ATHENS — Kirby Smart was marveling over former Georgia teammate Champ Bailey as the greatest player he has seen or played with when he inadvertently let slip an impressive exploit from his playing career.

Smart, speaking to the Macon Touchdown Club on Monday night, shared how as a player at UGA (1994-98) aimed to set a new UGA record for defensive backs of 315 pounds in the power clean lift.

“I powered cleaned it up, as hard as I can, I muscled it up,” Smart said, “I was so happy …. "

Smart laughed at how his excitement of setting the program record for defensive backs was short-lived.

Smart explained how Bailey, who had been excused from lifting weights in the offseason so he could run with the Georgia track team, quickly broke the record.

“They put 320 on the bar, and he power cleans it first try,” Smart said. “Man didn’t work out one time, man didn’t lift one time, and he broke the record with ease and was just smiling about it. Did it with perfect form, too.”

Bailey went on to an NFL Hall of Fame career, selected to the Pro Bowl a cornerback record 12 times.

Smart, meanwhile, went from All-SEC safety to short-lived NFL free agent signee and into the coaching profession.

Smart’s 13 career interceptions at Georgia still rank sixth all-time in school history, and the record will reflect he led the SEC in interceptions his senior season.

Current Bulldogs Chaz Chambliss and Oscar Delp were impressed to hear of their head coach’s weightlifting exploits on Tuesday.

“That’s a crazy amount of weight to be throwing around and throwing on your shoulder,” said Delp, an imposing 6-foot-5, 245-pound tight end. “There’s a lot of schools around the world where lineman are barely doing that, so that’s crazy for a guy that size to be doing that.”

Chambliss, a chiseled 6-2, 250-pound linebacker, agreed.

“That 315, for anybody that hasn’t power cleaned, just put that on the bar and try to dead lift it,” Chambliss said. “Imagine throwing that in the air, especially at his size, I don’t know what he was, maybe 200 pounds?

“That’s almost twice his body weight. Some people can’t even do a pull-up with their own body weight.”

Chambliss said having coaches who played the game makes a difference.

“You respect it a lot more because he knows what you went through,” Chambliss said. “You respect somebody that has been through what you’ve been through instead somebody that just puts stuff on the board.”

Chambliss said he benefits from UGA outside linebackers coach Chidera Uno-Diribe, too.

“My (position) coach payed at Colorado all four years and was a lettermen,” Chambliss said. “I respect him because he gives me advice from his experience that I might not know, because he played in college, too.”