SEC Media Days are rolling along swiftly, and on Tuesday, it’s Georgia Football’s turn to enter the limelight, and head coach Kirby Smart addressed the media with an all-important opening statement.
The Georgia Bulldogs are the reigning SEC Champions, as they defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide in December of last season, but lost to Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl.
During his opening statement, Kirby Smart revealed his true feelings on Gunner Stockton at the SEC Media Days 2026.
Kirby Smart’s Opening Statement Grabs Headlines at SEC Media Days
GettyATLANTA, GEORGIA – DECEMBER 06: Head coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs looks on prior to the 2025 SEC Championship against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 06, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
Kirby Smart delivered a strong opening statement at SEC media, which included a funny/pertinent story about quarterback Gunner Stockton.
Smart noted that Stockton took charge in an offseason white water rafting trip in North Carolina, and just how it showed his leadership, and how he’s able to command a group of men in dangerous situations.
Kirby Smart telling that story about Gunner shows how much he trusts the junior QB, and it’s also emblematic of Stockton’s personality and style of play, which is reserved/under-the-radar.
In the meantime, here are some quotes from Gunner (about Georgia, his OC Mike Bobo), and other things):
“Coach Bobo, I think he gets the best out of everybody. I know he gets the best out of me and all my teammates cause a lot of people have criticism. They don’t get to see the day in and day out thing that Coach Bobo does. He barely sleeps during the week, during the game week. But just they don’t see all the work he puts in, the love he has for the university, the love he
has for all my teammates and me.”
Gunner Stockton on feeling goosebumps when he walks out in front of a packed Sanford Stadium:
“Absolutely. Definitely. When you’re standing in the tunnel and see everybody, all you can see is kind of that upper row and all the fans up there. You see red and black, it definitely gets you chill bumps and you know it’s pretty neat to be like, hey, this is what I kind of dreamed of when I was younger. And I think that’s the cool part. And some people lose focus on why you fall in love with the game of football, and just being grateful for the opportunity to be — it’s neat growing up in Georgia, being a Georgia boy, getting to play at the University of Georgia, it’s definitely very special.”
Stockton was also asked about the SEC ‘slipping’ in recent seasons:
“I don’t know about that. I know Georgia, we do our job, and we just try to do what we know, just kind of do our work. And like I said, we’ve had a good offseason. And we do –at Georgia, we just work. I think that’s what Coach Smart’s done a great job of, and what we believe in.”
*Quotes are courtesy of SEC Media Days HQ Hub*
Kirby Smart Reveals Feelings on Gunner Stockton at SEC Media Days