Kirby Smart now at Steve Spurrier’s level in the Georgia-Florida rivalry

Kirby Smart has been surgical over his 11 seasons in flipping the script in the Florida rivalry. He came into last weekend’s contest with the Gators holding an 8-2 all-time record against Georgia’s most hated rival. The Bulldogs also had a five-game win streak.

The average margin of victory had been 18.9 points across those eight wins.

It was fitting to see Smart’s Bulldogs win their sixth straight against the Gators by 19 on Saturday. The venue might have changed, but the 27-8 final margin looked the same as the rivalry has gone since his first season at UGA in 2016.

Smart didn’t celebrate this time the way he’s done in the past in Jacksonville. He did his postgame on-field interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe, then found his wife Mary Beth for a kiss and then started slapping the backs of his players, most notably junior safety KJ Bolden, freshman DE Khamari Brooks and senior safety Khalil Barnes, among others.

He looked like an oral surgeon. Just finishing another yearly removal of Gator teeth in this series.

With this win, he took another step closer to Steve Spurrier territory in the rivalry’s all-time history. Smart and Spurrier have a lot in common there, besides a visor on game day.

Both are alums of their respective program. Smart is in his 11th season at Georgia. It’s hard to believe Spurrier only had 12 dominant seasons with the Gators from 1990-2001.

It depends on one’s point of view, but both can be seen as drought-breakers or drought-makers in the annual contest.

Before Spurrier took over at his alma mater, Georgia had won 13 of the last 16 meetings in the series from 1974 to 1989. That was thanks to a great run led by Hall of Fame UGA coach Vince Dooley.

Spurrier quickly reversed that trend in “Fun and Gun” fashion. His Gator teams won 11 of their 12 meetings against UGA. The average victory margin was 24 points.

Florida then continued that momentum, winning 10 of the next 15 meetings after Spurrier left. That’s with coaches like Jim McElwain, Urban Meyer, Will Muschamp and Ron Zook.

All told, Spurrier set the tone for a surge that saw Florida beat Georgia 21 times across 26 years. That includes a generation of fans who saw the Dawgs beat Florida only three times over 20 very long seasons.

No wonder Corey Smith sang these lines about the series in the song “ Every Dawg Has Its Day” about the rivalry:

A long ride back from Jacksonville

Since then, Smart’s teams have reversed the chokehold on the rivalry. The Dawgs have now won nine of the last 10 meetings by an average of 18.7 points per contest.

Does that make Smart the new Spurrier in the Georgia-Florida rivalry?

“100%,” Gators Online senior writer Zach Abolverdi said. “I bet there are some Florida fans that are like, man, I can’t stand this guy. Like he’s dominated the rivalry ever since he showed up. I mean, he’s done to Florida what Steve did to Georgia.”

This is Abolverdi’s 17th season covering the Gators. He pointed out that while Smart’s winning at the rate that Spurrier did, he’s just not enjoying it publicly as much.

“He just shows up, kicks your ass, but doesn’t say anything about it,” Abolverdi said. “At least not the way that Spurrier did. He’s not needling at Florida fans the way Steve needled at Georgia fans.”

Smart doesn’t lord over the rivalry the way that Spurrier did, he said.

“For Georgia fans, it wasn’t just that he beat them, but he beat them and then talked s--- about it,” Abolverdi said.

The Bulldogs have won two national titles during Smart’s run. Despite their dominance over Georgia, the Gators won just one national championship under Spurrier, in 1996.

That said, several historical parallels still favor Spurrier.

Check out the historical data below for each coach during their tenures at Florida and Georgia, respectively.

One other unique thread connects the two great coaches. Both also played in the annual Georgia-Florida rivalry. Both fared poorly.

Smart had seven tackles and two interceptions in that 20-point win in 1997. Florida came in as 20-point favorites, but the Dawgs won by 20.

UGA lost by 31 when Smart was a senior, but he returned to the rivalry as an assistant in 2005. The Dawgs lost both that one and his first outing as head coach in 2016.

Georgia then firmly took hold of the rivalry in 2017 after the Dawgs routed Florida 42-7. The third-ranked Dawgs led 35-0 at the end of the third quarter. Florida and coach Jim McElwain agreed to part ways in the days that followed.

McElwain would become the first of four Florida head coaches tasked with keeping pace with Smart’s Georgia teams. That includes one interim coach. None of them did.

Jon Sumrall is now the fifth Florida coach that Smart has beaten.

“Kirby has the same desire to beat Florida that Spurrier did Georgia,” Abolverdi said. “He’s probably talking a bunch in the locker room about being so glad they beat those guys, but he doesn’t get really zingy at pressers with Florida the way that Spurrier did with Georgia.”

Smart flipped the script on that, too. That was evident after a media member asked Smart in the post-game presser if he enjoys the wins as much as he used to.

“Like I used to?” Smart said on Saturday night. “When did I celebrate them and not go to the next one? I don’t know what you’re referencing. I enjoy this win just as much as I did the first one over them. Whenever that was. It’s not like it’s, ‘Oh, it is more sweet because it’s Florida.’ It is sweet because it is an SEC victory. It moves us closer to a goal. I’m happy for these kids in there. It’s not about me.”

Smart and Spurrier both show a healthy dose of respect for one another. Spurrier has recently begun advocating for Smart’s place in SEC history and his standing among the league’s all-time great coaches.

The two gentlemen had fun capturing the rivalry’s essence at the Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach Awards earlier this year.