Kirby Smart Georgia

ATHENS — There was a new leader at the SEC Spring Meetings, an unmistakably clear and stable voice from Georgia.

Coach Kirby Smart, who has led the Bulldogs to the past two CFP Championships, was the voice of reason on scheduling issues that turned the likes of Nick Saban and Eli Drinkwitz upside down.

From Smart’s perspective, what difference do the little details make when programs are going to play all the SEC teams every two years, anyway?

It wasn’t just Smart’s message that resonated — it was how he said it — and went so far as to ridicule what had been a debate between eight and nine games.

“Most overrated conversation there ever was,” Smart said, pointing media and other coaches into a bigger, more concerning issues that will arrive with the expanded 12-team playoff in 2024.

Smart, of course, has had his challenges this offseason at Georgia this season.

Philosophical questions have been raised about the level of a coach’s responsibility and the emerging issues triggered by the unintended consequences of the still relatively new Name Image and Likeness legislation.

Smart’s leadership has been firm, but there have been questions about how rising players have and will hold each other accountable — the mark of a championship team.

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit recently said he felt Alabama and LSU were a little ahead of Georgia exiting spring drills.

Herbstreit may or may not be correct, but his point on the significant attrition at Georgia over the past two seasons — 34 players drafted, numerous leaders having moved on — was valid.

Smart, himself, said he’s eager to see his players and team tested in workouts through the intense Georgia heat.

Time will tell, but in the meantime, Smart and his staff are doing their planning for a third championship.