Georgia football has one of their biggest games of the season quickly approaching, at least when it comes to the emotions surrounding the game. The Bulldogs welcome Georgia Tech to Sanford Stadium Friday night, and the Bulldogs have an opportunity to extend their win streak over the Yellow Jackets to seven.
With how dominant UGA has been in recent years, it’s no surprise to learn that Georgia Tech hates the Bulldogs. That hatred is definitely mutual, but for some reason it seems to be handled differently from Georgia Tech compared to Georgia.
The Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key shared over the summer how much he dislikes Georgia, and it is quite funny to read from a Georgia fans perspective.
“There’s nothing I hate more in the world. It’s probably the only thing I hate,” Key said via dawgnation.com. “When I say hate, like, truly despise everything about it. I really do.”
Now let’s compare that to what Kirby Smart said on Monday about the upcoming rivalry game.
“I don’t think you get real emotional about things like that,” Smart shared. “I think you’re a lot better coach when you stay composed and you coach your players and you teach your players what it’s gonna take to win the game. Which it will be a emotional game, but I don’t get emotional about it.”
Two very different mindsets heading into Friday night
It is quite clear how different Key and Smart are viewing this game and their opponent. One coach is getting caught up in all the emotions and is arguably too focused on their hatred for their opponent. Meanwhile, the other coach understands how much emotion there is in this game, but isn’t letting that get in the way of the job at hand.
There’s no denying that Smart knows how important beating Georgia Tech is every season. He’s played in this rivalry and coached in it for a very long time, so he knows what beating Tech means to this program. But at the same time, it sounds like he respects the Yellow Jackets to some degree, which is an important quality to have as a head coach. That allows Smart to not get wrapped up in the emotions of this game and focus solely on putting his team in the best possible position to win.
We’ll find out which mindset works out on Friday night, but my money is on Smart and Georgia who clearly know what it takes to be successful in this rivalry.