If there were any questions about whether Georgia should be in the conversation about repeating as national champions again this year, those were likely answered this past weekend as they faced their former defensive coordinator Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks and dismantled the #11 ranked team in the country 49-3.
The Dawgs clearly overpowered the Ducks from the start, and what makes that even more impressive is Lanning had the answers to the test. He's the only person on UGA's current schedule with at top 15 squad, and intimate knowledge of Georgia's personnel and schemes, and yet Kirby Smart's squad was still too much to handle.
In addition to losing some key contributors on both offense and defense this off season, Georgia's staff saw offensive line coach Matt Luke resign, receivers coach Cortez Hankton left for a coordinator title at LSU, and defensive backs coach Jahmile Addae left to join Mario Cristobal at Miami.
Smart reloaded his staff with the additions of offensive line coach Stacy Searels (from UNC), Chidero Uzo-Diribe (from TCU) and Fran Brown (via Rutgers) as well as former Dawgs assistant and player Bryan McClendon who returned to Athens as receivers coach and pass game coordinator after stops at Oregon and South Carolina.
"Our staff is the best it's ever been," Smart shared over the weekend.
"We've got a great staff right now and it's awesome because we've got a great...we've always had a good staff, but we've got a really great staff right now in terms of guys enjoying the work together and putting plans together, and I thought they did a great job of doing that."
What makes this staff different than the others he's had since taking over UGA in 2016?
"The buy in of those four coaches. The alignment. The understanding of this program's bigger than me and that I'll sacrifice for the program. They understand their role. They've done what they've been asked to do and they embrace it and there is a lot of positive energy and enthusiasm at practice...and it works. So it's created a really good kind of connection amongst the staff."
Georgia takes on Samford (FCS - AL) at home this weekend, followed by a trip to South Carolina in Week 3 before welcoming Kent State to Athens before starting SEC play the next week.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.