Kirby Smart may not be everyone's favorite head coach, but there is a reason he is the best at what he does. For as much vitriol and utter disdain he has received from other fan bases, namely from Tennessee, Auburn and Florida in their close losses to the Georgia Bulldogs, he is at his best, one of the game's greatest head coaches of all time. He does things better than pretty much everyone else.
Yes, there are troubled Volunteers, Tigers and Gators fans still blaming the referees for their untimely losses to Georgia, but the fact remains that Smart is better at situational football than all of those head coaches. Auburn and Florida have already fired Hugh Freeze and Billy Napier this season. Josh Heupel is obviously safe at Tennessee, but he has to deal with the consequences of the old Air Raid.
In the end, Georgia practices playing great situational football in winning time. No, you are not going to win on every key down in those spots, but setting yourself up for success in those instances are why Georgia is Georgia and the rest of the SEC is ... the rest of the SEC... From alleged fumbles, clapping, holding penalties and dropped passes, Georgia has been more locked in their rival teams.
Smart breeds confidence into his football program, while other SEC head coaches take away from it.
College football fans hate to admit Kirby Smart is the best in the business
If we were to conduct a straw poll of who the top 10 head coaches in college football are right now, Smart would either be first or second on most everyone's ballot, probably no lower than third on the biggest haters of mankind. With Dabo Swinney having lost the plot at Clemson, Smart and Ryan Day at Ohio State are in a class among themselves. Those are the only three who have won the playoff...
After that, we would have coaches like Curt Cignetti at Indiana, Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss, and Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame comfortably in the top 10. The same would likely apply to Kalen DeBoer at Alabama and Dan Lanning at Oregon as well. From there, you can make compelling arguments for whoever else rounds out the top 10. Smart is not without his faults, but he is the best in the business.
So why is Georgia able to win games in crunch time when others cannot? It has everything to do with how Georgia is built and how the coaching staff is constructed. Georgia has enough depth to let the game unfold in the first half before making the necessary adjustments in the second half. Smart knows defense, how to motivate and how to manipulate, as well as not letting the clock frighten him.
Smart learned from the best in Nick Saban, which has played a part into why he is the very best today.