Zero Looking Ahead!
Georgia vs. Florida 2022
Georgia vs. Florida 2022
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oriented. It was just a Cinderella year. Everybody felt good and everybody worked.<br />
“You could see the resemblance with the 2021 team,” Loran said. “Erk came out with the<br />
“Big Team, Little Me” so from the beginning everybody, led by (captain) Frank Ross, took<br />
the attitude that they were going to find some way to win – they didn’t care who had the<br />
glory. Everybody had to run wind sprints and Herschel would be first in line. Both the 1980<br />
and 2021 teams were very similar in that they had all the ingredients of selflessness.”<br />
However, unlike most of the 2021 team’s 14-1 season, Dooley’s 1980 Bulldogs had to win<br />
a number of close games to remain unbeaten. “They just found a way to win,” said Smith,<br />
“and that was another of Erk’s big slogans…’One More Time.’ I remember him saying it in<br />
New Orleans when we knew Notre Dame was going to be a tough, tough opponent.”<br />
Smith said Kirby Smart’s 2021 Bulldogs, like the 1942 and 1980 national champs before<br />
them, just had a brotherhood all across the board.<br />
“Like the great defense, the offense had it, too,” he said. “And I think the beauty of that<br />
team was you had that impregnable defense, except in the SEC Championship Game.<br />
You know Stetson Bennett, if there’s ever been a rags-to-riches story …. It was against all<br />
odds and he was perfect for Georgia’s play-action offense. He was just a perfect fit; he’s<br />
got such quick feet and touch on the ball and he’s very smart, a very heady player. People<br />
that remember Eddie Stanky (former MLB second baseman, manager), he was that kind of<br />
player. He might not in the flesh be the best talent but he was hard to beat.”<br />
Smith admitted that ‘Return to Glory’ was somewhat of a challenge to get finished on time.<br />
“The challenge with this book was we had so many players and coaches that were<br />
significant in the story so I did little vignettes and sidebars and there’s close to 50 of those,”<br />
he said. “And then the big thing was trying to get Kirby’s insights. You know after the game<br />
he got to bed about 4 a.m., something like that he told me. And then he’s up for the press<br />
conference and then he flew home. So, he didn’t sleep in his own bed until the second<br />
night. So, Monday night was Indianapolis, Tuesday night was Athens and then Wednesday<br />
morning, it was business as usual he had gone back to work. And he starts flying on that<br />
helicopter, recruiting then. Then the meetings he had to attend. He just didn’t have time<br />
but he did help me at the strategic points. I wanted more of his insights into the thing and<br />
that’s what I kept badgering him about. And, we got that done!<br />
“But, really, I got this Return to Glory done relatively quickly because I had to start doing<br />
the interviewing with the players and coaches on a deferred basis,” said Smith. “I couldn’t<br />
do Kirby and the coaches until they got through recruiting so it was February. So, I got a<br />
late start but that gave me a chance to write the transcript in January.”<br />
Smart has the foreword in Smith’s new book, praising the support of the Bulldog Nation<br />
and pointing out how the Georgia fan base was most instrumental in the Bulldogs’ run to<br />
the national championship.<br />
Return to Glory can be purchased online at the UGA Bookstore (bkstr.<br />
com/georgiastore), Whitman.com, Amazon, Books A Million and<br />
Barnes & Noble. Cost is $39.95.<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED<br />
71 ISSUE TEN • FLORIDA