I missed Georgia, and I’m not the only one.
Take a quick shuffle through the record bins of your mind and think of all the songs you know that are about Georgia. The theme that keeps popping up isn’t being in Georgia—it’s getting back to Georgia. The Mountain Goats were “Going To Georgia” while Nappy Roots were “On My Way To GA.” For others it wasn’t so simple. Jim Croce was “Walkin’ Back To Georgia,” Gladys Knight took that “Midnight Train To Georgia,” and Gary Stewart was “Draggin’ Shackles” down to Georgia. Hell, even “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.”
There’s a reason “Georgia On My Mind” is an American standard. Anyone who leaves and still loves this place thinks about returning—a lot.
But I’m back, baby. Not just back in Georgia; back in the Classic City.
Athens has changed a lot since I last called it home back in 2017. There are more students, so there are more cars, so there is more traffic. But there isn’t more housing, and the streets aren’t bigger. Ike & Jane, which was served at my wedding, closed after I left. Viva! Argentine has closed since I’ve gotten back. The students seem like they’re getting younger, and I have to remind myself I’m just getting older.
I also have to remind myself that no matter how much of a townie I become, I was once a student, and Athens is and always will be a college town. College towns are transient. There were more frozen yogurt places than you could shake a stick at when I first arrived as a student more than a decade ago. Eventually, those all closed and became late-night, stoner-themed dessert spots. I don’t know what all they’ve been in the six years I was gone, but it seems they’re all bubble tea joints now. What is Chuck’s Fish to today’s students was Junkman’s Brother’s Daughter’s second location to me, and the Greyhound bus depot to the grayhairs. It’s the circle of college town life.
Georgia football has certainly changed since I left. I moved out of Athens in the summer of 2017, months before Kirby Smart’s magical second season in charge, a season that changed the perception and trajectory of the program. All they’ve done since is stay at the top of the sport and win back-to-back national championships. It isn’t lost on me that the upward swing came just as I left, so if a downward swing comes this fall, you have my permission to run my ass back out of town.
Despite my superstitions, the reason we’ve ascended to the top of the sport and are unlikely to descend is money. Smart came to Athens and followed the Nick Saban model by shoving money into every hole in the program. It is no coincidence that A) Georgia spends the most on recruiting, B) signs the best recruits and C) wins national championships. Each of those points logically follows the other.
College football is about money. And not just spending it, but making it. More and more it seems like college football’s movers and shakers—university presidents, athletic directors, conference commissioners—believe the sole purpose of the sport is to make them as much money as humanly possible. And the way to do that is to do anything the TV executives tell you.
The SEC and Big Ten are expanding in 2024, transforming the top of the sport from a Power Five to a Power Two, with the Big 12 and ACC also kicking around. The College Football Playoff is moving to a 12-team format. Beloved rivalries such as Bedlam (Oklahoma-Oklahoma State) and the Apple Cup (Washington-Washington State) are ending because TV thinks there’s more money in making college football look like the NFL. This season is the clear end of an era. Between continuing changes and evolution in NIL, the transfer portal, and the conference landscape continuing to shift in search of more and more money, college football as I’ve known it all my life will be gone, replaced by something that is strikingly similar in an uncanny way.
Suffice it to say, I am not as jazzed about the prospect of going for a threepeat as I thought I would be. Some of that discontent draws from the schedule, which is ass, to put it frankly. The Dawgs will be very good. The old five-star players have been replaced by new five-star players. Mike Bobo is back as offensive coordinator. Carson Beck is your starting quarterback. The defense will be nasty again. It would take some shocking results for Georgia to not end up playing for the SEC Championship in this final season of divisional play and going for the threepeat afterward.
A lot of discontent also stems from what happened off the field this offseason. On Jan. 15, football player Devin Willock and staffer Chandler Lecroy died in a car wreck hours after the team and fans celebrated winning the 2022 national title. Jalen Carter, now with the Philadelphia Eagles, pleaded no contest to reckless driving and racing stemming from the wreck. Multi-million dollar lawsuits have been filed by the Willock’s family and Tori Bowles, another passenger who was seriously injured. And yet, football players are still out here getting speeding tickets and reckless driving citations. It’s been enough to make me lose a lot of faith in the whole enterprise, as well as my part in it.
I’m back in Athens, though. And being back in the community reminds of the things I love about Georgia football, about college football, that have nothing to do with all the bullshit and have everything to do with the people and community it connects me to.
As much as I can enjoy cheering from afar and watching on TV, only in Athens can I walk to Sanford Stadium from my apartment. I can stand in line and ring the Chapel Bell after we win. I can yell, “Who’s that coming down the track?” and know it’ll be echoed by everyone within earshot. I can bump around tailgates all day, playing catchup with old friends I may not have seen again after college if it weren’t for those half-dozen or so Saturdays every fall.
So never mind what happens on the field. Never mind the changing landscape. Never mind wins, losses, or threepeats. I’m in Athens, GA, and pretty soon I’ll be in Sanford Stadium surrounded by you beautiful Dawg people. I’m home.
Georgia’s 2023 Schedule
Sept. 2: vs. UT-Martin (6 p.m.; SEC Network+)
The defending champs’ first matchup is so lopsided it won’t even be on TV, just the ESPN app.
Sept. 9: vs. Ball State (noon; SEC Network)
The Cardinals from Muncie, IN, are more cannon fodder for a game that should be over before halftime.
Sept. 16: vs. South Carolina (3:30 p.m.; CBS)
SEC action kicks off with a visit from the Gamecocks, who finished in the top 25 last year for the first time since 2013.
Sept. 23: vs. UAB (TBD)
New head coach Trent Dilfer will lead the Blazers for Georgia’s fourth straight home game to start the year.
Sept. 30: at Auburn (TBD)
For their first road game, the Dawgs face off with the Tigers and new head coach Hugh Freeze in an annual rivalry that may not survive expansion.
Oct. 7: vs. Kentucky (TBD)
A popular sleeper pick, the Wildcats are building on a 7-6 season that saw them ranked as high as No. 7.
Oct. 14: at Vanderbilt (TBD)
On one hand, the Commodores look to be improving. On the other, improvement meant going 5-7 last year instead of 2-10.
Oct. 28: vs. Florida in Jacksonville (3:30 p.m.; CBS)
It would be a surprise if the Gators were on Georgia’s level, but anything can happen at the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
Nov. 4: vs. Missouri (TBD)
Those other Tigers can play D, but points might be hard to come by for a Mizzou team that lacks playmakers besides wideout Luther Burden.
Nov. 11: vs. Ole Miss (TBD)
Heisman candidate Quinshon Judkins and the Rebels come to town for what could be a trap game if Georgia gets caught looking ahead.
Nov. 18: at Tennessee (TBD)
The consensus prediction for runner-up in the east, the Vols on Rocky Top might be Georgia’s stiffest challenge of the regular season—especially if it’s a night game.
Nov. 25: at Georgia Tech (TBD)
The Dawgs close out the regular season against the rebuilding Ramblin’ Wreck, which took the interim tag off midseason promotion Brent Key. [Blake Aued]
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