The worst-kept secret in college football became official Sunday afternoon when the University of Georgia announced that it had hired Kirby Smart as its head coach.

Smart, who will turn 40 later this month, is a former Georgia player who has had great success as a defensive coordinator at Alabama under Nick Saban. Alabama beat Florida 29-15 Saturday night to repeat as SEC champions.

The school announced the hire on its website after the decision was approved by the executive committee of the UGA Athletic Association Board of Directors. Smart will be introduced at a press conference in Athens on Monday.

Smart grew up in Bainbridge, Ga., and played high school football for his father, Sonny Smart. Smart played defensive back at Georgia under Ray Goff and Jim Donnan  from 1995-98. He was a team captain his senior year and finished his career with 13 interceptions, which ranks fourth all-time at Georgia.

“It was critical to identify a person who would focus on a specific, defined process of developing championship football teams on and off the playing field,” Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said in the school release. “Someone who understands the true meaning of a student-athlete by actually experiencing it himself, someone who competed at the highest levels on the playing field, was mentored by some of the very best in the game, and understood the specific ingredients necessary to excel at the highest levels of college athletics. Kirby Smart fits that profile. I believe Kirby Smart is the perfect fit for the University of Georgia.”

“I interviewed Coach Smart on Sunday morning, and, following that interview, I accepted the athletic director¹s recommendation to hire Kirby,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “I am pleased to welcome Kirby, his wife, Mary Beth, and their three children back home to the University of Georgia, and I look forward to supporting him in his new role as our head football coach.”

As a coach, Smith spent a year (1999) as an administrative assistant at Georgia, then worked two years at Valdosta State (2000-01). He was a graduate assistant at Florida State in 2003 then went to work for a year for Saban at LSU. After Saban moved on to the NFL, Smart coached running backs at Georgia in 2005 before rejoining Saban in Miami with the NFL’s Dolphins.

When Saban went to Alabama, he took Smart with him and he’s been there ever since. He coached defensive backs in 2007 and has been the defensive coordinator since ’08.

He’s thrilled to be returning home to Athens.

“It’s an honor and privilege to return home to the University of Georgia and my home state,”  Smart said in the statement. “I’m deeply appreciative of the faith President Morehead, Greg McGarity, and the Athletic Board Executive Committee have demonstrated in asking me to lead one of the truly great college football programs in the country. I also want to thank Coach Saban. I have been fortunate to spend 11 seasons with him as my mentor and have learned a tremendous amount from him as a coach and teacher. I’m honored and excited for the opportunity at Georgia and promise high energy, effort every day, and hard work every minute on the part of all our coaches, staff and student-athletes.”