Georgia Football: The Kirby Smart Effect

Georgia football has always seemed to remain a relevant program. Ever since Kirby Smart has taken over though, that relevance has been kicked up a notch.

Georgia football finally has a firey coach that knows how to win. However, let’s take a flashback to the year 2016.

The Dawgs just finished a season in which head coach Mark Richt and the program parted their ways and completed a very disappointing season.

Richt’s replacement came in the form of Georgia football alumni Kirby Smart.

Smart has the profile of what seemed the perfect hire for Georgia.

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He is passionate about the Dawgs, a remarkable football IQ, and can recruit some of the best talents in the country which he proved during his time at Alabama.

Georgia fan’s first glimpse at what Smart wanted to accomplish during his time at Georgia came during a basketball game at the Steg.

At the game, Smart announced to the fans that he wanted the spring to be sold entirely out which ignited the “93k day” campaign.

When the spring game rolled around, the Classic City was packed with Georgia fans who were anxious to see where Smart could take this program.

I was a first-hand witness to the remarkable turnout of the 2016 Georgia spring game.

There was not a single open seat in the stadium, and it got the point where people were standing on the staircases to watch the game. It was at this moment that Georgia football fans knew something special was brewing in Athens.

Not only had  Smart created a recruiting gold mine with his stellar spring game attendances, but he formed a staff that could land almost any recruit they wanted.

Smart’s first recruiting class with the Dawgs, players created the pitch to recruits that if you want to play with the savages then come play for the Dawgs.

He not only has great coaches that can recruit but players that can as well.

In the 2017 class, Jake Fromm and Richard LeCounte instilled themselves as the best advocates for why people should come to Georgia.

After the 2017 class, Smart has set the standard that the Dawgs will remain one of the best programs in regards to recruiting.

Here we are in 2019, and that standard still holds to be true. Since Smart’s first year, he has landed the 6th, 3rd, 1st, 2nd, and currently for 2020 4th best-recruiting classes in the Nation.

As Smart heads into his fourth year now with the Dawgs, he has won back-to-back Division titles, an SEC Champion, a Rose Bowl Champion, and consecutive undefeated seasons against the East.

The heartbreak that Georgia fans have had to overcome during those four years have been excruciating, but before Smart came to Georgia, it appeared that the Dawgs might never reach the Natty again.

Many have now forgotten about this, but at one point Dan Mullen appeared to be a front-runner for the job at Georgia. Perhaps that’s why Mullen is so bitter towards Georgia. Well, that or the fact that he has never beaten Kirby head to head.

Times are exciting down in Athens, but let’s not forget how far  Smart has brought this football program in such a short period.

If you don’t think that Smart will ever bring home a National Championship to the Bulldog faithful then open your eyes a little wider because Georgia’s time is coming.