Still emerging from Nick Saban's shadow, Kirby Smart is SEC's most intriguing coach
Kirby Smart can coordinate some defense. He did so capably for Nick Saban and helped win four national championships along the way.
As Alabama’s defensive coordinator from 2008-15, plus an introductory season as defensive backs coach in 2007, Smart was in charge of the most dominant unit in the land. Season after season, the Crimson Tide were borderline impenetrable.
Even if the system was largely Saban’s — a case can be made that he’s the No. 1 DBs coach in the history of the game, too — it was Smart who was master of puppets from the sideline. ‘Bama was especially impervious stopping the run, never finishing lower than 10th nationally on his watch and leading the country three times.
Smart took home the Frank Broyles Award as America’s best assistant in 2009, when the Tide won their first title under Saban.
We know Smart can play sergeant, but what we don’t yet know is if he can play general. Leaving Tuscaloosa in 2016 to become the head coach at Georgia, his alma mater, Year 1 between the hedges resulted in just as many questions as answers.
Keep in mind this wasn’t a Butch Jones-like brick-by-brick rebuilding project at Tennessee, which was reeling after a disastrous stretch prior to his arrival. On the contrary, the Bulldogs were coming off consecutive 10-win seasons — four of the last five, actually — yet couldn’t quite get over the hump for former coach Mark Richt.
No, Smart was hired to take UGA to the next level and compete for more than the East. Making the College Football Playoff is the goal.
But this past year saw a step back to 8-5. There were losses to unranked Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech, both at home. There were blowouts at the hands of Ole Miss and Florida. The Dawgs even had issues putting away lowly Nicholls State.
The defense — Smart’s baby — was good but not great. Georgia finished fourth in the SEC vs. the run, second vs. the pass, fourth in total D and tied for fifth in scoring D. Alabama continued to rush the passer viciously for new coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, leading the league with 54 sacks. The Bulldogs, conversely, were only sixth with 29.
Fortunately, Smart returns 10 of 11 starters on the defensive side of the ball for 2017, including several preseason all-conference picks.
Tackle Trenton Thompson and linebacker Roquan Smith were both first-team selections. Thompson is a playmaker at what isn’t typically a playmaking position, while Smith was UGA’s premier tackler a season ago and figures to be again.
Safety Dominick Sanders was a second-team choice, despite the fact that he was more impressive as a sophomore statistically in 2015 with 6 interceptions and 5.0 tackles for loss. As a junior, those numbers dipped to 3 and 1.5, respectively.
Linebacker Lorenzo Carter (below) was a third-team honoree. Still more potential than production at this point of his career — the former five-star recruit didn’t have a single stop behind the line of scrimmage as a sophomore — he was credited with 5.0 sacks in 2016. He turned down the NFL Draft and came back to Athens.

Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
UGA’s defense should be just fine. Even Saban needed a year or so with the Crimson Tide before that group became an annual terror.
However, the Dawgs aren’t going anywhere of consequence unless the offense improves dramatically across the board. They were ninth in the SEC last season in rushing, 10th in passing and 11th in both yards and points per game.
Much is explained by the presence of then-true freshman quarterback Jacob Eason, who took over for incumbent Greyson Lambert in Week 1 and started the rest of the way. There were moments of brilliance — his game-winning touchdown pass at Missouri and almost game-winner vs. Tennessee — but they were outweighed by first-year struggles.
It’s safe to assume that Eason will be better in Year 2, although he was less than sharp on G-Day this past April.
Like the aforementioned Carter, running backs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel said no to the pros and yes to their senior seasons at Georgia. Each should be healthier, too. Chubb’s torn knee and Michel’s broken arm were troublesome in 2016.
The real sore spots offensively for the Bulldogs were in the trenches and along the perimeter. The blocking up front left much to be desired — not only was Eason constantly under pressure, but Chubb and Michel were hit in the backfield too often — plus the receiving corps was mostly all thumbs. Those segments can’t continue to lag behind.
And don’t forget about special teams. UGA was far from sound in the third phase of the game and lost a lot of hidden yardage.
One way or another, the spotlight will shine brightest on Smart. This squad simply didn’t play very well for prolonged stretches last year. Ultimately, that’s the head coach’s responsibility. He must get more comfortable at the top.
As a recruiter, Smart is already Saban Lite. According to the composite rankings at 247Sports, the Dawgs signed the No. 3 class in the nation — only ‘Bama and Ohio State outdid them — in February. In particular, 5-star safety Richard LeCounte III and 4-star receiver Jeremiah Holloman looked like immediate contributors in the spring game.
