Kirby Coach of Year

ATHENS — Kirby Smart has done the best coaching job of his career, collectively, through the SEC portion of the schedule and should be the leading candidate to win many of the national coach of the year honors.

“Coaching” covers a lot of ground from an organizational, leadership, developmental and tactical standpoint, and Georgia’s eighth-year head coach has covered all the bases in what initially appeared to be a reloading season.

Yes, the Bulldogs (11-0, 8-0 SEC) were number one in the polls from the onset, but they did not truly “look” like the best team in the nation on any Saturday until manhandling a Top 10 Ole Miss team 52-17, in their 10th game of the season. The 13-member CFP committee concurred, ranking UGA behind Ohio State until its third set of rankings was released on Nov. 14.

Suddenly, it seemed to come together for the Bulldogs, just as Smart said it would have to for this team — the 2023 version of Georgia — to meet lofty standards and reach elite goals.

The Bulldogs have truly gotten better most every week of the season — the 37-20 win at Vanderbilt on Oct. 14 excluded — en route to extending the historical streaks launched and maintained by the 2021 and 2022 teams.

Mike Griffith and Peter Burns discuss Kirby Smart success, SEC race (below)

Georgia most recently checked this season’s box for “dominant road win,” taking down a Top 25 Tennessee team that had won 14-straight at home by a 38-10 count.

It was the Bulldogs’ SEC-record tying 28th-straight win, along with its 14 consecutive true road victory.

Smart, amazingly, did not win any of the national coach of the year honors either of the past two seasons despite Georgia capturing unprecedented back-to-back CFP Championship seasons. Smart’s only national coach of the year award came in 2017, when he was named the “George Munger” winner, a less-heralded COY trophy once named after Joe Paterno.

Kirby Smart gives insight into Bulldogs run, pursuit of three-peat

To be clear, the 2023 squad is not a finished version, and for all its success to date there is unfinished business ahead to establish this season as a success.

It’s worth a quick look back at what Smart has already overcome for UGA football fans to give thanks on this holiday version of the SEC power rankings.

Georgia has …

• entering season replaced offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Heisman Trophy-finalist QB Stetson Bennett, 1,000-yard multipurpose back Kenny McIntosh, monstrous TE mismatch Darnell Washington, first-round left tackle Broderick Jones, elite WR Adonai Mitchell and first-team All-SEC kicker Jack Podlesny.

• entering season on defense, replaced two-first round defensive linemen — team leader Nolan Smith and generational talent Jalen Carter — along with iconic playmakers and three-year secondary starters Kelee Ringo and Chris Smith.

• dealt with more injuries than at any point in Smart’s career, with receiving leaders Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey missing multiple games, and rushing leaders Daijun Edwards and Kendall Milton missing starts. UGA has also started three different offensive line combinations.

• grown closer after a well-documented and tumultuous offseason, most notably the tragic deaths of recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy and offensive lineman Devin Willock. Willock is tastefully commemorated each game as UGA lineman take turns wearing his No. 77.

All this, and Smart and his 2023 team managed a third-straight 8-0 SEC season —a first in the 32-year era of divisional play — despite a transfer portal era that has led to former UGA players starting for no less than four SEC schools this season, including Alabama.

Other SEC programs have overcome hurdles and enjoyed strong seasons, but none match the historic stature of unanimous No. 1 and two-time defending champion Georgia.

Here’s this week’s SEC rankings, with preseason prediction from SEC Media Days in July:

Tier One

1. Georgia, East, first

2. Alabama, West, first

Tier Two

3. Missouri, East, sixth

4. Ole Miss, West, fourth

5. LSU, West, second

Tier Three

6. Tennessee, East, second

7. Texas A&M, West, third

9. South Carolina, East, third

10. Kentucky, East, fourth

11. Auburn, West, sixth

12. Florida, East, fifth

Tier Four

12. Mississippi State, West, seventh

13. Arkansas, West, fifth

14. Vanderbilt, East, seventh