Kirby Smart: Georgia sells 'relationships over transactions'

ATLANTA – Kirby Smart wasted no time addressing the changes in college athletics.

Coaches and players have answered questions about NIL, revenue sharing, and other versions of dollars and cents inquiries. Especially with the coaches, money questions have dominated their turns on the main stage.

During his turn on stage Tuesday, Kirby Smart made no bones about his philosophy.

“We sell relationships over transactions,” Smart said. “We think the relationship still wins out because the relationship allows you to push people and demand excellence, and we’re going to continue to do that at Georgia. We don’t believe in just being transactional because when you’re transactional, you cannot accomplish whatever your ultimate goal is, whatever your greatest reach is. Whatever the ceiling is for every player and every team we have, you don’t reach that without relationships.”

Smart gave that answer during his opening statement, while discussing the stress college athletics is under. A former college athlete himself, Smart still believes in the traditional collegiate athletics model.

He used a current Bulldog, although not a football player, to illustrate his point.

“Kaila Jackson is from Detroit, Michigan, came all the way to Athens, Georgia, to run track,” Smart said. “She won a national championship with our women’s track program, and she is kind of interning, kind of mirroring us in SID (Sports Information Department) today, and that wouldn’t be possible without college athletics. I don’t think enough of those stories are told, and that is important to me.”

Smart sees as much of the financial side of college athletics as anyone.

NIL is a frequent topic of discussion among recruits, especially the elite talent that Georgia attempts to land. Recruiting battles often include money wars that sometimes go Georgia’s way and sometimes don’t.

Even with all the upheaval around him, Smart still refers to himself as a “traditionalist” when it comes to college athletics.

“I believe in the college athletic background and what it does for people, what it did for me
and my family, what it did for my wife, being a female athlete at the University of Georgia and playing basketball,” Smart said. “That experience paves the way for future success, and I
believe in that.”