While Saban’s coaching tree has many branches, the results have been mixed once his protégés left the nest.
Jimbo Fisher went to Florida State and won a national title, resurrecting a proud program that had slipped before Bobby Bowden retired. Derek Dooley, on the other hand, failed miserably at Tennessee and will likely never get another head-coaching job.
Even if the arrow seems to be pointed in the right direction, the jury is still out on Smart. He has implemented a decidedly different style than Richt — he won’t go anywhere near a high dive, for example — to get Georgia to the finish line. The puzzle pieces are there. Smart just has to do what Richt never could: put them all together.
Is he another Fisher or another Dooley? Smart will likely fall somewhere in between. Is that an improvement over Richt? Maybe, maybe not.
I know any great coach employs a “buck stops here” mentality but I think that for Kirby Smart the issues on his team begin and end with Jim Chaney. The offense was unimaginative, running plays took too long to develop and he constantly put his freshman quarterback in difficult situations. I don’t think the offensive line play and talent last year was the problem as much as poor play calling and design (4th and 1 with the game on the line and you run a toss sweep to player who weighs 165 lbs while your star RB lines up at fb?)
Kirby is a guy who can really run a defense and inspire a team. I get Goosebumps when I watch his energy on the sideline (very different from Coach Richt). However, he won’t be calling offensive plays anytime soon and the sooner he replaces Chaney with a bright offensive mind who can really exploit this offenses strengths, the sooner this program will start to challenge college football for a spot in the playoff on a regular basis. The pieces are there, the offensive playcalling and design are not.
Arkansas fans completely agree on Cheney. We saw the same head scratching play calling and were happy Bielema asked him to leave. Bielema then brought in Enos who was Smarts first choice for OC.
Jim Chaney wouldn’t be where he is today without Drew Brees. Brees made Chaney look like a genius, but as Tennessee, Arkansas, and now Georgia fans know, things are not always as they appear.
Agree completely. Chaney spent 13 games trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Good OC’s gameplan and playcall around not only their personnel, but around what the opponent presents. Chaney seemed utterly incapable of altering any scheme or gameplan from the first game of the season, and that does not bode well for the future.
Goosebumps is cute, I also love the passion he displays while he takes a perennial 10 win team and goes 7-5.
I’d rather be UGA than Tennessee. Tennessee’s last recruiting class was a 3 star special. It looked like a typical Rutgers recruiting class. Not much to look forward to in Knoxville.
Don’t jump! Don’t do it! Your moms basement will miss you.
Ehh, pretty much all the 3 stars had offers from Bama, UGA, Fla, etc. Cam Sutton was a 3 star, as well as many others Butch coached up. 2018 is going to be a fun class ;)
“Is he another Fisher or another Dooley? Smart will likely fall somewhere in between.”
We’ll see about that. Smart has been recruiting like gangbusters, with much better classes than Fisher has had at FSU the last couple of years.
When Saban went 7-6 in his first year at Alabama, Crist probably wrote that Saban would likely fall somewhere between Gene Stallings and and Mike Shula.
Hey, you have to end the column with something, right?
Much better? Florida State was 3rd last year and 6th this year. Georgia was the opposite, 6th last year and 3rd this year. But don’t let silly things like facts get in the way of a good argument. There’s also a liiiiittle more to coaching than simply signing recruits, as evidenced by the guy the Bulldogs got rid of not too long ago, Mark Richt.
the only issue I take with “between Fisher and Dooley” is that fisher is a top 5 coach and Dooley is a bottom 5v coach. That’s like looking at Jacob Eason and saying in the NFL his career, will he be a Tom Brady or a Ryan Leaf? Probably somewhere in the middle. Is that better than other Quarterbacks? Maybe, maybe not. It’s just a lukewarm take. Take a side. Don’t take the wait and see approach. You are a good sportswriter, John, take a risk and tell me if you think Smart is closer to Fisher or Dooley. What does your gut say?
Mine says he’s a Will Muschamp 2.0 with an ability to recruit with the best of them, but his downfall will be his reluctance to admit he made a mistake in hiring Cheney and an unwillingness to adapt. If he doesn’t fix that he will be coaching South Carolina in 3 years. The Georgia fan I am hopes that he’s closer to a Fisher but my gut says he’s closer to a Dooley who inherited a great team. Hopefully he proves me wrong.
