Kirby Smart delivers provoking message to the transfer portal generation

As long as the transfer portal and College Football Playoff are taking place at the same time, there will be questions from the media about how coaches who have positioned their teams for a College Football Playoff run are handling the unique dilemma of roster management.

Most coaches will use that opportunity to complain about timing, or pound the table to a revamped calendar, and they'd all have points, but Kirby Smart decided yesterday on a different approach when probed about roster management for his Georgia squad.

When asked about managing his roster while preparing for the playoff, Smart's chose a message aimed at the transfer portal generation. Whether those words were a measured response, or just off the top of his head is anyone's guess, but knowing where the roots of his coaching tree are based, I've come to my own conclusion.

"We're focused on this team. I think we would be remised to say that we're focused on roster management. We're not focused on it. We're focused on prep and getting better."

"For a while it's been intrinsically looking at ourself and asking each player, 'Did you come here to develop? Did you truly come here to develop?' Because if you did, all your buddies are out there right now and everyone is announcing what they're doing. I'm announcing that I'm going in the portal. I'm announcing that I'm re-signing."

"Well how about you announce that you're getting better and that you're actually going do what the 20 and 30 years of college football did before you, which was practice in December, when you are on good teams, and get better. Because you know what? If you go and play somewhere else, you know what you need to do? You need to get better. If you're going to play here, you know what you need to do? You need to get better."

"If you want to go to the National Football League and play, this is your last change to get better. They're not going to give you much of an opportunity. They're going to cut you or keep you based on how you do. They don't get to practice in pads but for so many days."

"So development occurs in December for us, and that's what we've been focused on."

Hear more from Kirby in the clip.