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Georgia coach Kirby Smart has never been partial to individualism. He made that clear again this week by saying college football's rash of transfer portal updates and social media graphics about new contracts are not for him. He comes from an old-school, football-first mentality when development and improving daily is paramount to success — especially during the postseason. 

"Everybody's announcing what they're doing," Smart said Monday at his Sugar Bowl press conference. "I'm announcing that I'm going in the portal. I'm announcing that I'm re-signing. How about you announce that you're getting better and you're going to practice and, like, actually do what the 20 and 30 years of college football players did before you, which was practice in December when they're on good teams, and get better?"

Smart's Bulldogs play Ole Miss in New Orleans during one of four College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchups. Coaches who are prepping for a playoff contest or a bowl game in December deal with player retention and personnel scouting given college football's unrelenting calendar.

"I mean, we're focused on this team," Smart said. "I think it would be remiss to say that we're focused on roster management. We're not focused on it."

Smart beat the transfer portal drum throughout the offseason, calling it college football's most important issue that needs fixing. Smart landed a mini-win in September when the NCAA announced it was moving from two portal windows to a single 15-day stretch beginning Jan. 2.

The new guidance also states that players participating in a postseason game on or after Jan. 12 have an opportunity to initiate the notification process to enter the transfer portal during a consecutive five-day period beginning the day after the player's final postseason contest. This is pertinent for teams still in the playoff since the national championship game is slated for Jan. 19.

Following Georgia's Nov. 15 win over Texas, Smart addressed what makes his team execute flawlessly in late-game situations. He took the opportunity to talk process and physicality, a staple of the Georgia program and the meat behind multiple national championships and SEC titles during his tenure. He previously spoke at-length on Georgia not being the program 'for everyone' in the NIL and transfer portal era.

"You have to recruit physical players, and they have to buy into that process," Smart said. "I don't know that — a lot of these kids nowadays, they want a check. They don't want physicality. When you have the check and no physicality, you end up with nothing. So you're not just getting checks at our place. We're hitting people."

A win over Ole Miss would be Smart's 25th victory over a top-10 opponent in 10 seasons at Georgia