When Kirby Smart arrived on the scene in late December 2015, the first thing incumbent staff learned about Georgia’s new head football coach was that his pace was extraordinarily intense, his energy level exceptionally high, and his work ethic unparalleled.

That it was his first year, didn’t matter—he expected to win in his rookie season. There were eight victories including a bowl victory, 31-23, over Texas Christian in the Liberty Bowl.

It was a good year, by most standards, especially for the first year of a new regime, but you could not have convinced him of that. Losses to Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech really chapped him.
A player ran on the field with his helmet off, following a late Bulldog touchdown, a violation that enabled Tennessee to complete a Hail Mary Touchdown that brought about a heartbreaking loss.

In the locker room, following the loss to the Volunteers, his demeanor was a study in unflappability. He didn’t rant and rave or verbally crucify the offending player for his bone headedness. With telling resignation, he simply said to his team. “Men you deserved to win today but a kid ran on the field without his helmet which caused a penalty that cost us the game.” The team lacked cohesion and was given to spotty performance in critical situations. Losing at home made it worse.

He didn’t make an issue of the foolish penalty publicly, but in short order the offending player disappeared from the scene.

Vandy found a way to defeat the Bulldogs 17-16 between the hedges. When I offered condolences with a “tough luck” comment, he replied tersely, “There are no excuses. You just don’t lose to Vanderbilt at home.”

He was quite disconsolate with losing to Tech 28-27, lamenting multiple mistakes in the rival game. “We’ve just got to coach better,” he said. He has never thrown any of his teams under the bus, but he will hold them accountable just as he does his coaching staff.

All the while, he was recruiting like a whirring dervish, running his program with an accent on fundamentals with a double time pace and an underscoring of positive thinking.

He has never lost a game with his mouth. He doesn’t say anything that would come back to haunt him. In the locker room when he finishes talking to his team after a victory, he will remind his players who are meeting the press to compliment the opponent, saying, “Men we gotta play these guys again next year.”
Already, Smart has Hall of Fame credentials, especially when you consider the following: It took Vince Dooley sixteen years to win his national championship. Bear Bryant needed 19 seasons for his first title; Nick Saban needed 14, Darrell Royal got his first title after 16 years as a head coach; Bobby Bowden required 28 seasons; Woody Hayes claimed his first title after nine years and so did Dabo Swinney; John Wooden coached the UCLA basketball Bruins for 16 seasons before he won the first of his 10 NCAA titles.
What about this salient fact! Likely, there has never been a sounder, more fundamental coach than Bo Schembechler of Michigan, who won 13 Big Ten Titles and 194 games but never won a national title. Kirby’s second team, remarkably, played for the national title and four years later he took possession of his sport’s grandest prize.

With an assist from Dave McMahon, who is allied with the CBS network, the accompanying charts confirm that in two years the Smart man of Georgia football will likely have the best record for the first ten years of his career of all coaches who have coached on the collegiate level in the modern era.

While it is possible, but certainly not probable, he could catch George Woodruff by winning 30 games the next two seasons, but it IS likely that he will surpass Bob Stoop’s total of 109 wins for his first ten seasons.
There are so many plusses for Georgia football in the Kirby Smart era. It is a given that the Bulldogs will always be “good” under his direction, bult he wants the program to be great.

He is the best coach in history of the state of Georgia. His record is better than the two accomplished former Bulldog coaches, Wallace Butts, and Vince Dooley; and the best at Georgia Tech, Bobby Dodd.
His surname defines him—he is a very smart man. He has an ability to manage the many facets of a head coach’s responsibility with insights and aplomb. He has exceptional communication skills, and impeccable judgment.

At his press conferences, he listens intently to all questions and offers a studied response. It doesn’t matter how probing a questioner might be, he is not going to say anything that would be offensive to a player and his family. He will never embarrass the University of Georgia. He will never be the court jester in the vein of Lou Holtz or off the wall as the late Mike Leach could be. He has a fine sense of humor, but press conferences are all business, same as coaching his team.

The media loved Tommy Lasorda when he managed the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was naturally funny and very clever with his off-the-cuff wisecracks. He was also entertaining when his fiery temper exploded. If you happened to be in his office at Dodger Stadium pre-game, there was a parade of stars passing his way: former players, baseball officials, Hollywood stars, including on occasion, Frank Sinatra, his fellow Italian.

Kirby wants none of that. He will cooperate with the media, but he doesn’t want it to be about him. He wants it to be about the team and the University of Georgia.

He is not driven by ego. It is a deep and abiding pride that stirs his competitive emotions to bring about the winning of championships for his alma mater.

Some of his friends worry about him being blindsided by burnout. Obviously, he can’t do at 65 what he was able to do at 40, but with his ability to focus, compartmentalize, manage with extraordinary efficiency, there is a lot left in his tank as he begins his 9th season in Athens.

He has prodigious balance in his life. His primary loves are his family and coaching. He doesn’t sleep at the office. He loves to quail hunt, and he enjoys golf, but seldom does much of either. He will never let anything come between him and coaching his football team.

That is why those who know him best believe that his special qualities and amazing leadership skills make him the best football coach in the country.

The following was compiled by Dave Mahon, CBS statistician