UGA football: Assessing the Dawgs chances of another SEC East title

Reason Two UGA Football Repeats: Superior Coaching

A large part of Georgia’s recent domination is due to coaching. Since becoming head coach in 2015, Kirby Smart is 26-10 in SEC games, including an astounding 20-4 record against SEC East opponents. The impressive resume doesn’t stop there though, as Smart also boasts a .667 winning percentage against top 10 teams nationally, good for second-best in the conference behind only Nick Saban.

Now compare those numbers to the Dawgs’ competition in the East. Dan Mullen has a .500 record against SEC competition at 44-44 and is just 7-17 all-time against top-ten opponents. That paltry .292 winning percentage is the best mark among teams not named Georgia in the division, as Will Muschamp (South Carolina) is at .250, and Jeremy Pruitt (Tennessee), Mark Stoops (Kentucky), and Derek Mason (Vanderbilt) are all winless against top-ten teams.

This immensely clear disparity in coaching is why Georgia has managed to be successful year in and year out despite turnover on both offense and defense. While Smart has consistently produced high-quality teams that perform well against good competition, the same cannot be said for the rest of the SEC East’s head coaches.

Despite these advantages priming UGA football for another division title, there are two major reasons why they may stumble if they’re not careful.