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Kirby Smart took son to honor his late father before Georgia's win over Auburn

On3 imageby: Jake Rowe10/12/25JakeMRowe
Kirby Smart Georgia
Oct 11, 2025; Auburn, Alabama, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart celebrates after the Bulldogs beat the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-Imagn Images

AUBURN, Ala. — Kirby Smart showed a lot of emotion after leading his Georgia team to its ninth straight win over Auburn. He was asked about it after the Bulldogs captured the 20-10 win on Saturday and, for a moment, tried to make it sound like the way he acts after every game.

He pointed to how he has climbed into the stands with fans after wins over Florida, but it didn’t take him long to switch gears. This game is, in fact, a little different for the Georgia coach.

Earlier in the day, Smart was able to take his son, Andrew, on a stroll down memory lane.

“I took Andrew today to a little small town called Slapout, Hopewell, Alabama,” Smart said. “They built a baseball field with my dad’s name on it. They wanted to take me over there with a trooper and an escort. I said, ‘nope, I’m just taking me and Andrew. We’re go look at my dad’s field that’s named after him.’ Where I was born, a trailer behind a high school with two teachers that didn’t have anything coming out of college. We loved it, and to go back and see that field where he was. And I mean, I grew up coming to Auburn, so this place has always been very unique to me.”

Smart lost his father, Sonny, earlier this year. After falling and suffering an injury while the Bulldogs were in New Orleans to take on Notre Dame in a Sugar Bowl, Sonny underwent surgery. Due to complications, he never woke up.

In the immediate aftermaths of Georgia games of the past, Smart could be seen talking with Sonny, a long-time educator and coach. Smart has often talked about the coaching lessons he learned from his father, who is from the Auburn area.

A significant portion of Sonny’s side of the family attended Auburn. The field Smart spoke of? It was named after his father just a couple of years ago. Sonny helped build that field after leading Holtville High School to a state baseball championship in 1982.

Then there’s his respect for Jordan-Hare Stadium, a place where he played while at Georgia and coached both as Alabama’s defensive coordinator and Georgia’s head coach. He made mention after the game of how the Tigers use his comments about how tough it is to play in the 87,451-capacity venue on their video board. Smart joked that he hopes Auburn keeps doing that and showing it to recruits.

This win was sweet for Smart, due in large part because of what went down before it.

“I wanted Andrew to see it, so we went,” Smart said. Just he and I, took a picture, and had a good time together.”

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