Georgia football: Kirby Smart isn’t the inside business way
College football is a business.
But the University of Georgia's increasingly likely hiring of Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart to replace fired head coach Mark Richt highlights how businesses and teams diverge on leadership. Schools often don't have a named successor waiting inside their organization when coaches falter.
Head coaches are essentially CEOs. But in big business, grooming a clear bench of replacements is often considered one of a CEO's most crucial duties. Unplanned leadership changes tend to be extra costly, inject uncertainty (hello, UGA recruits?) and lead to weak results, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report. Of course, Smart could turn out to be different.
About the Author
Matt Kempner is an award-winning journalist who seeks out intriguing twists about people and subjects beyond what the AJC might typically cover. A former columnist and editor, his past assignments have included business investigations, energy, the economy, entrepreneurs, big business, consumer spending, politics, government and the environment.
