Kirby Smart had just gone on a whole bit in the press conference room about how last year was in the past and how "change is inevitable and growth is optional."
That's his new mantra for the season.
Then upstairs, wide receiver Terry Godwin was asked if he's really over the national championship. The Bulldogs held a 13-point lead, but Alabama came back because of a freshman named Tua Tagovailoa who started the second half. The Bulldogs were "one play away" from winning it all-- as it was said several times on Tuesday-- then just like that it slipped through their fingers.
So is Godwin really over it?
"To be honest, me personally? No, I'm not still over it," Godwin said. "Because it's something I dream about every night."
So much for letting the past stay in the past.
"We worked so hard and we came up one play short. That hurt me tremendously just to see all those seniors sit there and cry. Weep."
Smart isn't a fan of the one play away talk because, while Georgia was one play away from winning its first national championship in 37 years, the Bulldogs were one play away from not being there because of how the Rose Bowl played out.
Luckily their one play in that game was Sony Michel breaking free to the outside thanks to a block by quarterback Jake Fromm and scampering into the end zone against Oklahoma.
"We're not going out there with the mantra that we were a play away, two plays away, because just as soon as you say that we're a play away from not being there as well," Smart said.
Smart's left last season in the rear view mirror. That seems to be in large part because of the vast changes on the way and a substantial number of starters gone more so then how the season actually ended.
There were some shifts made on the coaching staff. James Conley became a co-offensive coordinator along with Jim Chaney. Conley is now coaching tight ends after coaching receivers. Chaney will still call the plays. Dan Lanning is a new outside linebackers coach, and Cortez Hankton is the new wide receivers coach.
Smart has the top recruiting class in the country coming in and several position battles about to play out, especially on defense. He's got to figure out how to replace guys like inside linebacker Roquan Smith while knowing that's an impossible task.
"You can't replace a Roquan Smith. You don't replace a Sony Michel or Nick Chubb. You don't replace any of those guys," Smart said. "Because there's not going to be another Roquan Smith. There's not going to be a guy exactly like him. So each one of our players has to create an identify for themselves. This team has to create a new identity for itself."
Finding a new identity may be easier said than done for the veterans. The national championship wasn't even three months ago.
Their identity may end up revolving around the obsession of getting back. They already are talking about using that loss as motivation.
"You get a little taste of it and you want to get back," tight end Isaac Nauta said. He's anxious to see where the team is already as spring practices get underway.
Senior Jonathan Ledbetter has more of the mindset that everything happens for a reason. He learned that in high school when Tucker High School came up short of winning a title when he was on the roster.
"I came to college. I never thought I'd be in the national championship," Ledbetter said. "When you take it one game at a time, and little did we know that we were going to come all the way there and like that was going to happen. But I definitely feel there was a reason for that."
Smart may be inclined to put J.R. Reed in front of the cameras with his response about January's game:
"I'm way over it. It's on to next season, next opponent," Reed said.
As spring practices get underway, there'll likely be a regression as the position battles play out and the Bulldogs realize they can't be exactly the same team they were last season.
That's when Smart may get the team to buy into his new slogan.
