Georgia sets sights on three-peat as its budding dynasty shows no signs of slowing down

LOS ANGELES — In the city where Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal completed an NBA three-peat with the Lakers from 2000-02, Georgia’s quest to turn the trick began soon after its 65-7 destruction of TCU Monday night.

“We’re going to go for it,” offensive guard Tate Ratledge said.

Georgia just shook off losing 15 NFL draft picks and went 15-0 by beating opponents by nearly 27 points per game.

Rinse. Reload. Repeat.

“I think we can do a three-peat,” freshman defensive lineman Bear Alexander said. “Man, we’ll see. That’s the next goal. Go undefeated again. Win it again.”

Just about every too-early top 25 for 2023 has Georgia on top. The Bulldogs are 3-1 favorites to win the next national championship by SportsBetting.ag, ahead of 4-1 Alabama and 6-1 Ohio State,

“The sky’s the limit for us,” offensive tackle Amarius Mims said. “We can go out there and do it again.”

No college football team has won three national titles in a row since Minnesota from 1934-36.

“I personally think next year is going to be a much more difficult challenge over this year because we had so many guys leaving last year,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Monday night. “We got a lot of guys coming back. … But the disease that creeps into your program is called entitlement. I've seen it firsthand.”

Smart said Tuesday at the morning after champions press conference at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott: “I do think we're going to have to reinvent ourselves next year because you can't just stay the same. … It's easy to get comfortable. And comfortable does not win.”

The Bulldogs will return some key pieces on defense in inside linebackers Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Smael Mondon, cornerbacks Javon Bullard and Kamari Lassiter and safety Malaki Starks and ooze young talent in defensive lineman Mykel Williams, Jalon Walker and Alexander.

Georgia is bringing back some of its biggest offensive weapons in tight end Brock Bowers, wide receivers Ladd McConkey and A.D. Mitchell and running backs Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards. Add in transfer wide receivers Dominic Lovett from Missouri and Rara Thomas from Mississippi State.

“We got whatever it takes,” Mims said.

As expected, it sure sounds like junior tight end Darnell Washington will be playing next in the NFL.

“Darnell is a classic guy that came to Georgia with the sole purpose of having an opportunity at the NFL,” Smart said. “He wanted to play in the NFL. And by the time he left, he was one of the toughest players we had.”

Carson Beck, Gunner Stockton and Brock Vandagriff will compete to step in at quarterback where Stetson Bennett set a new standard at Georgia and perhaps college football with his two national championship MVP performances as well Orange and Peach Bowl MVPs.

“Probably take this week to enjoy this and I’m glad I got to get a few reps out there,” Beck said in the locker room Monday night. “It’s not every day you get to play in the national championship. We’ll take it from square one again day by day.”

Alabama’s Nick Saban, who has won six national titles with the Crimson Tide, was on the ESPN set in SoFi Stadium as Georgia showed that it is the budding dynasty.

“If not, it’s about to be,” Ratledge said.

“It sure is turning into one,” Beck said. “That’s what it looks like.”

“Oh yeah,” wide receiver Arian Smith said. “We believe in ourselves. We have confidence. We know what it takes to win and be elite consistently.”

Even Danny Kannell, the former Florida State quarterback who likes to poke at the SEC, is a believer.

“I think you guys took over Bama,” he told defensive lineman Warren Brinson who was asking him the question for CBS Sports Network. “I think you guys are the new dynasty, the new kings of college football.”

Bullard, who hails from Milledgeville, takes pride in where he’s helped Georgia get to as a program.

“Just growing up as a kid from the state of Georgia, playing for the University of Georgia, it's special,” said Bullard who had two interceptions Monday night. “So the word dynasty, it's something we're building together. And that was built before us and it's going to continue to be built after us. So we're just trying to leave our legacy and leave this place in good hands.”

Smart said he doesn’t want to be measured simply by how many championships Georgia wins under his watch.

“I get that's what you define Joe Montana on, Tom Brady on, LeBron and Kobe and Michael Jordan, on the number of championships,” he said. “I don't want these young men to be defined by that. I don't want my career to be defined by that because I know tons of coaches and players out there that didn't get one that had unbelievable careers.”

Smart said Monday that there’s no room for complacency by fans or coaches as they flip from one season to the next. Georgia had 19 new players that began classes at UGA on Monday.

“I mean, it's human nature to relax,” he said Tuesday, “It's human nature to take the easy route. And I can be as guilty of that as anyone. But it wasn't this team's nature to relax. This team -- this wasn't as hard a job as people made it seem because of the people we recruited -- not because of talent, but because of what they were -- like the DNA inside of them. These dudes, this team was different. This team was just different.”

Now it’s onto the 2023 season.

Smart walked out of the press conference with wife Mary Beth into the offseason.

“I am concerned about our season next year,” Smart said. “I’ll be thinking about that the entire flight home.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia will reload to make a run for a third national title in a row