Head Coach Kirby Smart

KIRBY SMART

Head Football Coach

• FIFTH SEASON AS GEORGIA COACH • 51-14 RECORD IN FIVE SEASONS • 2017 SEC CHAMPIONS • SEC EASTERN DIVISION CHAMPS 2017-19 • 2017 NATIONAL RUNNER-UP • 2017 GEORGE MUNGER AWARD (NAT’L. COACH OF THE YEAR BY MAXWELL CLUB) • ONE BUTKUS AWARD WINNER • ONE THORPE AWARD WINNER • ONE LOU GROZA AWARD WINNER • FIVE 1ST-TEAM ALL-AMERICANS • FIVE 1ST ROUND NFL DRAFT PICKS • TWENTY-ONE NFL DRAFT PICKS OVERALL

hree straight SEC Eastern Division

Tchampionships, 51 wins, one SEC title, three bowl victories, and an appearance in one national championship game are more than respectable rewards over a five-year period. That’s what Georgia got when it hired Alabama defensive coordinator and former Bulldog player and assistant coach Kirby Smart to head the program in December, 2015.

His impact, along with a stellar coaching staff, players, and a passionate fan base has put Georgia on the national stage four years running.

The 2020 Bulldogs became Smart’s fourth consecutive team to earn a New Year’s Six bowl game. With a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl victory, this year’s Bulldog senior class could tie the record for the most wins by a senior class in school history (44) set by the 2005 and 2019 teams. This is also Smart’s fourth straight team to finish the regular season ranked in the top ten of the College Football Playoff rankings.

Smart’s 2019 Bulldogs became the first team in school history to win 11 or more games for a third straight season. The senior class posted a four-year record of 44-12, matching the school record of 44 wins for a senior class. Along the 2019 schedule, Georgia defeated three Top 15 teams in the final CFP ranking — Notre Dame, Florida, and Auburn — and finished as the fourth-ranked team in the final polls. The Bulldogs capped their season with a dominant victory over Baylor in the Allstate Sugar Bowl game.

Georgia in 2018 posted an 11-1 regular season record, a second straight SEC Eastern Division title, and a ranking as high as number four in the College Football Playoff poll. Georgia landed in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2019—the program’s tenth all-time appearance in the New Orleans classic. For his efforts, Smart was named a semifinalist in the Maxwell Club George Munger National Coach of the Year balloting and a finalist in the Bobby Dodd Trophy Coach of the Year competition.

Smart’s second season in 2017 was a special one, with an 11-1 regular-season record, an SEC championship, a win over Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl Game (College Football Playoff semifinal) and advancement into the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in the program’s first appearance. In the SEC championship game, the

Smart’s Year-by-Year Coaching Record

Bulldogs avenged their only regular-season loss with a 28-7 victory over Auburn. It was the first conference title since 2005 for the Red and Black.

Both Smart and his players reaped the bounty of their banner 2017 season. He was named George Munger National Coach of the Year by the Maxwell Football Club, SEC Coach of the Year by the Associated Press and SEC Coaches, and the Regional Coach of the Year by the AFCA. Roquan Smith earned first-team All-America honors and the Dick Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker. Smith, Isaiah Wynn and Sony Michel were all taken in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft, which also claimed seniors Nick Chubb, Lorenzo Carter and Javon Wims in subsequent rounds.

In Smart’s first season leading the Bulldogs, Georgia made its 20th straight bowl appearance and posted four fourth-quarter comebacks, including wins over No. 8 Auburn and No. 22 UNC. He led the Bulldogs to an 8-5 final record, which included a victory over TCU in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

Smart has also made a profound impact in recruiting circles by posting the nation’s third-ranked class in 2017, followed by three more classes of

signees that ranked either first or second by every

Year

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

School

Valdosta State Valdosta State Florida State Florida State LSU Georgia Miami (NFL) Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Georgia Georgia Georgia Georgia Georgia

Position

Asst. Coach/DBs Def. Coordinator Grad. Assistant Grad. Assistant Asst. Coach/DBs Asst. Coach/RBs Asst. Coach/Safeties Asst. HC/DBs Def. Coord./ILBs Def. Coord./ILBs Def. Coord./ILBs Def. Coord./ILBs Def. Coord./ILBs Def. Coord./ILBs Asst. HC/Safeties Def. Coord./ILBs Head Coach Head Coach Head Coach Head Coach Head Coach

Overall Record

10-2 12-1 9-5 10-3 9-3 10-3 6-10 7-6 12-2 14-0 10-3 12-1 13-1 11-2 12-2 14-1 8-5 13-2 11-3 11-2 8-2

Conf. Record

9-0 9-0 7-1 7-1 6-2 6-2 --4-4 8-0 8-0 5-3 7-1 7-1 7-1 7-1 7-1 4-4 7-1 7-1 7-1 8-2

Final AP Rank Bowl

--- ----- ----- Sugar 11th Orange 16th Capital One 10th Sugar --- ---

NR Independence 6th Sugar 1st BCS Champ. Game 10th Capital One 1st BCS Champ. Game 1st BCS Champ. Game 7th Sugar 4th Sugar 1st Cotton, CFP Champ.

