College Football Leaves Door Wide Open for Kirby Smart and Georgia

College football has had some major news hit this offseason and it has left the door wide open for Kirby Smart and Georgia to take over the league.

A month into the new year, college football has experienced massive changes. Legendary head coach Nick Saban officially announced his retirement, Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer stepped in as the next in line and Jim Harbaugh is now the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. The sport will certainly look and feel a little differently in 2024, but one program likely isn't complaining about it. 

Kirby Smart and his football program came just short of the college football playoff in 2023 and their goal of winning a third straight national title. The Bulldogs' historic long winning streak and dominant reign over college football came to a brief pause due to Alabama and Nick Saban. Stop me if you've heard that one before. But with Saban and the Alabama dynasty that football fans have come to know over the last decade-plus and another top coach in the form of Harbaugh no longer in the picture, there is an ample amount of opportunity ahead for the Bulldogs. 

When thinking of the ten best coaches in college football, Kirby Smart now gets penciled in at the top with ease. But you'd have a hard time thinking of who to place right behind the two-time national champ. Maybe Dabo Swinney, but Clemson looks to be slowly spiraling out of control by the day. Or how about Brian Kelly? Certainly has had a lot of success but probably not enough to be labeled as the second-best coach in the sport. How about Ryan Day? Multiple college football appearances, annually one of the best teams each year but there still seems to be some questions there. The point is, it's coach Smart and a decent drop off to the coach right behind him. 

Now while Georgia may have the best coach in the sport by a wide margin and they do have the most success compared to any other program in this current decade, there are some reasons to think that Georgia won't just go and rip off two or three more national titles in the next five or so years. 

Dec 30, 2023; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart reacts during the first half in the 2023 Orange Bowl against the Florida State Seminoles at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

The introduction of the expanded college football playoff certainly throws a wrinkle in this line of thinking. Not only will it require a team to win more games to win a national title, but it's a longer streak of games that programs will have to remain perfect during. For an entire month's worth of games, there will be no room for error, and the task of claiming a national title has become that much more difficult. 

Another argument could be the current stage of college football. If the college football season itself wasn't long enough, NIL and the transfer portal add to the workload of a college football staff. Both have also helped level the playing field as teams can quickly turn their roster back around and remain competitive on a year-to-year basis due to the quantity and quality of players that enter the portal each year. 

Despite that though, an advantage remains that Kirby Smart and arguably Kirby Smart alone holds over everyone else. He's in his prime. An era of his coaching career where two titles are already attached to his name and more look to be on the way. This isn't to say that there aren't coaches who are on the verge or are close to entering the main block of their coaching career, but no one is in the current stage that Coach Smart is in. 

Recruiting at a top three level on an annual basis and developing NFL talent at the rate that Georgia does also helps their odds of completely taking over college football, but there's simply not a better time for it to happen. The biggest obstacle that has consistently stood in Georgia's way is no longer still standing and now the title of best coach in college football resides in the city of Athens. The door has been left wide open and it's there for Georgia and Kirby Smart to take it. 

Other Georgia News:

• BREAKING: Georgia Loses 2025 Commit
• Georgia Bulldogs to Be Represented in Super Bowl For 23rd Consecutive Season
• Georgia Football Athletes Filling Up the Senior Bowl Roster

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