ATLANTA—The pomp and circumstance of SEC Media Days usually brings a slew of vague comments from head coaches and players, delaying definitive statements about the upcoming season for another day.
But this wasn't the case with Kirby Smart.
On Tuesday morning, before an assembled group of media at the Omni Hotel, the UGA head coach didn't mince words about true freshman Justin Fields, relative to the lingering question of whether he'd be redshirted for the 2018 campaign.
"Yeah, I don't see that happening," said Smart, entering his third season as UGA's head coach (also his third coaching go-round with the program). "Can't say never, because I don't see it happening. But it's certainly not in our plans."
The SEC's defending champions are certainly in a wonderful spot right now. Sophomore Jake Fromm will presumably be the starter when the Dawgs host Austin Peay on Sept. 1.
They'll also have immediate access to Justin Fields, one of the most prized recruits from last February's National Signing Day.
With most college programs, having absurd young depth at the quarterback spot might warrant a redshirt situation; but Smart doesn't live by the code of worrying about a player's potential—three or four years from now.
"I don't really have a philosophy (about redshirting). Either the guy can play or he can't. You can't say, 'We're going to wait and hold this guy for three years.' They either can play or they can't play.
"You want to grow and develop them (of course), but by their fourth year, they're either ready to leave, they're graduating, or they're transferring," Smart explained. "If they can help your team now, you play them now."
Smart's philosophy coincides with some of the sport's biggest names. When Pete Carroll and USC were dominating college football in the early 2000s, Carroll was viewed as a maverick of sorts, by holding open competitions for starting slots nearly every week—regardless of how much seniority a player had accrued within the program.
That bold rationale has trickled down to the modern-day leaders. From Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh to Smart and Jeremy Pruitt—the new head coach at Tennessee (formerly of Alabama, as well).
In other words, age doesn't really matter, when you're ready to contribute to a program on a regular basis.
To exacerbate the point, Smart offered a tongue-and-cheek example from UGA's past, relaying how tailback Knowshon Moreno (3,379 total yards, 32 TDs from 2007-08) only had two years with the Dawgs, the result of redshirting in 2006 and then declaring for the NFL draft in 2009.
"(The coaches) should have played him (in 2006)."
Back to UGA's present conundrum. Fromm entered last season in a similar situation to Fields this summer.
For 2017, Fromm came in as the presumed understudy to Jacob Eason; but things took a major turn, once Eason went down with a knee injury.
In a flash, Fromm (2,615 yards passing, 27 total TDs last year) morphed from highly touted backup to leading the eventual SEC champs; and he almost guided the club to UGA's first national championship since 1980, falling to Alabama in an overtime thriller at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
"Everybody asks that question (about dealing with the Alabama loss). I don't have nightmares about it," says Smart. "The entire season was a learning experience, a confidence-builder for our team. They got to play in some incredible atmospheres (Auburn, the Rose Bowl, the College Football Playoff title game). Think about the last five games we were in ... just incredible atmospheres.
"I don't think you look back at it, and think horror stories."
Fields, the pride of Kennesaw, Ga., served as the top-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the 2018 recruiting class.
His arrival marks the third straight season that UGA has lured a blue-chip quarterback to Athens (Fromm, Fields, Eason, who has subsequently transferred to the University of Washington).
