Smart was born inMontgomery, Alabama, to Sonny and Sharon Smart, and grew up inBainbridge, Georgia.[3][4] He has a brother, Karl and a sister, Kendall.[4] His father, Sonny Smart, was a high school football coach and coached Smart in high school.[4][5] Smart began his playing career atBainbridge High School and went on to play college football at theUniversity of Georgia, where he was teammates with defensive linemenAntonio Cochran, Emarlos Leroy, linebacker Brandon Tolbert,Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerbackChamp Bailey, andSuper Bowl MVPHines Ward.[6] Smart was a four-year letterman at defensive back for Georgia and a first-team All-SEC selection as a senior.[7][8] He finished his career with 13 interceptions, which ranked fourth all-time at Georgia, and led the Bulldogs with six interceptions in1997 and five in1998.[9][8][10] He was also a four-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll.[11] Smart graduated from theTerry College of Business in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in finance. He went undrafted in the1999 NFL draft and signed a free-agent contract with theIndianapolis Colts.[8] He spent the 1999 preseason with the team but was cut before the start of the regular season.[12] In 2003, Kirby attendedFlorida State University for graduate school.[13]
Smart began his coaching career with theUniversity of Georgia in 1999, serving as an administrative assistant.[14] He moved toValdosta State where he spent one season as defensive backs coach before being promoted to defensive coordinator for the 2001 season.[15] From 2002 to 2003, Smart worked as agraduate assistant underBobby Bowden atFlorida State while pursuing a master's degree.[13] He received his master's degree fromFSU in 2003.[16] Smart then spent one season as defensive backs coach atLSU under head coachNick Saban in2004.[17] Smart rejoined the Georgia Bulldogs football program to serve as running backs coach for the2005 season.[18] His only season in the NFL came in2006, during which time he coached under Saban again, this time as theMiami Dolphinssafeties coach.[19]
Smart followed Nick Saban to theUniversity of Alabama in 2007. He was hired by Saban as an assistant coach on January 9.[20] On February 27, 2008, Smart was promoted to defensive coordinator.[21] On December 8, 2009, Smart was awarded theBroyles Award as the nation's best assistant coach.[22] He was the first Alabama assistant coach to win the award.[23] Alabama went on to win theBCS National Championship overTexas.[24] Smart considered a lucrative contract to be the defensive coordinator at his alma mater, theUniversity of Georgia but chose to stay with the Crimson Tide in early January 2010.[25] In 2011, Smart's defense helped Alabama win another championship, beatingLSU in the2012 BCS National Championship Game.[26] On March 27, 2012, the University of Alabama System's Board Of Trustees voted to increase Smart's salary and extend his contract.[27] On November 20, 2012, Smart was recognized as the 2012AFCA FBS Assistant Coach of the Year.[28] Alabama would win anothernational championship, beatingNotre Dame with a bruising defense.[29] On April 16, 2013, Smart was granted a $200,000 salary increase to make him the highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football.[30] He was part of the Alabama staff that won theNational Championship overClemson in the 2015 season.[31]
Smart earned his first victory as head coach of the Bulldogs in a 33–24 victory over #22North Carolina in Georgia's first game.[33] Smart led Georgia to a 13–7 victory over #8Auburn on November 12.[34] Smart went 8–5 in his first season as the head coach of the Bulldogs in2016.[35] The Bulldogs finished tied for second in the SEC East division.[36]Smart's first year as Georgia's head coach ended with a 31–23 victory overTCU in theLiberty Bowl.[37]
In the2017 season, Smart led the Bulldogs to their first 9–0 start since1982 and won the SEC East after a victory over theSouth Carolina Gamecocks on November 4.[38][39] On December 2, 2017, Smart coached Georgia to its first SEC title since2005, and only the fourth 12-win season in school history (1980,2002,2012).[40][41][42] On December 3, Georgia was ranked No. 3 by the College Football Playoff Committee.[43] Georgia played No. 2Oklahoma in theCollege Football Playoff semifinal game at theRose Bowl. Georgia rallied from a 31–14 first-half deficit, ultimately defeating Oklahoma 54–48 in double overtime.[44] The Bulldogs went on to lose toAlabama in theNational Championship Game 26–23, where Alabama freshman quarterbackTua Tagovailoa relievedJalen Hurts late in the contest and ended the game on a 41-yard touchdown completion toDeVonta Smith in overtime.[45] Smart was named SEC Coach of the Year for the 2017 season and received theGeorge Munger Award.[46]
