ATHENS — Kirby Smart has taken Georgia to the top of the mountain, and already, the head coach and Bulldogs fans are learning how difficult it will be to stay there.
The day after Georgia took down Alabama by a 33-18 count in the CFP Championship Game, Smart said the future of the program was upon him, pertaining aware these sorts of challenges were coming.
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The wind blows the hardest at the top of the flagpole, the head coach said, hinting and heavy player attrition, already knowing he was losing his defensive coordinator and probably suspecting others on his staff were on their way out the door.
The Bulldogs knew they would be losing 16 players with NFL draft grades.
Then another eight players left via the transfer portal, four of them former starters including the former offensive team captain, quarterback JT Daniels.
Nearly half of Smart’s coaching staff turned over, too, including Smart’s dugout club baseball buddy Matt Luke, who called it quits to spend more time with his family rather than continue coaching the deepest and most talented offensive line room in the SEC.
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Smart hadn’t given receivers coach Cortez Hankton a raise in three years, so it wasn’t surprising to see him leave for a better-paying job back in his home state at LSU.
Many were surprised when talented defensive backs coach Jahmile Addae took a lateral move to coach at Miami, perhaps a bit worn down from the verbal oversight he received working in the secondary with Smart looking over his shoulder.
Two of the three coaching replacements once worked under former Georgia coach Mark Richt: receivers coach Bryan McClendon and offensive line coach Stacy Searels.
Some might remember that Smart, too, once worked under Richt, who built a strong foundation and left much goodwill for the current head coach to build upon.
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There are plenty of questions to be answered this spring, a few of them that come to the top of the list:
1. Player leadership
There are 14 Georgia players at the NFL draft this week, but replacing the leadership many of those players brought to the table is as important as replacing the talent.
It takes time for leaders to emerge, and it’s a sure bet Smart and the UGA strength & conditioning staff will provide the sort of training adversity to help sort things out and enable players to learn to lean on one another and hold each other accountable.
2. Offensive burden
The Georgia defense carried the 2021 season, and while it figures to remain a strong unit, there’s no doubt the offense will need to do more when called upon.
The 2021 SEC Championship Game was a wake-up call that the offense was not ready to do so against elite competition, and it responded well against Michigan before doing just enough in the CFP Championship Game.
OC Todd Monken is the most valuable coach on Smart’s staff, but he’ll need to see improvement and more consistency in the passing game, while likely having a better and more powerful run game as the state of this offense.
3. Staff harmony
Smart doesn’t allow any of his assistants to talk with the media, very much ruling with an iron fist. The coaching turnover could be attributed to the nature of championship coaches moving on to newer or more profitable opportunities,
Whatever the case, there is a new coaching ensemble in the meeting room, and it could take time for the returning coaches to learn how their roles have expanded, while the incoming coaches must become accustomed to Smart’s leadership style.
