Georgia’s senior class has a chance to make history during finish to unusual season
In times of trouble and turmoil, who do you go to?
The answer is often those with the most maturity and experience. In this football season unlike any before it, Georgia has done just that by looking to its senior class, otherwise known by head coach Kirby Smart as the program’s “glue” in 2020.
It started back in the summer. The still-raging COVID-19 pandemic plunged college football into a state of uncertainty about the season.
Those entering their final year of eligibility easily could have opted out of the season without penalty. Players around the country have done the same this fall, and no one could blame them for deciding to focus on a possible future in the NFL rather than a topsy-turvy season.
But the recruiting class of 2017, given the nickname then of “savages,” didn’t do that.
“To me, in life, you’re not going to be able to opt out of that,” Smart said. “You’ve got to go out and compete and work and challenge yourself, and that’s what these kids have done.”
They logged onto their Zoom video meetings and dove into their playbooks, especially the offense under new coordinator Todd Monken. Physical workouts occurred when possible, with communication and chemistry developing in the meantime.
Cohesion has taken time for this class. When linebacker Monty Rice arrived on campus back in 2017, he was a shy kid from Madison, Alabama.
Soon, he met safety Richard LeCounte and defensive lineman Malik Herring, two other freshmen in the class. Those two eventually helped the future starting linebacker and Butkus Award semifinalist to come out of his shell.
They won 36 games their first three years, a Rose Bowl and SEC Championship among them. But for a while, their senior season appeared in jeopardy.
Then, on Sept. 26, it got underway at Arkansas. The seniors have made sure since then that their campaign will not be interrupted.
“They’ve done a really good job thus far of maintaining social distancing, washing hands, not having major issues thus far in our organization,” Smart said. “I appreciate the guys that have done that and the people that have helped them.”
Herring called the team’s bond a “brotherhood.” Throughout this whirlwind of a season, seniors have been the ones to answer questions and help resolve issues, players said.
On the field, the veterans are teachers as well. Junior Christopher Smith has started the last three games in place of LeCounte after the senior crashed his motorcycle following the Kentucky game on Oct. 31.
“If he sees something, I come back on the sideline, he’s going to give me a pointer and I’m going to go out there and use it to get better the next drive,” Smith said.
As a team, this senior season hasn’t gone as planned. The Bulldogs are all but eliminated from contention for the SEC East title, a crown they have worn each of the past three seasons.
There is one big prize still out there for the taking.
With wins in the final two regular season games, plus a bowl game victory, this senior class will exit with 45 wins. That would set the mark for the most wins ever for a Georgia senior group.
“If we’re able to achieve that, then that’ll be great and something that I’ll come back years later and be like, ‘We did that. The senior class, me, Malik, Rich, we were able to get that done,’” Rice said.
Smart talked about that with the team last Friday before the South Carolina game. The quest continues Saturday with Vanderbilt (4 p.m., SEC Network) before a matchup with Missouri, a game rescheduled after being postponed earlier in the season.
From a highly-touted crop of freshmen, to near national champions, to now the glue that has held the team together amid a pandemic. It’s been a wild ride for the recruiting class of 2017, and it’s not over yet.
“They work really hard each day and I think they want to leave a legacy of being the winningest senior class to ever come out of here,” Smart said. “That’s a feather they want to stick in their hat. To do that, they’ve got to finish this thing off right.”