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Kirby Smart knows what it takes to win in the modern college football landscape.
Smart, like any other college football coach, must balance winning games while navigating the challenges created by the transfer portal. Despite those demands, the former Nick Saban assistant has led Georgia to four Southeastern Conference titles and two College Football Playoff national championships.
This week, Smart shared his distaste for the social media buzz and general attention routinely placed on any given player’s transfer decision.
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Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart during the first half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Jan. 2, 2025. (Stephen Lew/Imagn Images)
Instead of placing the spotlight on a transfer announcement, Smart encouraged athletes to focus on development.
“Everybody advertises what they’re doing,” Smart said Monday. “‘I announce that I am entering the portal. I announce that I am re-signing.” How about announcing that you’re getting better and you’re going to practice and actually do what the 20 and 30 years of college football players did before you, which was practice in December when they’re on good teams and get better?”
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Smart and Georgia spend the week preparing for a quarterfinal matchup with Ole Miss. The Rebels soundly defeated Tulane in the first round to earn a spot in the Sugar Bowl against Georgia on New Year’s Day.
But preparing for a bowl game or playoff game doesn’t give coaches or teams a break from the ongoing competition to keep players.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart reacts on the sideline during the second half against Tennessee on Nov. 16, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
“I mean, we’re focused on this team,” Smart said. “I think it would be unforgivable to say we’re focused on shift management. We’re not focused on that.”
It is not the first time that Smart has spoken out about what he sees as the portal’s shortcomings. He has previously described it as the sport’s most pressing problem that needs to be fixed. In September, the NCAA announced it would reduce the two portal windows to a single 15-day span starting Jan. 2.
Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart on the sideline against the Tennessee Volunteers in the first quarter at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga., Nov. 16, 2024. (Brett Davis/Imagn Images)
After the Bulldogs defeated the Texas Longhorns in November, Smart talked about how process and physicality are the pillars of the program he’s helped build during his decade-long tenure at Georgia. However, he added that not all players in today’s transfer portal and name, image and likeness (NIL) era fit his programme.
“You have to recruit physical players and they have to buy into that process,” Smart said. “I don’t know — a lot of these kids today, they want a check. They don’t want physicality. When you have the check and no physicality, you end up with nothing. So you don’t just get checks with us. We beat people.”
Georgia and Ole Miss will start in the Sugar Bowl from the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on January 1, 2026 at 8 p.m. ET.
