Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs came so very close to having an opportunity to three-peat as national champions last season.
Their loss in the SEC title game cost them everything. What made that heartbreaking defeat extra painful was that it came to Nick Saban and the hated Alabama Crimson Tide.
Georgia would have had as good of a shot as anyone to beat the eventual national champions, the Michigan Wolverines.
There’s no denying that the Dawgs were one of the four best teams in the country last season. But they picked the wrong year to slip up when it mattered most.
Regardless, the pain of the blown opportunity will serve as extra motivation as Smart and company enter the new season.
This week’s Media Days has added plenty of excitement and anticipation for what promises to be one of the best and most competitive SEC seasons in recent memory.
While he’s not the most talkative coach in the country, Smart managed to get off a couple sharp lines when he took the podium in Dallas.
At one point, he took a shot at Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks for the infamous Phil Knight backing they have in Eugene.
“I wish I could get some of that NIL money he’s giving Dan Lanning,” referring to the financial support Knight has provided the program.
Of course, it was a playful jab with no malicious intent behind it whatsoever. Although that doesn’t mean there isn’t any truth behind it.
Oregon was one of the pioneers in the NIL landscape, launching its Division Street collective in September 2021.
The initiative boasts significant backing from Nike, with former executive Rosemary St. Clair serving as CEO. While exact figures on the collective’s funds remain undisclosed, the impact of Knight and Nike’s involvement is widely recognized.
Having said that, Smart’s program is in no position to cry about money.
Georgia has a robust NIL collective known as Classic City, supported by a solid base of boosters. Although it may not be the wealthiest in the nation, Georgia’s NIL resources are more than substantial enough to attract top-tier recruits.
Unlike some programs, Smart believes in his players “earning” their money. Much like LSU’s Brian Kelly and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Smart doesn’t prefer to use NIL funds to “buy” players, but rather reward players who have earned it.
“We believe you come in and you work your way up. You don’t come in and make more money than starters. If that costs us a player, we feel we win in culture because we don’t want players that feel like an entitlement freshman is coming in,” Smart said of their NIL approach.
Although Smart’s comments on Lanning and the Ducks were in jest, they underscore the competitive nature of college football recruiting in the NIL era.
The playful banter between Smart and Lanning, who served as Smart’s defensive coordinator at Georgia from 2018 to 2021 before moving to Oregon, adds a personal touch to the “rivalry.”
Despite his humorous tone, there is an underlying truth to Smart’s words.
The allure of having a billionaire like Phil Knight supporting his program is undoubtedly appealing. Nonetheless, with Georgia’s own strong NIL support, Smart is far from struggling in the race to secure elite talent.
It also helps that the Bulldogs have been the most successful program in the country over the past few years and routinely send players to the NFL.
Smart’s old nemesis, Nick Saban, is now retired from coaching.
Although many months have passed since Saban’s shocking decision to step down, it’s still going to take a whole lot of getting used to not seeing him roam the sidelines on Saturdays.
“It’s weird,” Smart said of Saban’s transition from coaching to broadcasting.
“The call I did to set up for [SEC] Media Days, I was nervous … For 15 minutes I’m going to share with him about my team? I feel like I’m giving answers to Darth Vader or something.”
Of course, Smart’s program continues to make headlines for repeated off-field troubles. Just recently, they had two more players busted for reckless driving incidents.
Although Georgia is far from the only program who has had to deal with such headaches, the fact of the matter is they are one of the nation’s leaders when it comes to vehicular troubles.
“You want your kids, your players to make better decisions,” Smart said. “I always talk about processing outcomes in wins and losses. We try not to base things on outcomes. In this case, the outcomes are very disappointing.
“But I am very pleased with the process we’ve put in in terms of education, driver safety, requiring defensive driving, education, talking about it, having leaders stand up and talk about it, bringing speakers in, suspending or dismissing players,” he added.
That’s all fine and good – but the fact is the incidents just keep on happening.
“I don’t know, to this point, anyone coaching college football that has suspended a player for a driving citation. We have and we’ve also dismissed players based on driving citations. Nobody’s done that,” Smart said.
We’ll see if they’re able to clean things up on the road going forward.
As far as actual football is concerned, what are your thoughts on Georgia this season?
Is Carson Beck the favorite to win the Heisman?
More importantly, will Smart and the Dawgs “get back on track” and win the national title? … Or will a team like Texas or Ohio State prove to be too much to overcome come playoff time???