Kirby Smart is currently pulling double duty right now as the head coach at Georgia while also being the defensive coordinator at Alabama.
Many Georgia fans aren’t OK with that.
Our staff debates if Smart still being on the Alabama sidelines is the right thing.
SHOULD KIRBY SMART BE AT ALABAMA OR GEORGIA RIGHT NOW?
Christopher Smith (@csmithSDS): Alabama
Kirby Smart does not owe Alabama anything. He’s been loyal to Nick Saban and the Tide since 2007 despite getting several head coaching offers behind the scenes. That said, Bama has a chance to win a national championship. I’m sure Smart wants to finish what he started, and Alabama certainly doesn’t want a disruption like losing the coordinator of the best defense in the country. We’re in a dead period in terms of recruiting, so there’s not a ton that Smart needs to be doing right now anyway. Georgia will be just fine lending him to Alabama for another few weeks.
Chris Wright (@filmroomeditor): Alabama
Alabama, without question. If his defense leads Alabama to another championship, that only helps his brand. It’s not like Alabama and Georgia recruit different kids. The recruits he’s chasing know him and some will follow him. Bling matters. And the only thing that matters more than bling is brand new shiny bling.
If Alabama were not part of the playoff, he’d be at Georgia. So let’s not pretend there isn’t some personal incentive for him to stay one extra month. If he left and Alabama won behind a couple of dominant defensive performances, that could call into question just how important Kirby was and how important A’Shawn Robinson and Reggie Ragland was.
He doesn’t want that.
He realizes what’s at stake and, at least on some level, what another championship would mean for his future at Georgia. Charlie Weis is still living off his time with Tom Brady … Now, staying, and losing, wouldn’t help, but it’s well worth the risk.
Tom Brew (@tombrewsports): Alabama
He belongs in Alabama because he is the defensive coordinator of the 2015 Alabama Crimson Tide and they’re in the playoffs. The season is still on and the games matter. Now if Alabama was playing in the Music City Bowl in a meaningless exhibition, that move on. But the playoffs are huge and it’s part of this year. He’s where he belongs.
John Brasier (@john_brasiersds): Alabama
He has an obligation to Alabama. Leaving a team preparing for a national championship playoff would be would be leaving before finishing the job he was paid to do. From a personal side, Smart should want to be a part of a national championship team. How can he ask players to play hard for him when he’s set an example that he’ll just quit when it benefits him? Plus, he owes Alabama. Without his position there, he wouldn’t have been in position to be head coach at Georgia. His future recruiting will be enhanced by fulfilling his commitment to his players and by serving as defensive coordinator on a national championship team.
Talal Elmasry (@TalalElmasrySDS): Alabama, but I’ll make a case for Georgia
Make no mistake about my position on this. I think Smart is right where he should be preparing the superb unit he’s coached all season long for a run at a national title. However, I can see the gripe from Bulldogs fans.
If you’re Walgreens and it hired you to paint its building, and you get hired by CVS to paint its building instead, how do you think CVS would feel if you said, “Hey, let me just finish this job up real quick because there’s a chance that I can leave it looking like the best building on the block when I’m done with it.”
Isn’t it a little bit of a conflict of interest for Smart to be allowed to put the finishing touches at the school whose success everyone else in the conference is trying to emulate?
Plus, who’s leading Georgia right now as it gets set to play in its own bowl game against Penn State? Bryan McClendon is put in a tough spot coaching a group of players that were extremely close to Mark Richt, a man that spent 15 years in Athens.
Again, Smart deserves to finish his paint job in Tuscaloosa because it can help the one he’ll work on in Athens. Just thought I’d give some food for thought since everyone agrees he should be at Alabama.
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
