An emotional Smart was introduced Monday as the head coach at his alma mater, and there’s little doubt Georgia will look a lot more like Alabama going forward.

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Smart, a Bulldogs defensive back from 1995-98, spoke passionately but mostly in generalities about his hopes for a program that experienced great success under Mark Richt but rarely entered the national championship discussion. After helping the Tide win three national titles in six seasons, with another still possible this year, Smart sounded determined to transfer those high expectations to a school he loves.

“We’re going to push them harder than they’ve ever been pushed,” he said of his players.

Smart spoke to the team Sunday evening and told them about his experience sitting in their place when Georgia fired Ray Goff and hired Jim Donnan in the middle of his playing career.

“The uneasiness of having to prove yourself and start over, sometimes as an upperclassman, is tough,” he acknowledged. But he doesn’t sound inclined to sit around and wait for stragglers. 

Perhaps the most revealing moment of a press conference without much sizzle was his observation that the 2015 Bulldogs were “lacking somewhat” in “perimeter guys who can make explosive plays” on offense. Pair a few of them with the “big, grown men” up front who are mandatory for competing in the SEC and Georgia will be on the right track, he said.

Aside from a one-year stint as Georgia’s running backs coach under Richt 10 years ago, Smart’s career has been spent on the defensive side of the ball. But he did say he expects his offense to be multiple, neither exclusively the pro-style approach Richt had nor the spread employed by numerous schools around the country.

“I don’t think you can pigeonhole yourself into that — you’ve gotta be both,” he said. “… You need to go get good players, and get ‘em the ball, and that’s what we plan to do.”

While Smart clearly plans to run his own program, even to the point of indicating he might not retain any of the current Georgia assistants, it sounds like he will maintain the school’s philosophy of strict off-field discipline established during the Richt years.

He made that point in his opening statement, which didn’t even address football schemes or styles, by saying his players will be held to a “higher standard of behavior.”

“Our student-athletes will represent the university with class and integrity,” he said. “We will demand that.”

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Recruiting and assembling a coaching staff will be Smart’s top priorities in the coming week. He was set to head out on the road immediately after Monday’s introduction and continue nonstop until the recruiting dead period kicks in Monday. Then it’s back to Tuscaloosa to help prepare Alabama for its Cotton Bowl national semifinal against Michigan State on New Year’s Eve.

Smart said he was confident in his ability to handle pulling double duty for the next month or so, and added that first-year Falcons coach Dan Quinn had reached out to offer advice on time management after going through the same process last season while helping coach the Seahawks to the Super Bowl.

Smart thanked Georgia president Jere Morehead and athletic director Greg McGarity for allowing him to continue with Alabama through the end of its season, talking about how important it was for him to “finish things the right way” with the Tide’s players.

Whenever that run ends, Georgia will be his sole focus. Where to start?

“First and foremost,” he said, “these players at the University of Georgia have to believe in themselves.”