ATHENS — Kirby Smart will always be involved with Georgia’s secondary. He’s good at it, as he rose up the coaching ranks as a defensive backs coach for Nick Saban.
With the Alabama head coach now retired, Smart is unquestionably the best defensive backs coach in the country. Even if his official title is still head coach.
It greatly helps Georgia in 2024 to have Smart still involved, given just how much this position group has changed on both the player and coach side.
Javon Bullard, Tykee Smith and Kamari Lassiter are all off to the NFL, giving Georgia three key players to replace in the secondary. Smart also had to replace both secondary coaches this offseason.
Fran Brown is now the head coach at Syracuse, while trusted lieutenant Will Muschamp moved into an analyst role. Smart recently shared more about the inner dynamics regarding Muschamp’s role this fall.
“It’s great having Will there to kind of coach the coaches, because it’s like you get your cake and eat it too,” Smart said at SEC spring meetings. “You’ve got Coach Muschamp there for all the value he brings in terms of wealth of knowledge, relationships, knows our team, helps me. So, I didn’t lose any of that.”
Muschamp made the move in part because he wanted to spend more time with his son Whit, who will be a freshman at Vanderbilt this fall.
The two coaches Muschamp will now be working with are Donte Williams and Travaris Robinson. The former comes over from USC and will work primarily as Georgia’s cornerbacks coach.
He’ll have to find a replacement for Lassiter, who was a second round pick by the Houston Texans. Georgia brings back starter Daylen Everette, while Daniel Harris, Julio Humphrey and Ellis Robinson will all compete for playing time. Williams has never worked with Muschamp nor Smart, but the latter still thought highly enough to have him replace the beloved Brown.
Robinson does have experience with Muschamp. Tons of actually, as Robinson worked with Muschamp at South Carolina, Florida and Auburn.
Robinson also has better understanding of the Smart way because the new safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator spent the past two seasons at Alabama working for Smart’s former boss in Nick Saban.
“Both Donte and T-Rob have been tremendous in terms of energy and enthusiasm,” Smart said of his two additions. “But I gained these two guys that are now on the team and do a tremendous job and they get to go out and go recruiting and Will gets to be around his son more, which I think is really important, too.”
Robinson will have a little bit more to do in terms of finding answers in the secondary. Bullard was a two-year starter while Smith was Georgia’s most productive player last season.
It helps Georgia that All-American safety Malaki Starks returns for his junior season. His athletic and mental abilities allow Starks to cover up for any early mistakes while Georgia decides who will be the new safety and star.
Joenel Aguero and JaCorey Thomas are player to know at the latter, while Dan Jackson, Jake Pope and KJ Bolden are among the names to follow at safety.
All of those position battles will play out this fall, specifically during the month of August. Williams and Robinson will play a big role in shaping how the Georgia secondary comes together. Muschamp will be there to lend a hand and act as a bridge to Smart.
Because even with Muschamp around and all these new faces, Smart is still going to be an integral part in crafting the Georgia secondary. Not just this season but in the future as well. Consider that Georgia is still putting together its recruiting board when it comes to the secondary for the 2025 recruiting cycle. With two new coaches, it’s going to take time for Georgia to lock in on their top targets for this cycle.
The month of June should provide plenty of clarity in that regard, between visits and camps.
If Georgia is to win a national championship this season, it will need its secondary to be up to par. Smart feels confident Robinson and Williams, and Muschamp to a lesser degree, will help Georgia maintain its standard of excellence in the secondary.
Smart built that and set the standard for the entire sport. It’s probably why even with so many new moving parts, the Bulldogs still have the benefit of the getting it right in the defensive backfield.
