Kirby Smart is a business man, but his Georgia Bulldogs football program is a business, man. The former finance major at the University of Georgia is back at his alma mater running train on just about anyone standing in the way of his ferocious Dawgs coming down the track. He has proven to be Nick Saban's greatest disciple, one who has embodied several key concepts early on his Georgia tenure.
Mike Griffith of DawgNation did a fantastic job of explaining why Smart has had so much success over Tennessee to this point in his coaching career. To put it bluntly, it is the genius in simplicity. Rather than trying to blow the opposition away with all sorts of bell, whistles, gadgets and gizmos, he goes back to the basics of trying to win every down with the best players he could possibly imagine.
In short, his willingness to keep it simple, stupid, is why Tennessee has struggled to keep up the pace.
Kirby Smart reveals a few nuggets to why Georgia has owned Tennessee
In Monday's press conference, Smart talked about how you cannot control crowd noise, just yourself.
“It’ll be important that our players understand that the environment is something you don’t have to worry about. You got to worry about how you play, and sometimes that’s easier said than done, especially with young players.”
This next quote suggests that Gunner Stockton will not be asked to do anything flashy in this one.
“There’s certain things you can do at home that you can’t do on the road. You have to be smart as a game planner, what kind of situations you put your team in, where the field position is, that’s the down and distance."
Furthermore, at some point, he is going to throw the ball deep and Georgia might win over the top.
"It’ll be interesting to see as people creep up in our league, are we able to throw it beyond them?”
It is part of a tried and true recipe that regularly ends up with Georgia getting the best of Tennessee.
How Kirby Smart's coaching philosophy usually beats out Josh Heupel's
One of the biggest advantages to Georgia continually running a pro-style offense is that it not only prepares its players for the NFL, but to also go up against any defense it may encounter along the way in a given season. Because Josh Heupel thrived playing in Mike Leach's Air Raid attack for Bob Stoops' Oklahoma Sooners over a quarter of a century ago, he brought it with him to the sidelines.
For as explosive as this offense can be, it is rarely no match for the savvy defensive mind of Smart. In short, he trains his defensive backs to take away a stem or two off a very limited route tree that Vols receivers get to run in this system. It has been the biggest reason why Heupel's teams have struggled to score points on Georgia. They hit pay dirt occasionally, but not to the degree that Georgia does.
As far as not demanding too much out of Stockton from the jump, Smart is smart in that. He is not going to be able to do much at the line of scrimmage verbally in this one when the Dawgs are on offense. Trusting his instincts and his teammates around him to execute simple, but effective plays at an incredibly high level may be the way to go. Georgia is often at a talent advantage in this big rivalry.
And for as much as Georgia fans may want offensive coordinator Mike Bobo to empty the chamber, this may not be the game, environment or opponent to do that in. This could come back to haunt Georgia terribly, but there does seem to be method to the madness here. Keeping it simple, stupid, is why Tennessee often receives its KISS of death from Georgia long before the season is over with.
Georgia is one of the few teams that can win with simplicity, which is why the Dawgs will have to do it.