Kirby Smart is still in it to win championships, but the model has changed, and UGA — like most everyone else — is working on a new business model. That doesn’t ease the pain or frustration of what proved to be a tough College Football Playoff season for the Bulldogs.

ATHENS, Ga. — Three years ago, Georgia won a national championship and then set a modern NFL Draft record when 15 players from that team were selected. Five Georgia players went in the first round, all off a defense that was regarded then and still might be as generationally great. All in all, it was an immense, irreplaceable loss of talent.

Kirby Smart and his Georgia football team have already started working on the 2025 campaign, but now they can do so with last season in the rearview mirror.