As the 2025 college football season approaches, SEC coaches and administrators gathered this week for the conference’s annual spring meetings, addressing key issues shaping the future of the sport—including playoff expansion, non-conference scheduling, and the ever-evolving transfer portal.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, whose Bulldogs are coming off an SEC Championship win over Texas and a College Football Playoff quarterfinal appearance against Notre Dame, shared his thoughts on the path ahead.
Smart stressed the importance of collaboration when it comes to shaping future playoff formats and emphasized the role of strong non-conference games in boosting strength of schedule.
But his strongest message centered around roster building in the age of the transfer portal.
“We are a fundamentally high school-developed program,” Smart said. “We want to sign high school players, develop them, grow them as men, and retain our roster.”
Smart praised his staff’s efforts in keeping Georgia’s core intact despite national trends of heavy portal movement.
“When you look across the country, we’ve done as good a job as anyone in retaining our roster without relying heavily on the transfer portal,” he said.
That includes investment in walk-ons (PWOs) and backup players who are being groomed as future starters. “We put a lot of time and effort into developing our entire roster,” Smart added.
Georgia will open its 2025 season on Saturday, August 30th against Marshall.
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