So I've been sitting on this one for a while, reluctant to post for obvious reasons. I know I'm gonna catch a lot of crap for this, but I think UGA's eventual rise to greatness is inevitable under Kirby Smart. When they let Richt go I was praying all along that they would go for Muschamp, Mullen, Fisher, or basically anybody else. Anybody but Kirby. I've been trying to deny it, but I think that the Dwags will finally reach the level of greatness that we have laughed at them for failing to achieve for so long. Here's why:
1) He won 4 national championships as an assistant under Saban. Four. Different players, different teams, same result: title. More importantly, his defense was the key to all of those titles, as Bama has always relied on its defense to win. Sure, everybody wants to win, but not everybody actually knows HOW to do it. Smart knows what it takes to be a winner and will set the same expectation at UGA, where his true loyalty lies. People criticized him for his firm stance on transfers, but that's what winners do. I expect that UGA will begin oversigning this year (as Richt was too "noble" to do) and it will pay off with increased recruiting rankings and better team depth. Again, winners do what it takes to win. Smart coached for 8 years under Saban and did a lot of winning.
2) He is an ace recruiter. He won assistant coach of the year awards in both 2008 (AFCA) and 2012 (Broyles), largely for his recruiting ability. He played DB at UGA and was a first team All-SEC player so he's got the background and street cred to back up what he's telling them. He's obviously recruiting his ass off already at UGA, blowing up social media, wishing recruits happy birthday, etc. Laugh if you want, but it's paying dividends already.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ts-show-kirby-smart-dominating-the-home-state
The Dwags already have seven 4* players committed for 2017 nearly a full year before signing day. That's impressive.
3) He's a defensive specialist, which has been proven to be the most effective way to win championships. Sure, you sell tickets with a high-powered offense, but you win titles with defense. Look at some of the defensive players that were coached by CKS:
- Terrence Cody (Super Bowl Champ)
- Marcell Dareus (Pro Bowler)
- Mark Barron
- Dre Kirkpatrick
- Dont'a Hightower (Super Bowl Champ)
- Courtney Upshaw (Super Bowl Champ)
- Jesse Williams (Super Bowl Champ)
- CJ Mosley (Pro Bowl)
- Reggie Ragland
That's 6 Pro/Super Bowl players plus several other stars only over a 6 year period. UGA has always had talent, but now they've got someone who can actually develop it.
4) He's not Mark Richt, whose mediocrity was holding that program down. I was dreading the day that Richt got fired because I feared that they'd hire someone better. That someone is Kirby Smart. Even though UGA has dominated us head-to-head recently, they've never really won much that matters. Hell, our last title was twice as recent as theirs was. I hate to say it, but I think that will change soon. The University of Georgia football program will win multiple national titles in the next decade, perhaps even eclipsing the success Saban has had at Alabama. It makes sense, because Smart has Saban-esque skills and Georgia is a more fertile recruiting ground than Alabama is.
Flame away, but I'm just calling it like I see it. Kirby Smart will win championships at UGA, and we as GT fans will rue the day that he was hired.
