London Humphreys is the only returning wide receiver from last season’s team who caught more than 15 passes.

Georgia can lean more on their tight ends this season, while the running game will once again be a point of emphasis.

But Drew Bobo did make note of how well Georgia Tech transfer Isiah Canion has done for the Bulldogs since arriving in January.

“I definitely think we’re more capable of being explosive,” Bobo said. “Isiah Canion has been a great addition for us. I think he’s looking really good. I think London’s looking really good, too. Sacovie (White-Helton), all of these guys. I’m really excited for them in the receiver position.”

Georgia wide receiver London Humphreys (second from right) is tackled by Florida linebacker Jaden Robinson (second from left) and safety Jordan Castell (right) after a catch by Humphrey during the first half in their NCAA game at EverBank Stadium, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Georgia wide receiver London Humphreys catches a 30-yard touchdown pass during the fourth quarter against Texas in their NCAA football game at Sanford Stadium, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in Athens, Ga. Georgia won 35-10. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Georgia wide receiver London Humphreys makes a first down catch as he makes a move against Auburn cornerback Jay Crawford during the fourth quarter at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Auburn, Al. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Different family dynamics

This fall will be a different one for Smart. His two oldest children, Weston and Julia, are off to college.

Weston is headed for North Carolina, while Julia will attend the University of Georgia.

Smart has reached out to coaches on his staff to navigate the difficulties that come with sending your kids off from home.

“The two kids going to college is the big worry for me,” Smart said. “I don’t know how my wife’s going to respond. I don’t really know how I’m going to respond. I’ve heard Will Muschamp talk about it, and (James) Coley’s going through it with his daughter, and Mike (Bobo)’s talked about it with his one, two, three, all five of his (children) out of the house now going out this year. So that’ll be new for me.”

Bobo does get to coach his son Drew, so the comparison is not totally perfect.

The younger Bobo said he’s seen more of his dad at Georgia than at any previous point of his life.

“It’s been cool to do that,” Bobo said. “I tell people these past four or five years, I’ve seen my dad more than I’ve seen him the rest of my whole life. So it’s been cool to have the same off time, getting to go play golf together, getting to go on vacations together.”

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Trivia answer

Raylen Wilson