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Could Kirby Smart win National Coach of the Year award?

By Savannah Leigh

ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 03: Head coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs acknowledges fans after the 50-30 victory over the LSU Tigers in the SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 3, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 03: Head coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs acknowledges fans after the 50-30 victory over the LSU Tigers in the SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 3, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) /
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Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart was already recognized as one of the SEC Coach of the Year, but he is now a finalist for The Dodd Trophy for the national coach of the year honor. Could the Dawgs’ main man get crowned as the best college football coach this year?

Smart is one of the five finalists as he joins Utah’s Kyle Whittingham, Kansas State’s Chris Klieman, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and Tulane’s Willie Fritz.

These are five of the best coaches in 2022, and it’s an honor to see Smart’s name among them. He has gone above and beyond to help prepare his team for a second straight playoff run and an SEC Championship.

Could Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart win the Dodd Trophy?

The Dodd Trophy is given to the coach who embodies the award’s three pillars on and off the field — scholarship, leadership and integrity. All five coaches embody those three things, but there is something about Smart that should win this outright.

This Trophy is the third one for Smart, as he is also a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year and the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year awards.

Smart is on this list because his team is 13-0 after replacing 14 starters from the 2021 national championship team. To be able to do that is not something that happens, especially in this new modern college football world.

However, from the moment Georgia took the field against Oregon in Atlanta to demoralizing LSU on that same field, the Dawgs have shown they reload with a purpose. While there were a few bumps in the road, Georgia dominated its opponents, and any time a challenge got issued, the Dawgs answered it.

Georgia has one of the best teams in the country, not just on defense but on the offensive side of the ball as well. The Dawgs had a Heisman Trophy finalist in Stetson Bennett and multiple All-Americans. Smart will lead his team to its third playoff berth as Georgia looks to take down Ohio State in the Peach Bowl semifinal. 

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Smart has a team full of guys that will follow him to war, and because of that, he should win at least one of these coach of the year titles. He has earned it and continues to show Georgia isn’t going anywhere.

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