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Kirby Smart offers candid comments about his parents missing the national championship
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Kirby Smart is a college football coach for a powerhouse SEC program that is 1 win from winning 2 national titles in a row.
But he’s also a proud and loving son.
So, it will be painful for the Georgia head coach to not have his parents, Sonny and Sharon, at Monday night’s College Football Playoff national championship game in Los Angeles. Sonny is still dealing with the same health issues that also prevented him from attending the Bulldogs’ dramatic semifinal victory over Ohio State in Atlanta on New Year’s Eve.
For that reason, Smart will be coaching with a heavy heart against TCU as he attempts to lead Georgia to a repeat national title, something that hasn’t been done since his mentor, Nick Saban, coached Alabama to back-to-back crowns in 2011 and 2012.
“It hurts me that he and my mom [Sharon] won’t be here,” Smart said Saturday. “But I know it’s the right decision for him. Nothing worse than watching your parents grow old. It’s like taxes; it’s inevitable. They’re going to get old. And that’s been tough.”
Sonny’s health started worsening between the SEC Championship Game victory against LSU and the Peach Bowl, according to Smart. Sonny has been a regular at his son’s home games and big games since Smart became Georgia’s head coach in 2016.
Smart and his dad have a unique football relationship since Sonny was Smart’s first coach. Sonny was a high school coach in South Georgia and was inducted into the Decatur County Athletic Hall of Fame 3 years ago.
Now his son and pupil is at the doorstep of college football history on Monday night in Los Angeles.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
