Only one cook in the kitchen

As a former defensive coordinator, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise to learn on what side of the practice field Kirby Smart has and will continue to spend most of his time.

But when it comes to calling the defensive plays, Smart said earlier this week that responsibility will fall squarely on the shoulders of defensive coordinator Mel Tucker.

In other words, there will only be one cook in Georgia’s defensive kitchen.

“Mel’s going to call the plays,” Smart said of Tucker, who previously served stints as the defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars.

As for Smart, he doesn’t think relinquishing the roles of defensive coordinator will be difficult for him to do at all.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a big adjustment because we had spring games, we had scrimmages at Alabama where we had two sides of the ball, so you had two guys calling it,” Smart said. “It’s a new experience for me to be a head coach, so I certainly don’t need the burden of calling the defenses when I’m trying to oversee the whole entire thing.”

Smart said he expects Tucker to call plays from the sideline.

“I’ll be more involved with the defense than I will with the offense,” Smart said. “Certainly, Mel has called plays for a long time, he’s called them in the NFL, and that’s the plan going forward.”

As for Smart, he’s spending the month of May taking part in different functions and evaluating recruits before heading to the upcoming SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Fla.

Once June rolls around the team reports – including members of the 2016 class – it will be full steam ahead once again.

Such is life for the first-year head coach, something Smart laughed he’s still getting adjusting to.

“I don’t think you ever adjust to that. It’s always moving,” Smart said. “I’m excited obviously about it, and it’s on to the next stage which is getting them ready over the summer. Every day you learn something new about this job.”