Breaking News: Georgia’s specialist announces transfer plans
The Georgia special-teamer is the latest Bulldog to hit the portal.
With the successful freshman season of Peyton Woodring, it’s no surprise to see some transfer movement in that room.
Jared Zirkel officially entered the portal on Tuesday evening, 247Sports confirmed.
Zirkel handled kickoff duties in all 13 games for the 2023 season. He recorded touchbacks on 62 of his 95 kicks.
The junior kicker battled with Woodring for the starting spot leading up to the season. The freshman won out. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart cited a narrow margin between the two kickers.
“I hated it because Zirkel had a great spring, and he had a really good fall camp, but ultimately the height on the kicks was the biggest difference because their percentages were almost the same,” Kirby Smart said after the opener when Woodring took over kicks. “I told them I want to do drills to see who can kick the ball higher, faster. That’s where kicks get blocked. Peyton did a better job of that. To be honest with you, I’ve got a ton of confidence in both of those guys.”
During his Georgia career, Zirkel only attempted on field goal in a game, and he made it. Zirkel drilled his 21-yard field goal attempt against South Carolina in 2022.
As a recruit, Zirkel was the No. 7-ranked kicker in the 2020 class out of Kerrville, Texas.
Pat McAfee says he trolled Georgia fans because they were mad he replaced David Pollack
“It was a nice little reminder that, ‘Yeah, you can go to hell too because of what you said to me all year.”
ver the babyface — wrestling lingo for “good guy” — Pat McAfee has made a habit of picking the home team throughout his two seasons on ESPN’s College GameDay.
But when it came to the SEC Championship Game this past weekend, the former All-Pro punter turned heel — wrestling lingo for “bad guy” — trolling Georgia fans in Atlanta by making them think he was about to pick the Bulldogs before reversing course and taking Alabama.
It’s one thing to make an unpopular pick, but another to rub the home team’s nose in it while doing so. Appearing on ESPN’s First Take on Tuesday, McAfee confirmed that the pick was, in fact, personal and came as the result of… the reaction to ESPN layoffs?
“They did not love me,” McAfee said of Georgia fans. “You’ve gotta remember that the who narrative all year was that because my show came to ESPN, obviously we fired Steve Young, we fired all the people that were here and were great people at ESPN. It was my show’s fault. And then on GameDay, David Pollack got let go. David Pollack — who I am a massive fan of. One of the greatest Bulldogs of all-time. A dude who was very good to me — obviously, I took his spot. So Georgia fans all year, not necessarily the biggest McAfee fans.
“With that being said, I was very nice to them, I was very cordial to them. But in the biggest moment, in front of ’em all, it was a nice little reminder that, ‘Yeah, you can go to hell too because of what you said to me all year.’”
It was curious to hear McAfee reference ESPN layoffs on ESPN airwaves — especially his reference to Young, who doesn’t have anything to do with this specific situation. And while McAfee’s high profile deal at ESPN has certainly been the source of criticism when contrasted with the company cutting costs elsewhere, most of that ire has been directed at “The Worldwide Wide Leader,” as opposed to McAfee, himself.
That’s not to say that McAfee hasn’t been a polarizing presence on ESPN, especially on GameDay, where some have argued that his antagonistic approach doesn’t mesh with the spirit of the show. But even before this past season, the part-time pro wrestler was making references to fans — not just in Georgia — being upset about the perception that he was replacing Pollack.
“I can’t wait to get baptized yet again, in the college football atmosphere in the universe,” McAfee said on his show in August. “I think a lot of them hate me because they think I’m replacing David Pollack or I had some say in the fact that he’s not on TV anymore.”
At this point, it’s tough to tell whether there’s something to that or if it’s now just a self-fulfilling prophecy. Either way, as McAfee noted, he was fortunate that Alabama backed him up with a win on Saturday, eliminating Georgia from the College Football Playoff in the process.
“It’s always better that way,” McAfee said. “[If] Georgia wins that, I have to live with that forever.”
