If you want proof of how good of a head coach Kirby Smart is, look no further than this list ESPN put together at the halfway point of the college football season. Among the 25 best players in college football, only one of them has Georgia ties. That would be Miami Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck. There is not a mention of any Georgia player anywhere in and around this top 25 players list.
Simply put, Georgia might be doing more with less than anyone in the country. Of the eight teams ranked ahead of No. 9 Georgia entering this week, the only other team ranked inside of the top 10 without a player on this list just so happens to be their next opponent in No. 5 Ole Miss. Yes, a lot can change between now and the end of the season, but this is not a Georgia team loaded with all-stars.
Among the handful of names who could be on here in due time include quarterback Gunner Stockton, wide receiver Zachariah Branch and linebacker C.J. Allen. Even center Drew Bobo is criminally underrated for what he does in the trenches. Add in that Smart has to bail out Bobo's father and the team's other coordinator of note in Glenn Schumann every week further proves this point.
If Georgia had a replacement-level head coach, how much worse would the Dawgs be than 5-1 (3-1)?
Kirby Smart is proof of what great coaching looks like in college football
No, this is not meant to take away from any of the great seasons many of these teams surrounding Georgia are having. Kalen DeBoer has had Kirby Smart's number. Ryan Day just won his first national championship last year. Curt Cignetti is a top-three head coach in the sport now. Outside of a three-point home loss to their nemesis Alabama, Georgia has more than answered the bell up to this point.
To be quite honest, it was around this time last year when Jalon Walker really made a name for himself at Georgia. It was not until the first game vs. Texas that he really asserted himself as the future Butkus winner and first-round pick by the Atlanta Falcons. This is winning time, y'all! What good teams do in conference play is far more important than what they do vs. the cupcakes the face out of league play.
Overall, Smart is far from the problem in Athens. He is oftentimes the solution, the cure-all, if you will. Not all panacea is the same. Sometimes you just need to trust the players on the field to make plays, rather than having a brilliant head coach of note bail you out all the time. The fact Georgia is not getting sufficient coaching from its two coordinators is even more proof that Smart is so in his bag.
The next time someone says coaching does not matter, take a look at what Smart is doing this year.