In the2018 season, Georgia completed the regular season with an 11–1 record. The one loss was a 36–16 defeat to #13LSU.[47] Georgia earned a spot in theSEC Championship game as the Eastern Division Champions, but lost toAlabama, 35–28.[48][49][50] The No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs earned an invitation to play in theSugar Bowl, where they lost to No. 15Texas, 28–21.[51]
In2020, Georgia's regular-season record was 7–2.[58] Georgia's two setbacks were to #2Alabama and #8Florida.[59][60] The season wasshortened because of theCOVID-19 pandemic; all four games against non-SEC opponents were canceled, though Georgia played one more game than usual against SEC opponents.[61] Georgia was slated to play ten games, but the game againstVanderbilt had to be cancelled due to COVID issues within the Commodore program.[62] Georgia finished the regular season in second place in the SEC East.[63] In thesubsequent bowl season, the No. 9 Bulldogs beat No. 8Cincinnati in thePeach Bowl, 24–21.[64]
In2021, Georgia went 12–0 in the regular season.[65] Georgia lost toAlabama in theSEC Championship, 41–24.[66] Georgia was ranked No. 3 after this game and earned a College Football Playoff nomination.[67] The Bulldogs defeated No. 2Michigan in the College Football Playoff semifinal game at theOrange Bowl, 34–11.[68] Georgia defeated No. 1 Alabama in theNational Championship game, 33–18, to secure their first national championship since1980.[69] With this victory, Smart became the first of Saban's former assistants at Alabama and just the second overall to defeat Saban (Jimbo Fisher, a former assistant atLSU and the head coach atTexas A&M, was the first after his unranked Aggies team upset the Crimson Tide earlier in the season).[70] Smart was named SEC Coach of the Year for the 2021 season.[71]
In July 2022, Smart and Georgia agreed to a 10-year contract extension worth $112.5 million, making him the highest-paid coach in college football.[72] Georgia started off the season with a #3 ranking in the AP Poll.[73] The team started with a 49–3 victory over #11Oregon.[74] After the Oregon victory, Georgia earned the top spot in the AP Poll and reeled off seven more victories to set up an undefeated matchup againstTennessee, who was #1 in the College Football Playoff rankings and #2 in the AP Poll.[75] Georgia defeated Tennessee 27–13.[76] In the2022 season, Georgia finished 12–0 once more in the regular season before defeatingLSU in theSEC Championship game, 50–30.[77][78] Georgia defeatedOhio State in thePeach Bowl 42–41.[79] In theNational Championship game, Georgia defeatedTCU 65–7, making Kirby Smart a back-to-back national championship-winning coach, the first one sinceNick Saban did so with Alabama in2011 and2012.[80] Smart was named SEC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season and the third time overall.[81]
Before the beginning of2023, Georgia was ranked #1 in both the AP and coaches polls.[82] Following a 49–21 victory overUAB, Smart's record as head coach of Georgia increased to 85–15, which became the highest total of wins and the highest win percentage achieved by an SEC coach through their first 100 games in history.[83] Smart additionally led the Bulldogs to an SEC-record 29-game win-streak with a 31–23 win over in-state rivalGeorgia Tech in Week 12 of the regular season, finishing it 12–0.[84] The win also resulted in the most recent instance of 3-consecutive seasons of undefeated in-conference SEC play, with the second most recent also being Georgia from 1980-82. The win streak ended with a loss toAlabama in theSEC Championship Game, 24–27.[85] As a result of the loss, Georgia was not among the top four ranked teams that made the College Football Playoff, and instead playedFlorida State in theOrange Bowl. Georgia defeated Florida State by a score of 63–3, the largest point differential in Orange Bowl andFBS bowl game history, the latter breaking the record set in the previous year's National Championship game.[86]
In May 2024, Smart and Georgia agreed to a ten-year contract extension worth $130 million, once again making him the highest-paid coach in college football history.[87] Smart earned his 100th career win as head coach in a 30–15 victory against #1Texas.[88] Georgia finished with a 10–2 regular season record to qualify for the SEC Championship Game.[89]In a rematch against Texas, he led the Bulldogs to a conference title with a 22–19 overtime win,[90] clinching the #2-seed and a first-round bye for theCollege Football Playoff.[91] In theSugar Bowl againstNotre Dame, Georgia lost 23–10.[92]
^Thamel, Pete (January 8, 2010)."Alabama Returns to the Top".The New York Times.Archived from the original on December 28, 2022. RetrievedApril 10, 2023.
