Kirby Smart is not one to focus on statistics for statistics’ sake; he wants overall to win football games. That’s the conclusion from his statements this Tuesday on an interview with 680 The Fan, a local Atlanta radio station.
During the interview, the conversation turned to the fact that last season the Bulldogs didn’t have a wide receiver with a 1000+ yard season. For Georgia’s coach, that just isn’t the goal of the program:
“I’m trying to win football games. I don’t even look at that stat sheet.”
Instead, the Athens program focused on a committee effort that saw Zachariah Branch as the leading receiver with 811 receiving yards and six touchdowns. The Bulldogs had another five players with at least 250 yards, and one with 300+ yards, in what’s a really healthy team-wide effort.
This is not a new trend for Georgia, having been similar in 2024 when Arian Smith led the school in receiving with 817 yards. That season was even more productive team-wise, with Dominic Lovett and Dillon Bell recording 607 and 466 receiving yards, respectively.
Kirby Smart’s priorities remain the same even with NIL and the Transfer Portal
During the SEC Media Days this Tuesday, Kirby Smart explained that his priorities for 2026 remain the same as always, even with the ever-changing landscape of college football.
During his media appearance, Smart explained that the danger nowadays is in getting lost in the weeds of college athletics:
“What wins football games has not changed,” Smart said. “If you get really lost and caught up in the landscape and you’re constantly arguing and fussing and complaining … you’re not worried about what matters. And we’re going to worry about what matters first at our place.”
It’s a very unique point of view in college athletics, as other programs struggle to stay competitive in the race of NIL and the fact that every offseason all players are for all intents and purposes free agents.
Kirby Smart also explained that he’s particualrly proud of the fact that he has been able to keep the Georgia Bulldogs a competitive outfit for the lenght of his tenure in charge of the program.
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