Mark Richt and Kirby Smart were each coordinators on highly-ranked teams when they were first mentioned to be the head coach at Georgia. But when Smart is expected to be named the new Georgia coach next week, those similarities may end depending on how he address five key issues in the Georgia program.

1. How public will Smart be about his moral compass? Because Mark Richt was open and public about his Christian faith — even referencing scripture in Matthew at his news conference on Monday — many fans will want to know about Smart’s faith — and how open or not he will be about it. Under Richt, it’s a main reason why a large segment of the Georgia fan base didn’t mind as much when the Bulldogs lost big games. Those fans believed that not winning the “big game” was tolerated if players graduated and went on to become productive members of society. Those personality traits were evident on the field as Richt was generally calm and rarely reacted to officials calls. Some fans wanted to see more fire from him.

2. Will the Alabama staff infusion continue? While Jeremy Pruitt is the highest-profile assistant on Georgia’s staff under Richt to have previously worked on the Alabama staff, the program had at one time four former Alabama staffers including Mark Hocke, the director of strength and conditioning. Now there are reports that Smart would bring in Scott Cochran, who would be the fourth strength and conditioning coach in Athens since 2001. Dave Van Halanger followed Richt from Florida State, but in a staff shakeup in late 2010, was replaced by Joe Tereshinski. Hocke replaced Tereshinski, who resigned after last season.

3. How will Smart address discipline issues? While player arrests have been on the decline this year at Georgia, Richt’s handling of discipline issues and kicking players off the team drew national attention. Zach Mettenberger, Nick Marshall and Isaiah Crowell are the three of the biggest names to get in trouble, transfer and play for other teams. Smart nearly coached a former Georgia defensive lineman, Jonathan Taylor, who was charged in a domestic violence case. Taylor transferred from Georgia and then was dismissed by Alabama. Georgia is believed to have the stiffest drug policy in the SEC.

“A lot of times what happens is a lot of our policies are stiffer than most people’s,” Richt told the Macon Telegraph last year. “If you’re going aggressively to go after certain things, sometimes your business becomes a little more public than you want it to. But in the meantime, you don’t want to act like it didn’t happen. We’re going to address everything head on and handle it appropriately and move on from there.”

Will Smart have any influence on changes to it?

4. Can Smart avoid ugly losses? While beating the likes of Alabama is the goal, nearly as equal in importance for some Georgia fans is avoiding ugly losses like Florida in 2014, Missouri in 2013, South Carolina in 2012, Boise State in 2011 or Tennessee in 2007. Many of those examples derailed chances to get to Atlanta and the SEC Championship game, a baseline for many fans. Even winning in overtime against Georgia Southern this season drew some angst in Sanford Stadium. Playing with a killer instinct and taking the field with a swagger in big games, is a priority for Smart.

5. Can Smart stop the run of inexplicable mistakes? The botched squib kick against Georgia Tech last year, the tipped pass in the 2012 SEC Championship game and the fake field goal-turned touchdown for Florida in 2014 are a few of the examples that led to questions about preparations and in-game adjustments. There was also the 2011 SEC title game against LSU when Georgia led 10-0 and then dropped a pair of would-be TD passes. While some of those types of plays are bound to happen, Smart would buy some early cache with the fan base if there weren’t frequent reminders of plays that bring heartburn.