Lane Kiffin and Kirby Smart couldn't be more different. Kiffin seems to love all the attention he can get while Smart wants to put his head down and work as much as possible.
There are countless other ways that these two are different, but the latest example might be the most interesting. As everyone knows, the SEC is moving to a nine game conference schedule this season. This was met with mixed responses with Kiffin now leading the charge for those against this move.
In fact, he went as far as to see he "was not a fan" of this decision at all.
Lane Kiffin on the addition of the 9th SEC game starting this season:
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) April 7, 2026
"I don't think anybody, now that they've seen how (Playoff) selections have gone, thinks that there's value in that."
"10-2 is in, 9-3 is out."
"I was not a fan of it at all." pic.twitter.com/S5KJImdGxs
Smart was asked this week about what Georgia is doing different to prepare for a nine game SEC schedule. And instead of complaining like Kiffin, he chose to not even answer the question because he was confused why it was being asked in the first place.
"We're practicing," Smart said via 247sports.com. "I mean, I don't know what you want me to say. We're lifting, we're running, we're practicing. We're practicing ones, twos, threes. We're very, very fortunate to have the ability to practice like we do.
Lane Kiffin is making excuses while Kirby Smart just wants to get better
Kiffin is upset with the SEC for adding a ninth conference game because he thinks it will hurt their chances to make the College Football Playoff. There might be some truth to this because the CFP committee has shown they don't always reward teams who play difficult schedules, so the SEC adding a ninth conference game is giving everyone more difficult schedules for no reason.
Smart however isn't worried about any of that. He is focused on preparing his team for whoever they plays because all that matters to him is winning.
Winning takes care of everything. If Georgia or LSU win all (or nearly all) of their games then the committee will have no choice but to put them in the playoff. But if they lose too many games and just miss out on the playoff they really can only blame themselves.
Smart would certainly only blame himself if Georgia misses the playoff, but it sounds like Kiffin already has a different excuse in mind if LSU misses out. And that may be the most obvious difference between Smart and Kiffin.