Georgia head coach Kirby Smart now has another problem to think about: how to prepare players for the physical demands of the game when he cannot practice them the way he used to.
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Georgia had just beaten Florida 27-8 on October 31, but the postgame conversation soon moved away from the rivalry. Smart was asked about the injuries piling up across the SEC.
“Everybody’s practicing less, but everybody’s getting injured more,” he said to the reporters. “It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t add up. We’re not at the point of the 9th game yet. Nobody’s played any more than they would have right now.”
The Georgia head coach was careful not to blame one rule, one change in player behavior, or the NIL money now flowing through college football. But he did point to a major change in how teams are built.
“There was a big decision made when they did the rosters to what they did the rosters,” Kirby Smart said. “We debated with a lot of higher-up people to come to the roster limitations.”
“I think people’s depth is going to show up, and people are going to have to make a choice: how you want to practice, and do you want to practice at all? Or do you just want to try to save everybody?”
The roster limit changed in 2025-26 for schools that joined the House settlement. Instead of counting scholarships, the rules now set a hard ceiling of 105 players on a football team. Smart said Georgia and other SEC programs had carried around 125 to 130 players under the old system.
The larger rosters gave coaches more options in practice, allowed them to spend time developing younger players, and provided extra depth to handle the wear and tear of a full season.
“I think about the teams we had in 21 and 22,” Kirby Smart said. “How physical they were and how they practiced. And I’m like, we can’t even get close to that now, is it?”
Georgia’s national title-winning teams were known for more than their results. Their defense wore down opponents, while the depth of the roster meant the Bulldogs rarely lost much when a starter went down.
Georgia’s 2021 defense gave up 10.2 points and 78.9 rushing yards per game. Only three rushing touchdowns were scored against it all season. The front was difficult to move, with 340-pound Jordan Davis lining up alongside Devonte Wyatt and Jalen Carter.
Opposing offenses often needed two blockers to handle them, which gave Nakobe Dean, Quay Walker and Channing Tindall room to attack the ball carrier. The 2022 defense carried much of the same edge. In truth, Smart’s teams were not getting that physicality from the players alone.
It was part of how they practiced. Tuesdays were known as “Bloody Tuesdays,” when Georgia held full-contact sessions with live tackling. Players and coaches said those practices could be more draining than the games. The Bulldogs took plenty of punishment during the week, then faced another opponent on Saturday.
“Sometimes you see blood. Sometimes you don’t, depending on how the players go at it,” former UGA player Jamon Dumas-Johnson said to DOTD in 2022. “That’s one of the days we get after it, play the game before the game.”
Now, Smart said on October 28 that Georgia has cut roughly 10 to 15 minutes from its practices in 2026 to help players get through the demands of the season.
Georgia no longer puts every player through the same workload. Smart and his assistants decide how many reps each player needs, with extra care taken during bye weeks.
They have also cut back on contact and made more room for walk-throughs and film work. During the latest bye week, the Bulldogs practiced on Tuesday and Thursday, then stayed off the field for the rest of the week.
“I mean, is it different culture that the guys don’t want to as much?” Kirby Smart said after the Gators’ victory. “I don’t know. Because they were definitely hungrier because there was a motivation to make it. A lot of these guys, honestly, they make more than I made till I was 40.”
Injuries have already forced Kirby Smart to shuffle his lineup this season. Safety Tyriq Green and receiver Isiah Canion have missed time, and KJ Bolden was also a concern before the Florida matchup.
Smart did use the bye week to give his players a chance to recover, but a few extra days off would not solve everything. He also had to make sure they were ready for the demands of another tough game. And the schedule ahead offers little room to relax.