Kirby Smart talks Oregon matchup, his golf game and a dream golf partner
By Keith Farner
Published:
Kirby Smart played in the Peach Bowl Challenge earlier this week, and had the chance to talk about Georgia’s opening game against Oregon this season, as the Ducks are coached by former Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning, Smart said he and his assistants have already started scouting the Ducks.
But with the changes to the Oregon program, it’s difficult to develop a blueprint in preparation.
“We looked at them in the spring and studied those guys. It makes it awkward in the spring,” he said. “With the new head coach, you can take the film, but the things you’re looking for is who the players are more than anything,” Smart said. “We’re of course very familiar with Dan Lanning, but we’re also familiar with other guys on their staff. Their offensive coordinator (Kenny Dillingham) was at Auburn, and also at FSU, so we’ve looked at those guys. We’ve got a lot of respect for Dan, what he did for our program, and we know he’ll do a really good job there at Oregon.”
As for his own golf game, Smart said it’s a work in progress.
“My golf game was never very good. Covid probably helped my golf game because we had a lot more time on our hands and downtime because we couldn’t work with our student athletes, so got to play more,” he said. “Since Covid and recruiting starting up, it’s non-existent. So, it went from non-existent, to winning a national championship, to remaining non-existent.”
If there was a golfer he’d like to play with, Smart said it’d be Tiger Woods because they’re almost the exact same age, and Smart has admired Woods’ comeback. Beyond that, it’s the Georgia golfers that he knows on tour.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
