Kirby Smart has critical words for a pair of former five-star prospects
Just a couple of days ago, receiver and return specialist Mecole Hardman was talking about how close he was to returning a touchdown last season. He vowed to take one, or more, to the end zone in 2018.
Head coach Kirby Smart was asked a similar question about Hardman Thursday. Smart, however, didn’t have the same sort of optimistic take. Smart revealed a text message exchange he had with former return specialist Isaiah McKenzie, Georgia’s leading overall return (six) and punt return (five) touchdown scorer in program history, concerning Hardman on this subject.
In essence, Smart, through McKenzie, put Hardman on notice.
“Isaiah McKenzie texts me every week and said, ‘Coach, if I had that much room I’d have seven touchdowns,’ ” Smart said. “So he was calling Mecole out, not me.”
Smart said that Hardman has not locked up the punt return position, even though it would seem he would be in good standing. He averaged 11.8 yards per return on 23 attempts a season ago. Hardman came close to returning some punts for touchdowns but never could break away and take one the distance.
Smart said Terry Godwin, Ahkil Crumpton and Kearis Jackson have all been working at the position.
“You have anointed him as the returner next year. I have not,” Smart said. “So that is an earned position. That is not his position yet. We’ll see what happens. I certainly thought that there were some opportunities where he might should’ve (scored).”
Hardman wasn’t the only player Smart called out Thursday after practice. Asked about safety Richard LeCounte, Smart said there is a lot for the rising sophomore to still learn. LeCounte, a former five-star recruit like Hardman, is the favorite to start in Dominick Sanders’ old position at free safety.
“He’s still growing. It’s going to be a growing process in the secondary,” Smart said. “Sometimes I think Richard really wants to be good. I don’t know if Richard knows what it takes to be good, like the demands it takes, the study it takes, the seriousness it takes. He’s a very talented young man but he’s got to meet the demands the position requires, which is come in, learn, make the calls, make the decisions. Sometimes I don’t know if he wants that responsibility on him. We certainly are counting on him and we are continuing to coach him until he gets it.”
Smart has stated similar things like this about players in the past. It isn’t unusual for a coach to call out a player publicly for motivational purposes.
LeCounte was Smart’s first commitment after he took over the Georgia job. A blue chip recruit from Liberty County, LeCounte saw some playing time as a true freshman but spent most of his time on special teams and as a backup.
Smart said LeCounte’s play has been spotty thus far and that he will need to be coached up before the start of the 2018 season.
“Do I like what I see on the football field? Five minutes, I’d say yeah. Another five minutes, I’d say, ‘What the hell?’ ” Smart said. “It’s up and down. It’s not consistent so it’s hard to answer that question because it depends on what five minutes you’re referring to. He has some wow plays. He covers a lot of range, but he can cover the range in the wrong direction really fast if you know what I mean. So if you go the wrong way really fast, you have to recover that distance to make it up to do back the right way.”
As a freshman, LeCounte totaled 15 tackles. Safety J.R. Reed said that while LeCounte has progressed during his first year at Georgia, he needs to continue furthering his knowledge of the defense.
“He’s come a long way,” Reed said. “He’s a lot like the younger guys. The main thing with these young guys is they have to study. They have to put in the extra work to study this playbook. It’s just like school, it’s just like another class.”
This story was originally published April 12, 2018 at 8:02 PM with the headline "Kirby Smart has critical words for a pair of former five-star prospects."