Kirby Smart had a very easy time motivating Georgia during the 2024 and 2025 seasons. The Bulldogs were not predicted to win the SEC in either of these seasons, and that ultimately was all Smart needed to keep Georgia motivated all season long.
Georgia however was just named the favorite by the media at SEC Media Days. They also just passed Texas in the eyes of Vegas oddsmakers as well. So instead of chasing down other teams who were favored over them, the 15 other SEC teams will all be chasing them down this season.
So Smart has no choice but to get creative with how he's going to motivate his team this year.
Kirby Smart will have to get creative to motivate Georgia this season
Smart won't be able to use the same motivation tactics he used the last two years since they are favored to win the SEC. That means Smart will have to dig up some unique ways each and every week to motivate his team.
Some games that will be very easy. Georgia will have an opportunity for revenge against Ole Miss this year while also having a chance for payback against former commit Jared Curtis when Vanderbilt comes to town. No one should need any help getting motivated when they play Oklahoma and Alabama or any of their rivals either.
Even a team like Arkansas recently gave Georgia some bulletin board material as well.
Smart should be able to figure out a motivation tactic for each individual opponent this year, but there are a few ways he can motivate Georgia for the season as a whole too.
3 ways Kirby Smart can motivate Georgia this season
There thankfully are three ways that Smart can motivate Georgia this season. The first is a bit silly, but ESPN's recent video game simulation was not kind to Georgia.
The Bulldogs somehow did not win a National Championship even one time during the 26 simulations. On top of that, they only made the College Football Playoff three times and didn't win the SEC once. There's no way these simulations are even close to accurate, but Smart could find some humor in using this as motivation.
Georgia might be the favorite to win the SEC, but they are not the favorite to win a national title. They currently have the fourth-best odds in the country according to FanDuel Sportsbook to win it all, with Ohio State, Notre Dame and Oregon all with better odds.
That could be used to motivate Georgia this season as could their very own fans. A large section of Georgia's fanbase dislikes Mike Bobo. He doesn't deserve the amount of hate he receives, so Georgia could play for him to try and win a title to prove some of their fans wrong.
It won't be as easy for Smart to motivate his team this season, but these are three ways that Georgia could find some motivation. At the end of the day though they shouldn't really need any help because the opportunity to win a National Championship is all that anyone should need to be extremely motivated all season long.
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