You’re 100% right. On Saturday night, Smart called that onside kick because he didn’t think UGA would be able to stop Texas repeatedly, and he wanted to let the offense protect the defense.
Talent is a big part of it. Last year saw some really good guys graduate, and we lost several good ones in the portal, too. Damon Wilson would be a huge part of this defense, but he’s at Missouri now. There are still a lot of talented dudes on the roster, but maybe a few less and a little younger. To that, I’ll add that not everybody lives up to potential, especially not right away. Every year, UGA recruits a ton of guys, but lots leave early for the NFL and plenty transfer.
Those 21/22/23 defenses were nuts and I don’t think we’ll see the likes of them again soon. I remember reading that the whole 2-deep from the 21 defense made an NFL roster. It was a combination of stacking 5-stars in the pre NIL era and some 3-stars that really developed.
Schematically, things are pretty similar. I wish we still had Muschamp and Lanning around, but the well of defensive coaching talent is pretty deep, and the philosophical approach comes from Kirby.