NR Liberty 2nd Rose, CFP Champ. t7th Sugar 4th Sugar ---

Season Note

Reached 1st Rnd. Division II Playoffs Reached 2nd Rnd. Division II Playoffs Lost to UGA in Sugar Bowl ACC Champions Lost to Iowa in Capital One Bowl SEC Champions 4th in AFC Eastern Division Def. Colorado in Independence Bowl SEC West Champions National Champs, SEC Champs Def. Michigan State in Capital One Bowl National Champs, Def. LSU in Champ. Game National Champs, SEC Champs Lost to Oklahoma in Allstate Sugar Bowl SEC Champions National Champs, SEC Champs Def. TCU in Autozone Liberty Bowl SEC Champs, Reached CFP Nat’l. Champ. Game SEC East Champions SEC East Champions; Def. Baylor in Sugar Bowl

Smart File

Full Name.........................Kirby Paul Smart Birthdate.......................December 23, 1975 Birthplace................Montgomery, Alabama Family................................Wife, Mary Beth .....Children, twins Weston and Julia (Feb. 8, 2008), and Andrew (May 25, 2012) High School.................Bainbridge (Ga.) ‘94 College.............BBA (Finance), Georgia ‘98 .............. M.S. (Phys. Ed.), Florida State ‘03

Coaching History

2016-Present ...................................Georgia

Head Coach 2015 ................................................Alabama

Defensive Coordinator / Inside LBs 2014 ................................................Alabama

Defensive Coordinator / Secondary 2008-13...........................................Alabama

Defensive Coordinator / Inside LBs 2007 ................................................Alabama

Assistant Head Coach / Def. Backs 2006 ....................................Miami Dolphins

Asst. Coach / Safeties 2005 .................................................Georgia

Asst. Coach / Running Backs 2004 ...................................................... LSU

Asst. Coach / Defensive Backs 2002-03.................................... Florida State

Graduate Assistant 2001 .......................................Valdosta State

Defensive Coordinator 2000 .......................................Valdosta State

Asst. Coach / Defensive Backs 1999 .................................................Georgia

Administrative Assistant

Playing Career

1995-98....................................... Georgia

Four-year letterman as a defensive back. First-team All-SEC in ‘98. Thirteen career interceptions. Four-time member of SEC Academic Honor Roll. 1991-93...................Bainbridge (Ga.) HS

Three-year letterman in football, basketball and baseball. First-team Class AAAA All-State as a senior. Sixteen career interceptions. Coached in football by his father, Sonny Smart. authority.

In addition to his coaching duties, Smart oversees the Kirby Smart Family Foundation, which is focused on being champions in the community by supporting needy children and families facing adversity.

Smart officially came home to Georgia on Dec. 6, 2015, but he had unfinished business at Alabama, which was still chasing a national title. He juggled two jobs for a month until Jan. 11, 2016, when the Crimson Tide won its fourth national championship in a 7-year span. Twelve hours later, he was at work in Athens, where he remains one of nine head coaches at schools from Power 5 conferences that are coaching at their alma mater.

Smart had served on the Alabama staff the previous nine years, the past seven as defensive coordinator. During his tenure at Alabama, the Crimson Tide won three BCS National Championships, one College Football Playoff national title, three SEC crowns, six SEC Western Division titles, and was ranked in the nation’s final top 10 the last eight years in a row.

Smart was one of the nation’s most respected defensive coordinators. During his time at Alabama, he coached players at three different positions, in Smart was a first-team All-SEC choice as a addition to his coordinating duties. He was rec- senior in 1998, when he led the league with ognized as the 2012 AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year and the 2009 Broyles Award winner as college five interceptions. Smart had six interceptions in his junior season of 1997. football’s top assistant. He also was a finalist for the 2015 Broyles Award.

Prior to joining the Alabama staff in 2007, Smart Mexico State in his freshman year of 1995.spent the 2006 season as safeties coach with the A four-time member of the SEC Academic HonNFL’s Miami Dolphins. He served six years on the or Roll, Smart received his bachelor’s degree in collegiate level as the running backs coach at GeorFinance from Georgia in 1998 and his master’s in gia (2005), defensive backs coach at LSU (2004), Physical Education from Florida State in 2003. graduate assistant at Florida State (2002-03), de The Bainbridge, Ga., native is married to the fensive coordinator/linebackers coach (2001) and former Mary Beth Lycett of McDonough, Ga., a defensive backs coach (2000) at Valdosta State, and 4-year letterwinner and 2-year starter, on the Georadministrative assistant at Georgia (1999). gia women’s basketball team from 2000-03. The

Smart was the running backs coach for Georcouple met long after their undergraduate days at gia’s 2005 SEC Championship team. His unit av- Georgia, when Lycett — then working in the UGA eraged 162.2 rushing yards per game, third in the Athletic Association Business Office — helped SEC. He coached Thomas Brown, Danny Ware arrange Smart’s trip to interview for the Bulldogs’ and Kregg Lumpkin — all future NFL players. In running backs coaching job in 2005. They are the 2004 at LSU, he tutored two NFL draft picks: Corey proud parents of twins Weston and Julia (born Feb. Webster (2nd round, New York Giants) and Travis 8, 2008) and son Andrew (born May 25, 2012).Daniels (4th round, Miami). As a player, Smart was a four-year letterman at defensive back for Georgia, where he was a First-Team All-SEC pick as a senior. He finished his career with 13 interceptions, a mark that still ranks sixth in UGA annals, and paced the Bulldogs with six interceptions in 1997 and five in 1998. He led the SEC in interceptions during his final season. Smart also scored two points as a collegian. He was the first player in UGA history — and one of just two Bulldogs since the rule was introduced in 1988 — to return a blocked PAT for two points, having brought one back 88 yards against New

The Smarts (L-R): Weston, Mary Beth, Julia, Andrew and Kirby.