Georgia’s Kirby Smart ‘not a fullback guy’ in recruiting, still plans to use position

The question seemed like it was heading in an innocuous route.

A fan attending Wednesday’s UGA Day at the Walnut Creek Shooting Preserve in Macon wanted to know about how Georgia’s fullbacks would be used to better protect whichever quarterback wins the starting job.

Before the fan could finish the question, Smart cut him off and said six words that seemed to raise a few eyebrows.

"Yeah, I’m not a fullback guy," Smart said.

Given the fact Georgia has two fullbacks — Christian Payne and Glenn Welch — who look to contribute this season, it appeared to be a comment of interest. Asked to clarify before Thursday’s UGA Day event at the Doubletree By Hilton in Columbus, and Smart’s initial comment is a bit clearer.

No, Smart isn’t going to go out and deliberately recruit fullbacks. In terms of pass-protection and receiving ability, he would rather have a 6-foot-3 and 240-pound tight end doing that job than a 5-10, 190-pound fullback.

But that doesn’t mean Georgia’s offense won’t use the fullback. It’s just fullbacks more than likely won’t join Georgia’s roster on scholarship.

Consider the following exchange:

Smart: "What does a fullback do?"

Reporter: "Mostly block, sometimes gets a pass."

Smart: "What does a tight end do?"

Another reporter: "Same."

Smart: "Same. So it’s the same thing. I’m more of a tight end guy than a fullback guy. You look at the course of scholarships in the SEC and I don’t think you’ll find a whole lot of fullbacks that were signed to be fullbacks. You find tailbacks who were converted. You find o-linemen who were converted. We try to put our value in size."

Smart’s point rings true with both of Georgia’s fullbacks. Payne was originally an undersized walk-on linebacker who transitioned to fullback. Welch is a converted offensive lineman.

Given that it’s a lot easier to use a walk-on fullback to lead block and contribute in the short-yardage receiving game, and still get Division I-level contributions out of him, Smart’s "not a fullback guy" when it comes to recruiting, not necessarily on-field production.

"We have a fullback on our roster who does a good job. We’ll play with him," Smart said, later referring this comment to mean both Payne and Welch. "But he’s not a scholarship player. It’s one of those things where we try to get the best quality player to play the most positions."

This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 10:17 AM with the headline "Georgia’s Kirby Smart ‘not a fullback guy’ in recruiting, still plans to use position."