ATHENS — Kirby Smart has said more than once NFL coaches let him know how hard his team practices, and now a Big Ten coach has validated that Georgia goes harder than anyone.

Nebraska coach Matt Rhule, a former NFL coach who once faced the Bulldogs as Baylor’s head coach in the Sugar Bowl, shared a recent compliment his Cornhuskers received and put it into context.

“One scout game in and said, ‘Man, you guys are the second hardest-practicing team I’ve seen in college football. and I told the team that because some guys look at me like ‘why are we practicing so hard,’ " Rhule said.

“I know who the first team is, and we’ll catch them, it’s the University of Georgia,” he said. “That’ doesn’t mean Alabama’s not …. That’s gonna go viral and I’m gonna have all these fanbases yelling at me. I’m just saying what another person said of the teams he has seen.”

Rhule shared how former UGA 5-star recruit and current Nebraska linebacker MJ Sherman helps set and explain the standard in Lincoln.

“I know how Georgia practices, (and) it’s been great to have MJ here to tell our guys ‘hey, you know on Thursdays when we come out in baseball caps and we walk through?’ " Rhule said.

“They (Georgia) are in shoulder pads and helmets … "

Rhule’s message is consistent with Georgia leading the nation with 25 NFL picks the past two years and what Philadelphia GM Howie Roseman shared in an exclusive interview with DawgNation at the 2023 NFL Combine.

“We have tremendous respect for Coach Smart and the program he has developed,” Roseman said. “When we’re drafting players, just knowing how they are trained and the background, it’s no different than when you are hiring staff, you look for people who have learned the right way.”

Read more at DawgNation.com.