Hugh Freeze has not kept up with Kirby Smart’s career to the point where he’s comfortable with the Georgia coach’s national championship history. Even when a reporter fact checks him on Smart’s first national championship appearance, Freeze is not completely convinced.

Freeze initially believed it took Smart 3 or 4 years to reach a national title.

“His second? Phew. I don’t know that that is accurate,” Freeze said on Monday. “Anyway, he did it pretty fast then. That’s pretty impressive. It’s even more impressive.”

That came after Freeze’s comment about Smart’s first appearance in the national title: “I don’t know what it took him, what’d it take him, 3 years or so to get there? Or 4 years? I don’t know, some of y’all could do the research.”

Of course Freeze is very familiar with Smart and Georgia from Smart’s first season in Athens. In fact, Freeze also pointed out on Monday that his Ole Miss team beat Georgia in 2016 by a score of 45-14 in Oxford.

“I know kind of what he inherited because I coached in that game and I know what the outcome was,” Freeze said. “It’s a great testament to his vision, to his work ethic, to his staff, to his administration being patient and allowing him to go have the years he needed to, to recruit. And the dividends are paying off greatly. They are one of the gold standards in college football right now.”

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