Making the Case: Kirby Smart for College Football Head Coach of the Year

Making the case for why Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart deserves to be named coach of the year.

Dec 7, 2024; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart reacts after defeating the Texas Longhorns in overtime in the 2024 SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Making the case for why Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart deserves to be named coach of the year.

The finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award were announced earlier this week and one of the names to make the list was Georgia's Kirby Smart. He and eight other coaches made the final cut, including names like Dan Lanning, Shane Beamer, Curt Cignetti and Marcus Freeman. A collection of deserving names but there is a strong case for Smart to be the most deserving name in the bunch.

There is probably some initial pushback when you say that. Georgia has recruited at a top-three level since Smart got the job in Athens. They were projected to be a national title contender this year, and they lost two regular-season games. But that's just what Georgia's 2024 team looks like on the surface. In reality, you could argue this was Smart's most difficult coaching job of his career.

For starters, Georgia had the toughest schedule in college football. They opened the season against Clemson (a playoff team), went on the road to Alabama, Texas, and Ole Miss, and also had a home game against Tennessee, another playoff team, towards the end of the season. So, their path to the No. 2 seed in the college football playoff was more difficult than anyone else in the country.

Let's take a deeper dive. Georgia had one of its more inconsistent years on both offense and defense. This season, Georgia led the nation in dropped passes, quarterback Carson Beck went on a three week stretch of throwing multiple interceptions and the defense had some concerning performances throughout the season as well. It was not the typical Georgia standard on either side of the ball at times this year and some might blame that on the head man, but what's more impressive is managing to still win an SEC title despite all of those things.

Let's continue. At one point Georgia's running back room consisted of true freshman Nate Frazier and walk-on running back Cash Jones due to injuries. The wide receiver room lost two starting-caliber wide receivers at the beginning of the season. The offensive line was down starting left tackle Earnest Greene, center Jared Wilson and right guard Tate Ratledge at points during the season. Star defensive end Mykel Williams missed multiple weeks to start the year, linebacker Smael Mondon had to miss time and most recently Beck had to miss the 2nd half of the SECCG due to an injury. Injuries are a part of football, and everyone deals with them, but Georgia continued to find ways to win games and big-time games despite them.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about this year's Georgia team though was the way they continued to fight back in moments where it looked like they might be out of it. Down 28-0 against Alabama on the road, Georgia came back in the second half to take a lead at one point in the game. Down 6-3 at Kentucky at halftime, Georgia found a way to win. Down 13-6 to Florida in a rivalry matchup at halftime, Georgia found a way to win. Down 17-0 to Georgia Tech and 27-13 with 5:37 left in the fourth quarter, Georgia found a way to win. Down 6-3 at halftime vs Texas and down their starting quarterback in the SEC Championship game, Georgia found a way to win.

Why is that so impressive? Well let's put it this way. If this season of college football taught fans anything, it's that at the end of the day, finding a way to win the game is what's most important. It doesn't matter how it loos. Finding a way to win is what ultimately matters. Taking a look around the SEC this season would show you that rather quickly.

Some might make the argument that Georgia didn't overachieve any of their goals this season and because of that Smart isn't worthy of being named coach of the year. But at one point this year, it looked like Georgia didn't even have a chance of making the SEC Championship game, yet here they are, sitting in the month of December as conference champs after beating a team for the second time and with the 2nd overall seed in the expanded college football playoff.

Other Georgia News:

• Georgia Football Gets Favorable Path in College Football Playoff
• Georgia Bulldogs Discover Potential Opponents in College Football Playoff
• Georgia Football Accomplished Something It has Never Done Under Kirby Smart

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