The University of Georgia announced the hiring of Kirby Smart, a former Bulldog safety, as its head coach on Dec. 6, 2015. In the decade since, Smart has transformed Georgia into one of the sport’s most dominant programs in college football. As the anniversary arrived over the weekend, Smart reflected on his first days in Athens, the pressure he felt stepping into the job, and the perspective he has gained over ten years leading the Bulldogs.
The timing also added a clear point of reference. The 10-year anniversary landed on the same weekend Georgia beat Alabama 28–7 in the SEC Championship Game, lining up Smart’s decade at UGA with a matchup against the program he left in 2015.
On what Smart remembers about being introduced as Georgia’s head coach, he did not hide the anxiety that came with taking over a program of UGA’s stature while simultaneously preparing Alabama’s defense for a postseason run.
Kirby Smart reveals how he truly felt about leaving Alabama for Georgia
Smart said the moment he accepted the job didn’t feel triumphant at all. It felt overwhelming, and he admitted he questioned how ready he truly was at the time.
“What comes to mind thinking about that day? Nerves. Just overwhelmed,” Smart said. “I felt like I was just — you know, I was trying to prepare for a national championship, or I guess a playoff game at the time, and also take on running a program, which I had not done, and just overwhelmed with who am I going to hire? What am I going to do? Just a lot of nerves.”
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What stands out now, Smart says, is less about wins and losses and more about the relationships built along the way.
“In terms of the memories, they’re just incredible,” the Bainbridge, Georgia, native said. “It’s just hard to believe it’s 10 years. All these pictures of my kids are popping up on the timeline, and you know, the aging of myself with the gray hair. I mean, it’s just crazy how fast it goes, but yet how slow it goes. And, you know, some of it hit last night when I’m pregame and I get, you know, five, six Alabama players that are on their staff or, you know, getting to see C.J. Mosley, who — I had a great bond with C.J., and I probably hadn’t kept in good enough touch with him [before] last night.”
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Smart has never shied away from showing emotion, and on Saturday — before the SEC Championship against his former team — the 49-year-old head coach acknowledged feeling it.
“It got pretty emotional for me before the game,” Smart said. “He comes over, gives me a big hug, and we were really close, you know? He was a guy that kind of won that game against Georgia. And to see Ha Ha Clinton-Dix on their staff. So many guys. And then the guys coming back on our team, Richard LeCounte and all of them. It’s the memories and the relationships in coaching. It’s not the victories, and that hits home for me the older I get.”
Smart’s drive to become a head coach began long before Georgia called. In January 2013, ahead of Alabama’s national championship matchup with Notre Dame, Smart made his ambitions clear.
“Ultimately, my goal in my career is to be a head coach,” Smart said in January of 2013, shortly after the Crimson Tide beat UGA in the 2012 SEC championship. “Where that is, I have no idea. It’s not like I wake up every day trying to leave Alabama. I have the best non-head-coaching job in the country, period, because I’ve got a great administration, we’ve got a great facility. I want to be where I can win, and I know you can win at Alabama. I think that’s so important.”
Winning has always been the centerpiece of Smart’s approach, and he delivered on that priority almost immediately in Athens. By his second season, Georgia reached its first national championship game in nearly 40 years. After the heartbreaking overtime loss to Alabama in January 2018, Smart made a declaration that would define the next era of Georgia football.
“I think everybody can see Georgia is a force to be reckoned with,” Smart said following the loss. “We’re not going anywhere.”
He was right.
Since that statement, Georgia has gone 96–13, won three SEC championships, appeared in seven New Year’s Six Bowls (winning five), and posted a 4–1 record in the College Football Playoff. The Bulldogs claimed back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022, becoming the sport’s benchmark for sustained excellence.
Smart is 117-20 in his first 10 seasons as Georgia’s head coach. That’s the most wins by any FBS coach through their first 10 seasons in the modern era.
Ten years after his introduction, Smart has become more than a former player returning home. He is the architect of college football’s most consistent powerhouse—and the standard others measure themselves against.
Kirby Smart record in each of his 10 seasons at Georgia:
Georgia Under Kirby Smart (2016–2025)
- 2016: 8–5 overall, 4–4 SEC — Won Liberty Bowl
- 2017: 13–2 overall, 7–1 SEC — Won Rose Bowl, Lost CFP National Championship
- 2018: 11–3 overall, 7–1 SEC — Lost Sugar Bowl
- 2019: 12–2 overall, 7–1 SEC — Won Sugar Bowl
- 2020: 8–2 overall, 7–2 SEC — Won Peach Bowl
- 2021: 14–1 overall, 8–0 SEC — Won Orange Bowl, Won CFP National Championship
- 2022: 15–0 overall, 8–0 SEC — Won Peach Bowl, Won CFP National Championship
- 2023: 13–1 overall, 8–0 SEC — Won Orange Bowl
- 2024: 11–3 overall, 6–2 SEC — Lost Sugar Bowl
- 2025: 12–1 overall, 7–1 SEC — TBD
Overall (2016–2025): 117–20 overall, 69–12 SEC
