Kirby Smart Coaching History & Bio

Kirby Smart is entering his 10th season as Georgia Bulldogs head football coach in 2025.

Kirby Smart Teams Coached	Years Coached	Kirby Smart Coaching Record
Georgia	2016-Present	105-19 (62-11 SEC)

Kirby Smart Record at Georgia

Kirby Smart led Georgia to back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022. He is 105-19 in 9 seasons. Here is his annual record at Georgia:

SEASON	RECORD (SEC)
2024	11-3 (6-2)
2023	13-1 (8-0)
2022	15-0 (8-0)
2021	14-1 (8-0)
2020	8-2 (7-2)
2019	12-2 (7-1)
2018	11-3 (7-1)
2017	13-2 (7-1)
2016	8-5 (4-4)

Kirby Smart Coaching History

• 1999: Georgia — Administrative assistant
• 2000: Valdosta State — Defensive backs coach
• 2001: Valdosta State — Defensive coordinator
• 2002-03: Florida State — Graduate assistant
• 2004: LSU — Defensive backs coach
• 2005: Georgia — Running backs coach
• 2006: Miami Dolphins (NFL) — Safeties coach
• 2007: Alabama — Assistant head coach/defensive backs coach
• 2008-15: Alabama — Defensive coordinator
• 2016-present: Georgia — Head coach

Kirby Smart Coaching History

Kirby Smart has taken college football by storm, having led the Georgia Bulldogs to back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022. In the 2022 season, Georgia went a perfect 15-0 en route to the College Football Playoff title.

In just his second season at Georgia in 2017, Smart led the Bulldogs to an SEC Championship win, Rose Bowl win and a national championship berth. However, he was beaten by his former boss, Nick Saban, and his former team, Alabama, in the College Football Playoff final. He was named the Georgia Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year for the 2017 season.

He has won the SEC Coach of the Year award 3 times — 2017, 2021 and 2022.

While his first season in 2016 was somewhat disappointing — finished 8-5 overall, his second season sure wasn’t.

During its historic season, Georgia’s one loss came to Auburn in Jordan-Hare Stadium, but the Dawgs got revenge on Gus Malzahn and the Tigers in the SEC Championship Game, 28-7.

In Smart’s first title-winning season in 2021, Georgia’s only loss was to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, 41-24. After blowing out Michigan in the CFP semifinals, 34-11, the Dawgs got their revenge on the Tide, winning the championship game 33-18.

In the 2022 College Football Playoff, the Bulldogs squeaked by Ohio State 42-41 in the semifinals before a historic performance against TCU in the title game. The Dawgs blew out the Horned Frogs 65-7 to claim a second-straight title. That 58-point drubbing of TCU is the biggest margin of victory ever in a bowl game.

While the Bulldogs have turned things around on the field, the recruiting has certainly followed suit. In the 2018 class alone, the Bulldogs snapped Nick Saban’s and Alabama’s No. 1 recruiting class streak, signing a whopping seven 5-star prospects, including the nation’s No. 1 dual-threat QB, No. 1 RB, No. 1 OG and No. 1 OLB. In the years since, Smart has kept Georgia among the recruiting juggernauts.

Smart came to Georgia from Alabama, where he was the Tide’s defensive coordinator. Alabama’s defense consistently ranked among the nation’s best in every major statistical category under Smart’s watch. Smart followed Saban to Alabama after coaching with him with the Miami Dolphins.

Smart began his coaching career as an administrative assistant at Georgia in 1999 and spent six years on the collegiate level — Valdosta State (2000-01), Florida State (2002-03), LSU (2004) and Georgia (2005) — before departing for the NFL.

The 2009 Broyles recipient and 2012 AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year led a suffocating Crimson Tide defense to 3 national championships during his tenure and the coveted title of the SEC’s best defense. But what he’s done at Georgia, bringing the Bulldogs their first national championship since 1980 (and then following it up a year later with another), is the stuff of legend.

Several of his players have won individual national awards and many have been picked in the early rounds of the NFL Draft.

FAQs About Kirby Smart

What is Kirby Smart's Salary?

With a salary of $13 million per year, Smart is the highest-paid public school coach in college athletics. Smart was paid $10.5 million last year, and that would have gone up to $10.75 million this year. He also stands to make as much as $1.2 million on top of that in incentives should he lead his Bulldogs to another national championship.

What is the Length of Kirby Smart's Contract?

Smart received a 2-year extension in May 2024 that will keep him under contract with Georgia through the end of the 2033 season.

What is Kirby Smart's Buyout?

Smart’s contract is fully guaranteed if he were to be fired without cause through the end of 2028. After that, he would receive 85% of his remaining salary. If Smart resigns, his buyout will be $5 million if he leaves on or before Dec. 31, 2026. The number drops to $4 million if he leaves on or before Dec. 31, 2029. The figure goes down by a million each year for the duration of the contract.

How Good of a Player was Kirby Smart?

Smart was a 4-year letterman who played defensive back for Georgia. He led the SEC with 5 interceptions as a senior in 1998, a season in which he earned first-team all-conference recognition. He finished his career with 13 interceptions, a total that still ranks sixth on the Bulldogs’ all-time list. He also earned selection to the SEC’s Academic Honor Roll in all 4 of his college seasons.

How Good of an Athlete was Kirby Smart's Wife?

Mary Beth Lycett was a 4-year letter-winner and a 2-year starter on the UGA women’s basketball team from 2000-03. A 6-foot guard/forward, she averaged 5.8 points during her career while recording 196 assists, including 94 as a senior. Lycett and Smart met while she was working in the business office of the UGA Athletic Association. She helped arrange his trip to interview for the Bulldogs’ running back coaching job in 2005.

Was Kirby Smart Distracted During Georgia's Sugar Bowl Loss to Notre Dame?

Smart coached the game under duress after his father fell and fractured his hip while walking in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve, the night before the Bulldogs’ scheduled Sugar Bowl game. Sonny Smart, a longtime high school football coach in Alabama and Georgia, was hospitalized and underwent hip surgery. He died from complications of the procedure 2 days after UGA’s 23-10 loss to the Irish.