Earlier in the week Coach Kirby Smart told us that a challenge the team was going to have to face was re-teaching the players about the rivalry with Georgia Tech. 

To Smart it means something. He’s experienced almost every outcome you can have facing off against the Yellow Jackets. As a safety for the Georgia Bulldogs in the 90’s he went three and one versus Tech playing in wins and losses from the field. Now as a head coach for his alma mater he’s experienced the same thing but from the sideline. Smart has gone four and one in his six years with the team, and it’s all of that cumulative experience that feed’s senior safety Chris Smith’s why for this game.

As a fifth-year, Smith is a known vet on the team. His words carry weight. Teammate and offensive lineman Broderick Jones says Smith’s influence has an “impact” on fellow players. 

With Smith being the leader he is, I decided to ask him what this rivalry meant to him. All the previous answers about what the rivalry means wound up being directed at the coaches, so I was hoping to get something different out of him. 

“It’s important to me because it’s important to the people that back me while I’m out there on the field. I want to be able to win for myself, the seniors… the rest of my teammates and all my coaches… especially Coach Smart,” 

Smith said.

He shared that he grew up around the rivalry being brought up a Georgia boy, and that he knows people at Tech, but it’s hard for him to appreciate the back-and-forth because in his time with Georgia it’s been so lopsided. Having Smart alongside guys like Mike Bobo, Will Muschamp, and Jonas Jennings on the team help offer perspective to Smith.

Being surrounded by coaches who have literally experienced the rivalry over multiple generations inspires Chris Smith to uphold the standard and Wreck Tech once more.