At 50 years old, Kirby Smart has experienced enough success, won countless games and championships, has made enough money, and has been quoted as much as Winston Churchill — enough so that he could ride off into the sunset. That way, he’d have three decades or more to fish, hunt, play the world’s elite golf courses, and strike off every item on his bucket list if he wanted to.
But that’s not what he wants. Kirby has never addressed what he plans to do “down the road.” His life is coaching the Georgia football team and spending time with his family, which has been his modus operandi since he returned to Athens in December 2015.
The winningest coach in NCAA history for the first 10 years, Kirby seems more relaxed these days, but make no mistake about it; the fire in the belly remains supreme. He is more seasoned as he starts his 11th campaign. He is doing exactly what he wants to do, and he anticipates with deep and abiding pleasure the opportunity to take his team to the playoffs, happy to be in the hunt for another national championship.
I had never seen him more comfortable in his skin than he was as we approached kickoff of the 2026 collegiate campaign. It is the seasoning that makes him seem a little more relaxed, but when he speaks into the mic at football practice, you know, and his team knows, that he is in his element.
Kirby’s sharp tongue is as sharp as ever. His insights are as keen as ever, and his philosophy has not changed from the day he walked on the practice field as Georgia’s 26th head football coach — he has a burning ambition to win football games for his alma mater.
The first opportunity I had to sit down with him following the press conference that announced his appointment, he talked about how he wanted to bring success to the titlestarved constituency, saying he really wanted to win games because that’s what the business is all about and he wanted for doting alumni to enjoy what other schools had enjoyed.
He wanted to bring glory to old Georgia in the most emphatic way possible. Even today, he understands that one of his biggest challenges in the NIL era is complacency. I see him coaching as hard today as he did the first week of fall camp in 2016.
When Kirby speaks, people listen. He endures the most stupid of questions but gives responsive answers. He is always insightful. In speaking to the pre-season meeting of the Atlanta Touchdown Club, he explained that he and his staff try to find out as much about potential recruits as possible.
The first rule in recruiting is finding out how kids respect their mother. Disrespect means he won’t be welcome in Athens. If they disrespect their coach, they also won’t waste their time recruiting him.
Then there are nuggets such as the one about Hines Ward, former all-purpose back for the Bulldogs. “The single best football player I ever saw.”
Hines mother worked three jobs to support the family. “Today,” Kirby said, “She would be a millionaire.”
He is all about football come August each year. Those around him can’t imagine any coach being more efficient. He doesn’t sleep at the office like Dick Vermiel was famous for doing with the Eagles and Rams, but you won’t hear him castigating another coach for anything they do. If it works for them, he has no reason to second guess them.
Other Kirby insights include:
• Recalling at Alabama, the coaching staff had access to private planes when recruiting. “We didn’t know anything about Delta,” he quipped of those days. That meant coaches had more time for their families and could get more done at the office, too.
• In the off season, he will search for insights and stats that resonate from other teams — or even sports, including the professionals. He noticed a stat that stood out with the Oklahoma Thunder when they won the NBA title two years ago was they led the league in claiming loose balls.
• His staff also “studied” the most successful team of all, the New Zealand “All Blacks.” The conclusion included these takeaways: Better Never Rests. For sure, the head coach never takes a day off; Intrinsic Motivation. Learn to block out external noise, media hype, and outside narratives and focus strictly on internal accountability; and No Ego/Team First. He will forever be a proponent of “No one will ever be bigger than the team.”
The view here is that had NIL not come along, there is no telling what Kirby might have accomplished, but he still believes he can keep ringing the chapel bell, and has the fire in his belly to bring more glory to his own alma mater.