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Friday, March 29, 2024

Entitlement at Georgia? Kirby Smart keeps his Bulldogs hungry and focused on winning titles

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INGLEWOOD, Calif. – SEC commissioner Greg Sankey remembers what he said to Georgia coach Kirby Smart on the podium after the Bulldogs won the SEC championship game in 2017. 

“As we were walking up the stage I said, ‘That’s why you wait to take the right job,'” Sankey told Sporting News. “He had been identified as a candidate for a number of opportunities, but he was patient. It went back to a place where he knew and understood the culture and built the foundation for what is present at Georgia.” 

Smart was patient, even after Georgia lost 26-23 to Alabama and mentor Nick Saban in the CFP championship game a month later. Smart stayed patient through SEC championship losses in 2018, 2019 and 2021. The Bulldogs caught up to the Crimson Tide one elite recruiting class at a time, and that paid off in last year’s 33-18 victory against Alabama – which broke a national championship drought for a chronically-impatient fan-base that had endured since 1980.

MORE: Georgia leaves no doubt in domination of TCU

What is present at Georgia? Smart has created a dynasty with a twisted psychological force behind it. No. 1 Georgia beat No. 3 TCU 65-7 in the College Football Playoff championship at SoFi Stadium on Monday behind a record-setting performance by quarterback Stetson Bennett. 

Consider this: The Bulldogs lost 15 players to the NFL Draft and responded with the school’s first 15-0 season. That is the twisted part. A sampling from the Georgia players and you would not have known they were a 12.5-point favorite against the Horned Frogs. 

“There were a lot of people who doubted us and I know people are gonna be like, ‘No we didn’t,'” Bennett said before finishing the conversation with himself. “Well, yeah you did.” 

“Coach Smart didn’t really have to tell anybody,” Adonai Mitchell added. “I opened up social media, and I just saw it on the timeline. We feel like every game we’ve had doubters and people believing we’re not able to do it no matter what game it was.” 

Smart said the most-important conversation came three days after last year’s CFP championship victory against the Crimson Tide. Bennett did not want to enter the NFL Draft. He was patient, too.

“Why should I do that when I have an opportunity to play again?” Bennett asked. “Why don’t we go win it again?”

“I’m kind of thinking, well, that would be nice but we lost 15 draft picks,” Smart said. “Might not be that easy this time.”

Bennett then proceeded to deliver a near-flawless performance with 304 passing yards and six TDs (2 rushing) against the Horned Frogs. That came after he led two fourth-quarter scoring drives against No. 4 Ohio State in the 42-41 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl thriller on Dec. 31. Bennett always answered the big-game challenge. That will never be lost on Smart, who walked into the coach’s office Monday night, only to see his 10-year-old son Andrew crying.

“I said, why are you crying?” Smart said. “You’re going to ruin my moment. He said ‘Stetson is leaving. He’s going to go.’ I said, ‘He’s 25 years old. He’s got to go. He’s got to leave.'”

MORE: Too-early Top 25 starts with Georgia at No. 1

Quarterback is the only question mark for another loaded two-deep roster heading into 2022. All-American tight end Brock Bowers – who had seven catches for 152 yards and a TD – will be the main attraction of the offense. The defense features another cast of All-Americans led by Javon Bullard, who had two interceptions against TCU. 

“I feel like everyone has a drive to prove something here and kind of wants to prove their worth,” Bowers said. “That helps with individual goals and team goals. It’s just about winning every game on our schedule.” 

Georgia certainly does that. The Bulldogs have not lost a regular-season game since a 44-28 loss to Florida on Nov. 7, 2020. Georgia is 33-1 since, and the schedule is set up where they could be 10-0 when they visit Tennessee on Nov. 19, 2022. Just do not tell anybody in the program that. 

This is the new challenge for Georgia. Nobody has ever pulled off a three-peat. Nebraska (1994-95), USC (2003-04) and Alabama (2011-12) were the last three teams to come close. So Smart is right when he says the 2023 season will be even more difficult than this season – despite the 15 draft picks this year’s championship team replaced.

“The disease that creeps into your program is called entitlement. I’ve seen it firsthand,” Smart said. “If you can stomp it out with leadership, then you can stay hungry. And we have a saying around our place: We eat off the floor. And if you’re willing to eat off the floor, you can be special.”

Not that Smart does not enjoy these national championship moments. Sankey recalled the celebration after last year’s win against Alabama.

“I will say last year when Georgia won, it was the most-enthusiastic post-game celebration I’ve been a part of to the extent when Kirby was going around chest-bumping everyone,” Smith said. “I was like, ‘Hey, I had two teams here so I can’t just go chest-bumping everyone because we went .500 on it and No. 2 if you chest-bump me as hard as you’ve been chest bumping everyone else, I’m going to to get hurt or you’re going to get hurt.”

This year, Smart led the SEC to yet another CFP championship – the sixth in nine years. It is the continued dominance of the nation’s best conference, and Smart just happens to be doing it at his alma mater. 

“I was lucky to get a chance to go to the University of Georgia,” Smart said. “I want to give back to a place that has meant so much to my life and to my family’s life and has given so much to us. I don’t think you can do that without honoring them with how you work and the standard you try to set. That’s my selling point.”

Smart has been waiting for this his whole life, and that is why the future for this program seems just as bright as the present. In that sense, Sankey was right.

That is why you wait to take the right job. 

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