In case anyone was wondering, Kirby Smart is not going anywhere.
The notion that Georgia’s seventh-year head coach might be contemplating something other than coaching his defending national-champion football team came up Tuesday when a report – erroneous it turns out – surfaced out of Texas that Smart almost quit in June of last year.
In the meantime, Smart still hasn’t signed that contract extension and new compensation package that has been promised to him by UGA’s administration since February.
Asked about both matters at SEC Media Days on Wednesday, Smart made it clear that he never contemplated resigning last summer nor is he in the least bit concerned about his contract status at Georgia.
All is well, folks.
“You guys are searching, boy,” Smart joked when asked about it Wednesday. “It’s like any material out there is good material.”
The reality is, Smart’s appearance at the SEC’s annual preseason convention was his first extensive media appearance since the Bulldogs wrapped up spring practice in April. So, there was a lot to catch up on.
Knowing that, Smart patiently fielded an array of queries from beat reporters in addition to offering his traditional preseason remarks and answering questions during his main-stage appearance at the College Football Hall of Fame.
First, the contract. Both UGA President Jere Morehead and Athletic Director Josh Brooks have confirmed that a contract extension and pay raise “commensurate with what you would expect compensation to be for a national championship coach” is in the works. It has been, actually, ever since the Bulldogs triumphantly returned from Indianapolis after defeating Alabama for the College Football Playoff championship.
“I’m not concerned at all about it,” said Smart, who is represented by Memphis-based agent Jimmy Sexton. “They’ve been tremendous with my representation, and I’m completely comfortable with where everything is. … It’s just not as easy a process as you think it is. People think it’s just a number and a year, and there’s just so much more that goes into it in the world we live in.”
It’s expected to be a big number and a lot of years. The recent head coaches’ market would suggest at least 10 years exceeding $100 million.
“It has to be spelled out correctly on both sides. We’re trying to make sure that’s done right,” Smart said.
As for the “almost resigned” rumors that went viral on social media Tuesday, Smart said people simply misunderstood what he said to the Texas High School Coaches Association as a speaker at its annual convention Tuesday in San Antonio. Smart had barely left the stage there when tweets began to circulate that he “almost resigned” in June 2021.
Smart did say that, but in a sarcastic, hyperbolic context.
“They had 16,000-something coaches, so it was a good opportunity to talk,” Smart said. “We actually did a Q&A and one of the questions was about work/life balance and lifestyle balance. I think a lot of coaches have a sentiment and feel like last June was probably the toughest time we’ve had. Not this June. That’s a common mistake that was made with that comment because it was very different then.”
The college football world had not yet returned to normal because of continuing NCAA pandemic protocols in June 2021. At the time, coaches still could not go on the road to evaluate prospects. So, to accommodate that process, the NCAA allowed unlimited on-campus evaluations, or “OCEs.”
That meant prospective recruits were dropping in every day of the week for months on end. Meanwhile, coaches had their regular duties, which included preparing for the coming season.
Smart was asked about that process specifically and quipped that he “almost resigned.”
“I said, ‘It wore us out; we were all done,’” Smart explained Wednesday. “Nothing much was meant by it, just frustrated with how it was and happy with the way it was this June.”
This summer, things truly were back to normal. Smart revealed that he and other coaches actually took Mondays off this summer.
“I don’t want to say much easier, but it was much better,” he said.
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
In the meantime, the Bulldogs have been intently focusing on getting ready for the coming season. It will start fast with a Sept. 3 opener against a top-15 Oregon team in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, about two football fields from where SEC players and coaches are gathered this week. Georgia will do that with a mostly rebuilt defense that saw five starters taken in the first round of the NFL draft.
But expectations remain high. As suspected, fighting off complacency in the wake of securing Georgia’s first football national championship in 41 years is foremost among Smart’s initiatives heading into the new season.
“I’d just say he’s focused on making sure we still understand the standard’s still the standard and that we’re representing the ‘G’ right,” sophomore center Sedrick Van Pran said. “To be honest, I don’t think it’s something we need to be reminded about. As a competitor, at the end of the day you want to win, and I think everybody on our team wants to win.”
True, but Smart said the constant back-slapping and glad-handing that comes with winning a national title – much less the first by the school in decades – can play “mind tricks” on individuals and cause unconscious complacency.
That includes the coach. Smart said he encouraged players to do what he does. That is, every time somebody congratulates him, he makes himself do three things that will make him better in some form or fashion.
“There have been a gazillion of those,” Smart said. “I tell myself each week, I’m going to call three more recruits. Next week, I’m going to think about what we can do on third down better. I tell our players when you hear that comment, you need to think about what have you done today to be better for tomorrow? It just triggers my brain to go somewhere else.”
Smart said the good news/bad news about Georgia’s situation is, after 15 players were drafted this year and twice that many exhausted their eligibility, complacency shouldn’t be a problem. There simply are too many players who will be playing significant roles for the first time.
“I’m not worried about complacency; I’m worried about experience,” he said.
Georgia fans can take solace in Smart being around to see that the newest Bulldogs get it. And despite stresses that the pandemic created, Smart himself does not plan on slowing or delegating more.
“I want all the information I can get,” he said. “Now I don’t want to know every time a guy’s late to the weight room. I don’t want every time a guy misses a class because that’s not pertinent. We have a pyramid of information, and it makes it to me when it needs to. But the information I need to gather is pretty immense because if I’m not doing that, you’re going to be saying that I’m complacent.
“I want to be on top of it, and I want to know what’s going on.”
More from SEC Media Days
- Photos: National champion Bulldogs take stage at SEC Media Days
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- Nolan Smith focused on providing leadership for Bulldogs
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