Georgia is fine tuning its game plan for the College Football Playoff and head coach Kirby Smart is not letting anyone know what he is cooking up behind the scenes. The Bulldogs continued their annual tradition of yoga during the media portion of bowl practice on Tuesday.
It completely defeats the purpose, on purpose.
Georgia keeps its college football program under extremely tight wraps. Reporters are not typically invited to practice, and when they are it is early in the week for a limited period of time. Local media was allowed to watch the Bulldogs prepare for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish while still in Athens on Friday.
As a participant in the College Football Playoff, Georgia is currently required to let the media watch a brief window of its practices during the week prior to the Sugar Bowl on Saturday. It is a rule set by the Playoff itself. All eight remaining teams must allow for a mandatory viewing period.
This is something to which Smart has become accustomed. The Bulldogs have been in the Playoff in seven of the last 11 years. They have a plan in place for how to travel, how to practice… and how to skirt around the rules.
All credentialed members of the media are welcome to observe Georgia’s Playoff practice but they won’t get anything of value. Smart outsmarted the mandatory viewing period. In lieu of drills or even warm-ups, the Bulldogs instead participate in a group yoga session. That’s it!
The real practice does not actually begin until the media is no longer allowed to stay and watch. Georgia straps on the pads and gets to work as soon as the last reporter exits the field.
Although the Playoff can’t be thrilled with this workaround, there is nothing more it can do. Kirby Smart is technically following the rules and doing what is asked of him!