Kirby Smart is disappointed and apparently it’s your fault

Week 6 was homecoming in Athens and Georgia hosted one of its most hated rivals for the occasion. In the 129th edition of The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, the Bulldogs rolled to a 31-13 victory on a hot day at Sanford Stadium, but head coach Kirby Smart wasn’t happy after the game. 

“To be honest, I’m a little disappointed, and I’m probably disappointed in our fans for the first time,” Smart told a reporter postgame. “I thought there was a lack of really affecting the game crowd noise-wise, passion, and energy.” 

Smart conceded that the elements on a hot October Saturday played a factor for everyone inside Sanford Stadium, but if he doesn’t give his team that excuse, he certainly isn’t going to let it slide for the fans in attendance. 

“It was hot, but our players got full pads on, helmet pads, and it’s hot out there and they’re pushing, trying to have a home-field advantage like we’ve had when we’ve played against teams, and I can’t get crowd noise.” Smart continued, “That’s frustrating for me, so I’ll just be honest about it. I think we’ve got to do a better job as fans.”

Smart also added, “I know I’ve got to do a better job as a coach, but we need these fans to support us and these players need them behind them.” 

Smart isn’t the first coach to call out his home fanbase and expect more from the home-field environment. Every college football coach wants to maximize every advantage they have and calling out the fans is one way to do that. It may not work for every coach, but if you have already delivered two national championships to that fanbase, they’ll be much more receptive to tough love. 

That’s the luxury that Smart’s success affords him, but there are drawbacks to that success. After 42 straight regular-season victories, fans expect a win every Saturday, so a ho-hum 18-point win over Auburn doesn’t get the juices flowing the same way anymore. Especially for the fans who arrived in Athens in 2021 or 2022 and only know dominance. 

This season, Indiana’s 6-0 start is one of the biggest stories in college football. During that run, first-year head coach Curt Cignetti has sent emails, which have gone viral, asking the student body for its support. When you’re rebuilding a historically unsuccessful program, positive reinforcement is the way to garner support, but when you’re Kirby Smart this might be the only way to get fans to listen. 

Still, even Kirby Smart only gets to play that card once a year at most, but maybe not even that often. That makes this honest moment of frustration so interesting because Georgia’s biggest games of the season are almost all on the road. Maybe Smart should’ve saved his hard coaching for before Georgia hosts Tennessee on November 16, not with Mississippi State heading to town next week.