It’s rare that first-time head coaches find immediate success, but Kirby Smart is no ordinary first-time head coach. Prepared by Nick Saban to become an eventual high-level head coach, Smart had lofty expectations when he was hired at Georgia after the Bulldogs fired successful head man Mark Richt.
It didn’t take long for Smart to establish himself as one of the premier coaches in college football, and with Saban’s retirement, he’s one of just two active head coaches with multiple College Football Playoff National Championships. In hindsight, maybe Smart was destined for greatness, something that is easy to see in his coaching profile.
Kirby Smart Coaching History
- Georgia (head coach, 2016-present)
- Alabama (assistant head coach/defensive backs, 2007; defensive coordinator, 2008-2015)
- Miami Dolphins (safeties, 2006)
- Georgia (running backs, 2005)
- LSU (defensive backs, 2004)
- Florida State (graduate assistant, 2002-2003)
- Valdosta State (defensive backs, 2000; defensive coordinator, 2001)
- Georgia (administrative assistant, 1999)
Smart’s Early Career
This is Smart’s third coaching stint at his alma mater. After graduating in 1999, Smart got a shot in the NFL but never made it out of training camp and returned to Georgia to help off the field. He got his on-field coaching start at Valdosta State in southern Georgia, coaching his college position.
He moved into the panhandle to work as a graduate assistant under the legendary Bobby Bowden before Saban gave him his first high-level coaching job in his final year at LSU in 2004. While the two briefly parted ways when Saban went to the NFL to coach the Miami Dolphins and Smart returned to Georgia, they reunited after just a year in what was Smart’s only season in the pro ranks.
Smart Moves to Alabama
When Saban was hired by Alabama, he brought Smart, who had quickly become the former’s right-hand man. The first year, Smart was assistant head coach and defensive backs coach, but after a season, Saban took a risk by promoting Smart to his first defensive coordinator position since one year in the same position at Valdosta State in 2001, seven years beforehand.
It was a risk that would immediately pay off. The Crimson Tide went 12-2 in 2008 after Saban’s first year, which was a bit rocky. In 2009, the Crimson Tide rode the nation’s best defense to a national title, allowing just 11.7 points per game.
Smart would continue to guide some of the best defenses in recent memory as the Crimson Tide won four more national titles despite hardly ever having top-rated offenses, never allowing more than 20 points per game in a season. While many had courted Smart, he never left for a head coaching job until his alma mater came calling.
Georgia
Smart started his Georgia tenure without the support of a portion of the fan base. Many couldn’t believe the Bulldogs would fire the steady Richt only to hire a coach with no previous head coaching experience.
His first season looked a lot like some of Alabama’s. The defense was excellent against a brutal schedule, but the offense struggled to score. The nadir was a 17-16 loss to a Vanderbilt team that was 0-4 against power conference opponents entering the game.
Then Georgia lost the “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate” rivalry game to Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs finished 8-5 in what was Smart’s worst season as head coach to date. Still, they finished 8-5, around where Richt’s teams had typically ended up.
Since then, Smart’s Bulldogs are 89-11 with two SEC Championship Games and two national titles. The Bulldogs boast the country’s longest regular season winning streak and haven’t lost a conference game since the pandemic-impacted season.
It wasn’t instant success for Smart, but it was fairly close to that. He’s widely considered one of the top coaches in college football, if not the best. His Bulldogs are squarely in the hunt for another national championship in 2024, and at just 48 years old, Smart has shown no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
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