ATHENS — Kirby Smart put Georgia football on top of the world last season, but he knows better than anybody there’s a great deal of work to be done if his program is to stay there.

The No. 3-ranked Bulldogs open the season against No. 11 Oregon at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium as 17-point favorites expected to win.

But there will be more games to win and more battles for Smart to fight as he continues to look for ways to improve the program on and off the field.

Saban had complete control to make necessary changes at Alabama from the time he was hired in Tuscaloosa.

Smart, entering his seventh year as head coach, has yet to get the UGA administration to publicly back him on what he believes would be a key adjustment in the school’s business and scheduling model.

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The future of the UGA-Florida game remains in flux, with the Gators’ athletic director under the impression Georgia administration will go against Smart and extend the current contract that runs through 2023.

Smart has turned his complete focus to the field this week, where he has seen to it players are approaching this season without any sense of complacency.

“I was just talking to the team about this concept of where you think you have arrived — you never do that,” Smart said on Tuesday..

“When would I ever say that we are where we need to be? That doesn’t exist at this level, it is not on a continuum. You have to keep going. We are not there. We are not close to there.”

Indeed, Alabama is still considered the flagship program in the SEC with six national championships under Saban and league titles three of the past four years.

Smart was a part of four of those Alabama championships, and he understands the mindset it will take for Georgia to sustain its success.

“When you start thinking, ‘Okay, I have things where I want them,’ that is the first sign of you getting complacent and the first sign that you are going to get bit,” Smart said.

“I want to teach the team to be the best team they can possibly be. By going out and having the best organization, recruiting the best football players and having great people on your staff, you give yourself the opportunity to get a really good football team every year at the University of Georgia.”

Smart has faith the support will be there, and he’s committed to doing his part to make sure the football portion of the product remains fine-tuned.

“You have all of the support and all of the things that you need to be successful,” Smart said. “You just have to use them the right way, and we try to do that the best we can.”

Smart made it clear at SEC Media Days that the Bulldogs have no intention of fading like other previous SEC teams that won championships.

The previous three SEC programs that won national championships during the Nick Saban Alabama Era made coaching changes within three seasons: Florida (2008), Auburn (2010) and most recently, LSU (2019).

“We didn’t build this program hoping for one-hit wonders,” Smart said. “We built a program to sustain. We believe this program will be around for a long time.”