Kirby Smart Fires Back at Critics of Georgia's Culture

No. 1 Georgia is off to a 1-0 start in the 2024 college football season thanks to a dominant 34-3 win over No. 14 Clemson on Saturday.

The Bulldogs were missing multiple key players against the Tigers due to either injury or suspension. Among those was starting running back Trevor Etienne, who served a suspension in the season opener following an arrest this summer. Etienne makes up one of 20-plus driving related arrests for Georgia since January of 2023, an off-field situation that has drawn a large amount of criticism of the culture in Athens under head coach Kirby Smart.

But that disapproval from those outside of the program is not clued in to the true nature of Georgia's culture within, according to Smart, who called out those participating in the negative discourse following the win over Clemson. That includes opposing programs that try and hinder UGA's recruiting efforts.

"Awesome. I wish you could talk to our players..," Smart said of UGA's culture. "What you know on the inside is a lot more than what people can paint pictures to be outside. People use it in negative recruiting, and they throw it out there, and it comes back to bite them, too."

Georgia hasn't dropped off on the recruiting trail and it looks like that won't be happening anytime soon as Smart and company signed the No. 1 overall class in the 2024 cycle. Regardless of the clear issue regarding driving practices in Athens, Georgia has been able to maintain its cohesiveness and winning ways as one of the top, if not the best, college football programs in the nation.

UGA will be back in Sanford Stadium for the home opener versus Tennessee Tech on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+).

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