Kirby Smart Shares an Interesting Take on the Return of Nazir Stackhouse and Warren Brinson

Complaceny kills. Those are words the Georgia program lives on under Kirby Smart and they're his message to his returning seniors.

College football coaches alway love having starters return for their senior seasons, right? Yes, but according to Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, there's a caveat.

"It's great as long as age doesn't prevent growth," said Smart. "I mean, there are opportunities for younger players to come in and grow and get better. And I think those guys, we have to be smart about, number one, how we practice them, the reps they take, do they stunt growth? If they stunt growth, maybe we don't get better for the next year."

Smart brings up an interesting point. Yes, getting guys like defensive linemen Nazir Stackhouse and Warren Brinson back seems like great news, but if they plateau and just perform like they did last year, are they doing any good for themselves or the team? If they're not improved from last year to now, then there was no point of them coming back. In fact, it could be a detriment because they're eating up valuable game reps for guys Georgia will be counting on in the future.

"I certainly didn't sit on this podium last year, this time, thinking those two guys would be back. So the fact they were was a luxury in terms of depth, but we still have to get better. And if they stay the same, they did no good coming back. And we've had multiple talks about how easy it is to get comfortable and complacent in these years, but they both have a purpose. So are they going to have a chip on their shoulder? Or are they just going to sit around and just, you know, collect. I hope they get better. I hope they grow up. They have intentions of moving up and improving their draft status and getting their degrees and both of them are on track to do that."

It's such an honest and fair point from Smart. "Hey, we're glad you're back, but if you're just going to rely on the fact you're a senior, you're going to be in for a rude awakening."

Georgia is a better team for having those guys back, but they could be an even deadlier team if those guys take the next step and finish with great senior seasons.

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