One of the dominant storylines surrounding college football right now is the wave of NFL players trying to return to college. While commissioners of different conference work to block their returns, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart offered his thoughts on the situation.
Smart said on Tuesday that Georgia is not evaluating anyone on NFL rosters. Smart added that his approach to other coaches potentially doing so is to each his own.
"The opportunities presented to the guys on our team are important to me. They've earned those opportunities through an offseason, through a summer program, through a really tough fall camp," Smart said. "You have to decide, each and every person, if that's valuable enough to warrant replacing your players that have worked with your team with others that might be better.
"Our job [as coaches] is to upgrade and try to get better as much as we can and win games. So some people feel like that gives them an opportunity to be better and doesn't change their culture, and more power to them."
Teams from throughout college football have been working to add players who spent the summer on NFL rosters. Notable instances include LSU adding tight end Dae'Quan Wright from the Cleveland Browns and defensive lineman Zxavian Harris from the New Orleans Saints; Texas adding offensive lineman Cole Hutson after attending mini-camps in Cleveland and Dallas.
The ongoing conversation about 2022 recruits returning to college was met with opposition on Tuesday. According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, the Big Ten is set to pass a rule on Tuesday that won't allow players to return from the NFL and play for a school in the conference. This would cover players who declared for the NFL Draft and did not withdraw, appeared on an NFL roster, or signed a contract with a pro league. Yahoo's Ross Dellenger reported that the ACC and the Big 12 are also considering similar policies.
The Bulldogs have reportedly worked to bring wide receiver Cole Speer back, though Smart said last week that he is "not officially back with the team." Smart also said that Georgia had conversations with Speer and "a lot of guys" regarding joining the roster.
Smart spoke in favor of the five-for-five rule, which has opened the door for these players to return thanks to a lawsuit in Colorado — a lawsuit which the NCAA was granted stay in last week. Smart reflected on how much eligibility rules have changed over the years, going from a player not being able to play at all to players having four games to play to postseason games no longer counting against the number.
While the new five-for-five guideline isn't perfect, Smart sees it as a step in the right direction.
"All those rules came about because they were needed because rosters were dwindling, people were transferring, people were not playing in bowl games. So they made them exempt and they changed them. But it affected different people each time they changed those rules," Smart said. "This is a better rule, five-for-five. This is a better rule. So you can play as much or as little and you get five years. So it's affecting different people in different ways."
Transcript: Kirby Smart evaluates Georgia pass rush, wide receivers stepping up after second scrimmage
Georgia is transitioning from fall camp to regular-season preparations, which Kirby Smart discussed on Wednesday as the team continues to build its identity and players establish themselves in key roles.
Georgia is preparing for the 2026 regular season, which begins with a pair of non-conference home games against Tennessee Tech and Western Kentucky before the team hits the road to open SEC play at Arkansas. Head coach Kirby Smart has a week before his game-week schedule begins.
On Tuesday, Smart discussed what he learned from last weekend's scrimmage, the freshmen already turning heads, the team's biggest question marks in terms of pass rush and wide receivers stepping up, and his thoughts on trying to add players who are currently in NFL camps.
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