Kirby Smart met with the media on Wednesday, which marked the first day of the early signing period. Aside from recruiting news, he also discussed the uncertainty surrounding Georgia’s coaching staff, offensive lineman Ben Cleveland’s eligibility and preparation for the Sugar Bowl.

Decisions to be made

The Georgia offense is in an ambiguous state. Smart didn’t explicitly say on Wednesday whether or not James Coley would be returning as offensive coordinator.

Smart also said he didn’t try to hire Mike Bobo, who served as Georgia’s offensive coordinator from 2007-14 and was hired as South Carolina’s offensive coordinator on Dec. 10.

“Yeah, I talk to Mike often because we’re really good friends, but as far as conversation about coming to coach at the University of Georgia, no,” Smart said. “He and I conversed about what he was going to do when he was let go, but that was during the week of the LSU game. As far as any other changes or anything like that, that’s decided after the bowl game, after we look back at the whole year.”

Junior quarterback Jake Fromm will make his decision on whether or not he wants to return to Georgia after the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.

“We do with Jake exactly what we do with every player on our team,” Smart said. “We bring them in, we talk to teams, I talk to general managers, I talk to organizations. We get information. When we get closer to the bowl game, we put it away, and then we come back and revisit it. We’ve done those things with Jake.”

Updating Ben Cleveland and James Cook’s status

According to a report at 247Sports, junior offensive lineman Ben Cleveland won’t be able to play in the Sugar Bowl against Baylor due to academic issues.

Cleveland, who started seven games this season at right guard, would be the third offensive lineman to miss the Sugar Bowl, joining NFL hopefuls Andrew Thomas and Isaiah Wilson. But Smart said he can’t confirm that Cleveland is ineligible to play.

“Can I confirm that? No. Because there’s still things out there,” Smart said. “Nothing’s final yet.”

Sophomore running back James Cook, who was arrested on Dec. 13 for a misdemeanor open container violation and driving without a valid license, will be punished internally, Smart said.

Sugar Bowl preparation

The Bulldogs have practiced four times in anticipation of the matchup against Baylor, Smart said. They plan to take the Sugar Bowl seriously after losing to Texas 28-21 in the same bowl game last season.

“I thought we approached it seriously last year,” Smart said. “We didn’t play real well. But we had a bunch of young guys that got to play on defense. Offensively, we had turnovers, and when you have turnovers, you don’t win football games. And we’re at a zero-turnover margin and [Baylor] is plus-14. And the last four days we’ve been banging that home.”

Printed with permission from The Red & Black independent student media organization based in Athens, Georgia.