Kirby Smart reacts to Florida firing Billy Napier prior to rivalry game

Both the Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators have the week off before their annual rivalry matchup. That’s going to give Kirby Smart more time to prepare for a Florida team that’s without Billy Napier following his firing.

Smart and Napier are two coaches who do go back a long way. After all, they were both assistant coaches on Nick Saban‘s Alabama staff before Smart landed the Georgia job and Napier eventually got his own opportunities as an offensive coordinator and later as a head coach. So, it’s not a surprise that when sharing some thoughts on Napier, Smart only had good things to say.

“First of all, I have a lot of respect for Billy,” Kirby Smart said. “I’ve known Billy a long time. We were on staff together at Alabama. I like Billy a lot. I think Billy is very intelligent, very well-organized. His attention to detail is at a really high level. He’s a guy that thinks things out really well. I think they’ve recruited well and done a good job. I hate it in this profession. We all know what we sign up for, and Billy understands that.”

Billy Napier would wrap up his tenure at Florida, going 22-23 overall and 12-16 in SEC play. That included a 3-4 record this season before getting fired following a win over Mississippi State. In three opportunities against Georgia and Smart, Napier went 0-3.

There is some amount of challenge that now comes with the game for Georgia. As Smart explained, the coaching change and the change in playcaller that comes with that can sometimes have a little strategic change. More importantly, it can also re-energize a struggling program.

“As far as how that affects the matchup, it probably affects it more than a one-week window,” Smart said. “But in a two-week window there’s still only so much you can do. They’ll make changes. A lot of times, you inject some energy when you do that. Look across the country at guys that have had interim coaches that have had some really big wins and had a lot of energy. I know Coach [Billy] Gonzales is doing a great job. I have a lot of respect for him, going against him for many years. They’ve got a really good staff. So, again, I hate to say it. I’m not worried about them. I’m worried about us.”

Georgia and Florida are set to meet on November 1st in Jacksonville. Kickoff in that game is currently scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EST.