By: Charlie Moon

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

I still remember the day my father saying, “Son, always tell the truth.” I was a young boy. I barely remember it, but what I do have is a vision of us riding in the car, and him saying that.

Who knows? I probably told some white lies about eating the last piece of left-over pizza, when it was earmarked for mom.

What does that have to do with the Dawgs?

Former Dawg Brock Vandagriff now quarterbacks at Kentucky. Vandagriff was out of Athens, GA’s Prince Avenue Christian in 2020 as one of the nation’s top QB recruits, he was expected to run the QB room within a couple years.

Because of some dude named “The Mailman,” and the emergence of Carson Beck, that never happened.

He’s telling a truth this season. But what truth?

It tells a hard truth of how Kirby Smart and the Dawgs take a lot of pride in its’ roster and how Kirby is simply not afraid of watching players walk out the door to the NCAA transfer portal.

Back to Vandagriff. Kirby Smart tells hard truths and he had to tell one to his former QB Vandagriff. In December of last year, Smart had his annual meetings with players to tell them where they stood for the upcoming offseason. It’s something many coaches do a version of, but often can’t tell the hard truths.

In this meeting, Kirby told Vandagriff that Carson Beck was the clear #1. In the new age of the transfer portal, this has been difficult for many coaches.

Why? Well, what do ya do? You get honest with a kid that adds depth to your team and they bolt. You lie and you become the coach with the reputation of telling players what they want to hear.

So, what did Vandagriff do? Just 5 minutes after meeting with Smart, he walked back into Smart’s office and told him he was entering the transfer portal.

This was tough for Vandagriff, and Smart as well. No one knows exactly what Smart said to Vandagriff, but judging by what Vandagriff’s dad said in a September 8 Courier Journal (Lexington, KY) column, it was a respectfully mutual conversation between Brock and Kirby.

“Kirby called me and said, ‘I don’t know if I’ve ever coached a finer kid in my life than your son.'”

Greg Vandagriff knows the deal, having been a High School Head Coach in Georgia for 28 years. He’s 97-12 at Prince Avenue with back-to-back state titles.

Let’s be real. There are many coaches that tell players what they want to hear, to keep them from the portal. Smart has never even been rumored to do that.

Even when Dylan Raiola, the 2024 #1 rated QB prospect, decided to transfer to Nebraska, Kirby did absolutely nothing to entice him to stay. He wished Raiola well.