To learn more about the immense expectations for Georgia, we caught up with Chip Towers of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He started writing about the Bulldogs as a sophomore student reporter at Georgia in 1985. Towers spoke about the challenging road ahead and the program’s troubling offseason.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Awful Announcing: Nick Saban has retired, and the playoffs have expanded. Is it national championship or bust for Georgia?
Chip Towers: “That’s kind of been the case ever since 2021. Last year was an enormous disappointment, even within the program. That was a really good team that played really poorly against a very motivated Alabama team in the SEC Championship and didn’t get a chance for a three-peat. Georgia was right there. They went 13-1 and won the Orange Bowl 63-3. So fast forward a year later, Georgia expects to be right back in the thick of things, especially with an expanded playoff. But the best teams don’t always always win. It takes a lot of breaks, and that’s definitely going to be the case for Georgia because the SEC did them no favors with that schedule.”
What makes the schedule tough?
“For decades, there’s a feeling among the fan base, maybe even inside the athletic administration building, that the league screws them when it comes to schedules. Georgia always seems to get the short shrift. Nobody else in the SEC is going on the road to play Alabama, Texas, and Ole Miss. When the Associated Press preseason poll comes out, those three teams will probably be in the top ten. Nobody else in the SEC has got road games like that.”
What’s this team’s biggest strength?
“Its biggest strength is its offense, its quarterback, and its playmakers. They should be an offensive juggernaut. Based on NFL draft previews, you’ve got the highest-rated NFL quarterback prospect . Their O-line is strong and deep. They should win the Joe Moore Award if they do what they’re expected to do. I think they’re going to score a lot of points.”
How can Carson Beck be better?
“Well, probably in a lot of ways. Being more mobile would be one way. Being more of an inspiration to his teammates and stuff. He’s not necessarily a real rah-rah guy. He’s not a tremendous motivator necessarily off the field, I don’t think, so just leadership capabilities. He’s a pretty good quarterback when you look at his numbers. Nearly 73 percent completion percentage, and he’s not a dink-and-dunker. He throws the ball downfield.
“Georgia’s wide receivers are probably not going to be considered among the tops in college football. But all the other position groups will be: running back, quarterback, tight end, and offensive line. Carson Beck’s got a lot of tools at his disposal.”
What’s this team’s biggest weakness?
“They’re having to replace three-fifths of the secondary. Three of those guys are in the NFL now. But Georgia has recruited to that end the past couple of years. You’ve got Malaki Starks, an All-American at free safety. Who’s going to play beside him? There’s a myriad of possibilities, including Joenel Aguero and Justyn Rhett. You also have a fifth-year senior in Dan Jackson. And then you have a five-star like KJ Bolden, who flipped on Florida State at the last minute and signed with Georgia. So, the secondary would be considered the biggest weakness.”
What is it like covering Kirby Smart?
“Not easy. I would say different from Mark Richt, who preceded him. It was easy covering Mark Richt because he was kind and accessible. Kirby Smart runs his program exactly like Nick Saban did. You don’t have access to assistant coaches from an interview standpoint. The players you are allowed to interview are handpicked by him or somebody on his staff. So it’s not like you get to tell the stories you want to tell. That said, it’s also fun and rewarding to cover Kirby Smart because they’ve won 42 of the last 44 games.”
Has the media been slow to criticize Smart for all the off-the-field problems, including the arrests?
“We’ve led the way in that coverage in every way, shape, or form. We’re an objective newspaper, and nobody out there in the universe would know that there have been 28 arrests since the double fatality crash in January of 2023 if we hadn’t told them that. That’s us that’s doing that. That’s me. I would resent that accusation, and we’ve held his feet to a fire about it.
“Now, I’ll say that there’s a bunch of pied pipers covering not just Georgia but all teams now because of the influence of fan sites in the business. They want to help the coach recruit. They want to trumpet their recruiting, and they want to tell you all the good news, and they don’t want to tell you any bad news. And I think those sites that cover Georgia bow at the altar of Kirby Smart. I think smart, educated people who want to know the unfiltered truth understand the job a sports writer has to do as a representative of the free press. I think intelligent people recognize that. I think fans and zealots don’t get it. My reputation’s taken a hit in terms of just being liked by fans. I prefer to be liked by fans and readers, but that’s not a requirement for me to do my job.”
What did you make of Kirby’s NIL comments about Oregon?
Oh, that’s just playful stuff. Dan answered it the way I would expect him to. I’m a big fan of Dan Lanning. I think he’s one of the greatest coaches in college football right now and a real up-and-comer. He’s a perfect protégé of Kirby Smart from the standpoint of he’s taken all the good stuff from him. I think he has a better relationship with the media. Those guys are friends. They still talk all the time, and know everything the other guy does.”
Do you have a funny story about an encounter with a coach, athlete, or fan?
“I guess this probably was 1988 when Vince Dooley was still the coach. I’m very young and covering the beat and full of piss and vinegar. My editors allowed me to write a Monday morning quarterback column. They had played Mississippi State that year and won, but they barely won, 42-35 in Starkville. At the time, Vince Dooley was rotating quarterbacks and he was rotating kickers of all things. That had played a part in Georgia struggling in this game in particular. So I wrote a column critical of that: ‘Vince Dooley needs to quit fooling around with this ridiculous platoon of quarterback and kickers.’
“Fast forward to, I guess it’s Tuesday. We’re in a scrum, a huddle of writers. I had some questions for Dooley about whatever we’d just seen in practice or what was going on last week. He turns to me and says, ‘How would I know, Coach Towers? You seem to have all the answers.’ I realized I don’t need to be out there waxing eloquent about my opinions and trying to cover the team when it affects the person I’m trying to cover.”
What are you most eager to see in Georgia’s opener against Clemson on Aug. 31?
“I’m eager to see if what I think about Georgia is true, and if what I’m hearing about Clemson is true. That’s the beauty of college football. Despite all the changes these last few years, college football’s greatness, I believe, lies in the unknown, in the cyclical nature of the sport. You only have players for so long, and then they move on. So, every year is new. Right now, I think Georgia is a two-touchdown favorite . But Clemson’s still Clemson. And Georgia may not be the Georgia that we think. So, I’m just eager to get all those questions answered.”
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