We know now that Kirby Smart won’t do at Georgia as Jim McElwain did at Florida – win the SEC East in the first season on the job. (We also know that Jimmy Mac’s men have taken the East a second time, which suggests the Gators have again found themselves a real coach, which is a major issue for Georgia but a topic for another day.) Year 1 under Smart wasn’t what many among us expected, which isn’t to say it has been a total bust.
Eleven games in, we’ve seen signs that the fresh prince of Clarke County is growing into the job. That’s not a small thing. As we know, he’d never called a timeout as head coach until Sept. 3, 2016. He’d apprenticed under the best in the business; once upon a time, so had Phil Bengtson. There are no guarantees with first-time coaches. But even worse than losing to Vanderbilt – and not much is worse than losing to Vanderbilt – is if the new man doesn’t learn as he goes.
After the Vandy/Florida double dip, it was possible to look on Georgia and wonder: “Is anybody coaching this team?” (Not the defense so much, mind you.) Victories over Kentucky and Auburn went a ways toward calming roiled waters. (This just in: Winning beats losing.) But the intriguing part was that Smart seemed more composed after losing to Vandy and the hated Gators than he had when he was 3-0.
From the moment he arrived in January, Smart appeared as tight as a tick. He was fretting about everything, which is kind of what a head coach does – except that the man in charge isn’t supposed to be so overt in his fretting. The appearance of control may be an illusion, but it’s a useful one if half of your job is inspiring confidence.
Smart’s press briefings before the opener against North Carolina and especially before Ole Miss were steeped in unearned paranoia and, to be frank, disdain for those being briefed. He came across as both antsy and arrogant, which is a deadly combo.
You can pull this off if you’re Nick Saban, winner of five national titles. You can’t if you’re nine months removed from being Saban’s assistant. The impression left by Smart wasn’t of a new coach determined to make good; it was of an entitled heir who’d finally ascended some throne. Put simply, the new man made it a point to make no friends.
Eleven games in, Smart seems humbled if not quite humble. (Losing to Vandy can have that effect.) Asked Monday what he’d learned over those 11 games, Smart gave a 65-second non-answer – “You learn about yourself; you learn about your team; you learn about your staff” – but did it in a polite way. Progress!
Georgia plays Georgia Tech on Saturday. Smart praised Tech coach Paul Johnson to the heavens – “You’re not going to go out there and outsmart the guy who’s been doing it with this offense all his life” – and this wasn’t from the Vince Dooley book of over-the-top praise. This was a rookie head coach expressing admiration for a guy who has done it his way for a long, long time. That was nice, too.
The most intriguing part of Smart’s Monday session regarded work. Said Smart: “The practice intensity, the way we go at things Monday through Fridays, that’s a big culture change I’m trying to set.You’ve got to trust that, expending this energy, you’re going to be able to recover on Thursday afternoon, Friday and Saturday before the game. As the season goes on, we try to cut back on that so that you’re fresh for the game and you don’t wear yourself out.”
Then: “I’ve said all along that we’re going to make you (meaning his players) uncomfortable. Those guys in the back of the room (Georgia’s freshmen), they don’t know any other way. So it becomes their culture and their only culture. As you get used to it and more guys get used to it, it becomes a majority deal and they buy into it. They understand why they’re doing what you do. And that’s the big part. That’s why you try to impart knowledge on them – this is the way we’re going to do it, so you accept it and buy into it.”
After Vandy/Florida, it wasn’t clear if any Bulldog was buying anything this staff was selling. Rising from 4-4 to 7-4 is an indicator – not proof, but an indicator – that a corner has been turned. Better days could/should be ahead. As Smart said: “This team is different from what next year’s team will be. This team has 11 seniors. We’re young. I’d like to think we’re eventually going to have a mature team.”
And, if early recruiting rankings mean anything, surely a more talented one. We might well look back on the palpitations of 2016 as Georgia’s year of growing pains, and not just for these players — for the head coach, too. Though he probably does need to beat Georgia Tech.
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