The Nick Saban comparisons are funny to me. Sure, he went 7-6 his first season, but he also didn’t take over a team that perennially won 10 games. UGA won 10 or more 4 of the 5 seasons prior to Smart taking over. Bama was also on sanctions when Saban took over. My Vols beat up on Bama perennially, and were one of the last teams I worried about year in and out. Georgia, on the other hand, had been a force under Richt, with some unfortunate injuries to their star players after the 2012 season. Keep drinking that Kool Aid, Jawja. Ya’ll messed up and will see this year LOL
I mean, 10 wins is great but when did Tennessee start settling for 10 wins? I want more than just 10 wins. Mark Richt piled up 10 win seasons but damnit hadn’t won a huge bowl game since the 2007 season.
Tennessee’s standard under Fulmer was Atlanta at least every 3 years, which is a good standard for any program considering in the past it’s always been a three team race between TN, Fla, and UGA. Back to Richt, though. His last healthy team was 12-2 and a few yards and more time on the clock away from an SEC and surefire National Title. 2013 you guys lost Aaron Murray late, Malcolm Mitchell, Gurley missed time, but also lost Keith Marshall, Justin Scott-Wesley, Michael Bennett, and Barber all against TN. That’s a lot offensively. 2014, you lost Gurley, and others I’m sure. 2015-Chubb. Just saying, you can want more but no other coach would have done much better than Richt did. I emphasize with the 2013-15 Dawgs because the Vols had a season just like it last year.
Losing STAR players, that’s just hard to overcome. He still won 10. Butch won 9 for us with the injury bug being relentless.
You make valid points but in 2013 the main loss was Malcolm Mitchell. Without Keith Marshall we still had Gurley and he had it in him to be the feature back with 20+ valuable carries/game. We started that season off with a loss to Clemson. I was there and a helluva a game. We lost a lot of players in Neyland that season but ended up losing to Missouri and Vandy the following 2 games then Auburn and Nebraska in the bowl game. We didn’t lose enough personnel early enough to lose that many games (losing Murray sucked but the SECCG had passed us by). 2014 was a solid season. However, we should beat South Carolina and Tech. Those were bad losses. I was at the South Carolina game… was it really 1 millimeter short of 1st down for the Dawgs toward the end of the game. It was a heartbreaker nonetheless. Losing Gurley was kind of ok because we had Chubb on a tear and Michel is a solid 1B option. 2015 was another solid year. Richt did a job that would normally allow him to keep his job. We got blown out by Bama… at home… again. We lost to Tennessee in Knoxville and if I remember correctly we were up 2 TDs at half and only scored 1 TD in the 2nd half. We lost to Florida… again. It was a lot like firing Fulmer. He did so much for Tennessee but let’s be honest, Fulmer won a national championship and Richt didn’t. If Richt had won that 2012 SECCG we would have killed Notre Dame and won the national championship. He could have coached at Georgia until his retirement after that. Unfortunately, he didn’t and he had admittedly lost the fire. I think he should have gotten 1 more year but with 1 more year I think he would have lowered our depth even further. Kirby has filled the depth chart with some talent. Now Kirby needs to learn to coach, mainly coach offense.
Sometimes injuries really kill a team more than we place value on it. For instance, the team that the Vols fielded last year was not the same team in Oct/November. We not only had injuries, but our fifth year senior DL was kicked off the team for drugs, and our All-SEC candidate RB quit. In UGA’s case, sometimes you lose a guy like Malcolm Mitchell, or losing Marshall to help your offense not skip a beat. There’s more value in these players than meets the eye. Especially if said player is a leader in the locker room. I put a lot more stock into injuries than most fans, because I remember playing ball and seeing it firsthand what a key player/injury can do to a team. We use examples of teams that overcome injuries as “proof” that they can b done, without acknowledging those are rare cases where the 2nd or 3rd stringer is ready to be a star.. or when depth is missing a player manages to stay healthy throughout the season. Normal teams, usually the grand majority, get hit with injuries and aren’t the same. The difference with Fulmer and Richt are as you said a National Title; however, Richt was not pumping out losing seasons like Fulmer was. Richt still recruited top players and top 15 recruiting classes. It’s interesting to see what will happen with Kirby, because while I know he’s a top defensive mind, I am unsure if he’ll be a top HC. There were similarities between last season under Kirby and many years of Richt. Example being struggling against Nicholls State; however, I think a Richt coached team would have beat TN last year, and got another win in there to get to 10 wins. He did it more than not in 15 seasons.