Georgia Bulldogs Countdown to Kickoff: Day 26
We’re inching toward the end of this here countdown, with just 26 days until the Georgia Bulldogs are calling a coin flip to open the season (wonder who the captains will be for Game 1? That’ll be fun to find out.)
And today, we’re looking at the 26th full-time head coach of the Dawgs.
That’d be Kirby Paul Smart.
Now we should note that there are plenty of nuances here to get to 26.
Obviously, we’re skipping interims (shoutout to wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon, among others).
Additionally, the Bulldogs had two head coaches in 1909 (James Coulter and Frank Dobson) and Marvin D. Dickerson had two stints in Athens, in both 1903 and 1905.
So, there are plenty of ways to spin it, but for our sake, we’ll defer to the all-knowing Wikipedia, and the list being used there.
And mostly that’s because we just want to talk about Kirby Smart.
Can you blame us? I think most Bulldogs fans want to talk about Kirby Smart.
How could they not? The native son of the Peach State and former Bulldogs safety has truly revolutionized the program in Athens in ways that many could have never envisioned in just six years.
After a pedestrian first season, the Bulldogs bounced back in year two of Smart’s tenure with a National Championship appearance and established themselves as a national powerhouse quickly.
Smart has recruited at an insane clip, won over 80 percent of his games, and inspired numerous catchphrases (perhaps most notably, or at least the favorite of most, “How ‘bout them f*ckin’ Dawgs”) in Georgia Bulldogs nation over his tenure.
And then came last season, where Smart took the program back to the promised land and ended 40-plus years of wandering in the college football desert.
A defensive mastermind who’s based Georgia’s brand around smashmouth football and ‘keeping the main thing the main thing’, Smart has made the Bulldogs into what so many always thought they could be — a perennial powerhouse in both recruiting and on the field.
Now, National Championships are the expectation, not the dream. Top recruiting classes are seemingly a lock, no longer a battle. Coaches are replaced seemingly easily, with little in the way of handwringing when replacements are needed.
So, raise one to the man we’re calling the 26th different head coach of the Dawgs.
I’d venture to bet you already have at some point.
