GA News: OnlineAthens - Late roster additions that made sudden impact show UGA always searchin

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From OnlineAthens.com
September 7th, 2016 10:00 AM

Once the “Kirby Copter” was parked and Georgia had landed a top-10 recruiting class on national signing day, the wheels were still turning on the Bulldogs’ 2016 roster.
On the second weekend of February, Rhode Island graduate transfer Tyler Catalina took a visit to Athens and quickly committed to the Bulldogs. Georgia coach Kirby Smart and offensive line coach Sam Pittman flew--by plane not helicopter--to Worcester, Mass.--the day before a Georgia spring scrimmage to firm up Catalina joining the program.
Five and a half weeks later, New Manchester High running back Brian Herrien sent in financial aid papers after a final semester push in the classroom to get qualified. The next morning before teeing off in a charity golf event in Hoover, Ala., Smart said: “He’s going to improve our overall team.”
On June 16, the same day Smart was at Buford High working a satellite camp with Colorado State and Georgia Southern coaches, Georgia received permission to speak to Alabama defensive back Maurice Smith. After being initially blocked for weeks by Nick Saban from transferring as a graduate to Georgia in what became a very public fight, the SEC granted a waiver on Aug. 12.
Smith started at nickel back in Georgia’s season opening-win against North Carolina Saturday, accounting for five tackles and two pass-breakups. Catalina started at left tackle for an offense that rushed for 289 yards. Herrien ran for 59 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, prompting former Georgia running back Keith Marshall to tweet that he didn’t know who “(No.) 35 is but that kid can run.”
Georgia’s late roster additions that made a sudden impact aren’t simply the result of a first-year coach making his mark on the roster, Smart indicated.
“We’re trying to get our team better,” he said. “It’s not even about late additions, it’s not about transfer, it’s not about graduate, it’s about getting the best team we can have out there for the University of Georgia. That’s the thing that’s important. If there’s people out there interested, if there’s young men that are trying to qualify academically that are going to do the right things in the classroom then we want a chance to add them if they make our program better.”
Herrien needed to put up several A's in his final semester to get to the Georgia Dome, Smart said.
“I was like `Hang on, don’t sign, just wait, we’ll be there for you if you can make your grades,'” Smart said. “and for that kid to come as far as he did, get thrust into the limelight and go out there and do what he did, it’s really special, and he’s got a lot of improving to do.”
His protections and ball security need work, but Smart figures Nick Chubb and Sony Michel can provide good examples.
Smart this summer called Herrien “an insurance policy.” It turned out the Bulldogs needed him at a position that saw A.J. Turman transfer in the offseason, Michel break a collarbone in an ATV accident and freshman Elijah Holyfield sprain an ankle before the opener.
Georgia saw signs of Herrien being ready to help when he ran well in preseason scrimmages.
“He made his mark running the ball. I was like `Wow, this guy can play,’” fullback Christian Payne said.
Catalina and Smith already came to Georgia with plenty of experience playing college football.
Catalina was a three-year starter at Rhode Island, an FCS program. Smith had played 40 college games at Alabama.
Four SEC programs pursued Catalina and Georgia won out. He played the last two seasons at left tackle and won the job at Georgia this preseason.
“I thought Tyler held up well,” Smart said.
There were some plays he would like to have back. Catalina was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the third quarter and gave up a sack in the fourth.
“He made a dumb, bonehead decision that could be really costly on the personal foul late in the game,” Smart said. “It was his first time playing in that kind of environment. It was loud there, regardless of what side of the ball you were on. He had to play with the noise, and it was his first time really doing that.”
Catalina adjusted to the Georgia heat in the preseason and fit in quickly with his new teammates, senior tackle Greg Pyke said.
“It’s definitely hard to come in as an offensive line transfer and mingle with the guys and try to build that camaraderie with the other guys but he’s done a really good job,” said Pyke, who hosted Catalina on his recruiting visit. “We’ve brought him into the brotherhood.”
Smith was the top nickel back at Alabama after spring practice but wasn’t sold on his opportunity to play there.
“It just felt like some things were not going to be given to me and not as a handout,” he said. “It would be harder for me to earn it. I just felt like anything I did it just never amounted to anything. It was just hard to get on the field there.”
He had 15 tackles last season playing special teams and on Smart’s Alabama defense. Smith said he met with Saban four times, including once with his parents.
“Coach Smart did what he had to do to get me here,” Smith said. “It was really stressful.”
Smith started one game in 2013 and another in 2014 at Alabama before starting for Georgia in the opener.
“It was big that they gave me the opportunity to show what I can do,” Smith said. “It just made me want to play good. It felt good to be out there with the starters and to finish the game with the starters. I used to start a couple of games but I never got to stay on the field because I might have made a mistake and I had to get pulled out. The coaches let me make my mistakes, but they also let me learn from them on the sideline. When you can do that as a player, that’s just a great feeling.”
Junior cornerback Malkom Parrish said that Smith had immediate credentials with the players in the secondary because of where he arrived from.
“He came from Alabama,” Parrish said. “So of course he knew the system and all. The trust that he knew the terminology that were using for our defense, it was already there. By him performing the way he performed, it kind of put a stamp on it.”
Said outside linebacker Davin Bellamy: “He wasn’t scared of the bright lights. Like I told him before the game, `I don’t care where you came from, right now you’re our brother. We got your back.’”
Georgia didn’t win every late addition it was pursuing. It was in the running for Savannah five-star wide receiver Demetris Robertson, who went to California instead.
“You can’t recruit enough people,” Smart said. “You’ve got to recruit a ton to get a few. That goes for everything.”
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