Why Georgia football coach Kirby Smart is standing by his staff but only to a point

ATHENS, Ga. — The distinctive boom of Kirby Smart’s voice returned to the mile or so radius around the Georgia football practice fields on Tuesday afternoon, the microphone blasting away Smart’s barbs and instructions. Spring practice had begun, ringing in double-digit years for the Smart era. And amid those 10 seasons, this one has a first: Every assistant coach is back.

Whether that should be the case depends on who you ask.

Georgia is coming off a season that was one big contradiction. By previous program standards, it was rough. There were three losses for the first time in six seasons. There were a few uncomfortably close wins and a season-ending dud. The 2024 team had the worst offensive and defensive statistical rankings since Smart’s first year.

And yet, that team won the SEC championship. That team owned four wins over teams that made the College Football Playoff.

So when critics, including the loudest voice in SEC country, called for Smart to make changes, especially at offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, Smart stood pat.

“We build our program around retention,” Smart said. “We’ve got the most stable, not only staff, but stable organization in all of college football. I think that’s what we hang our hat on. We’ve got stability. We’ve got retention. We’ve got a great organization. We’re built to last. We don’t have to worry about year in and year out tons of change.”

That goes for staff and players alike in this new era of college football, Smart added. Ever the numbers guy, he said Georgia is averaging 33 percent roster turnover the past few years, which is up from the 20-25 percent turnover rate of “the old days.” But it’s still a lower rate than other teams, Smart added.

“So whoever does the best job of retaining your players and coaches, I take a lot of pride in that,” Smart said. “I think that’s one of our weapons.”

The question is whether some of that coaching stability is a self-inflicted wound.

Neither side of the ball was great last year. But the defense, while it was 30th nationally in yards allowed per play (mediocre by Georgia standards), played well in the two wins over Texas and wasn’t the main problem in the CFP loss to Notre Dame. The offense was 50th nationally in yards per play, struggling in big spots, especially in the last game.

So the offense has drawn the attention of critics, including from the SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum.

“I frankly believe Georgia’s problem is at the offensive coordinator’s position,” Finebaum said in February. “I think Kirby Smart, as great as I believe he is, and I know you guys agree, is being way too loyal to Mike Bobo. I would get rid of Bobo today.”

Smart did not. Nor did he get rid of the other source of online ire from Georgia fansire, offensive line coach Stacy Searels. On Tuesday, Smart was specifically asked about retaining Bobo and Searels, with a reference to Finebaum’s comments.

Smart didn’t bite.

“I worked at a place (Alabama) for 10 years before I came here, and this is my 10th spring (here), where I really don’t pay much attention to anything outside,” Smart said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in this organization and the foundation we’ve built. I’ve got the best staff in the country, and I have no doubt about that. I’ve got one of the most experienced SEC staffs there is. And to be honest there’s a lot of confidence in that.”

The decision to keep the staff intact is a bit like how last season should be viewed: It depends on your perspective.

Yes, Bobo’s offense didn’t have a good second year of this second stint as Georgia’s play-caller. But he did have a good first year, guiding an offense in 2023 that was fifth nationally in yards per play. That year, he was a finalist for the Broyles Award, which goes to the nation’s top assistant. Bobo was also a Broyles finalist in 2014, the final year of his first stint with the program. Look up the top four per-game scoring seasons in Georgia history, and Bobo has been the coordinator for three of them.

Then there’s Searels, also in his second Georgia stint, this one entering his fourth year. Searels’ third year was not a good one. The run game and pass protection were subpar, even with three linemen who probably will get drafted into the NFL next month. But Searels’ previous two years were good: Georgia was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award (best offensive line) each year and won a national title in 2022. Searels is thought of well enough that he has been hired by Nick Saban, Frank Beamer, Mark Richt (twice) and Mack Brown (twice).

If you were judging just on last year, good arguments could be made for changes. But Smart looked at the track record, as well as other factors — injuries on the offensive line and unexpected receiver attrition — and opted for continuity.

The fact Smart and Bobo are close is brought up often. They were college teammates, and Bobo’s son Drew (now Georgia’s center) was the ring-bearer at Smart’s wedding. But while they weren’t quite as close, Smart was tight with James Coley and made the move to oust him as the offensive coordinator after the 2019 season.

Smart didn’t come out and say it, but a read of his decade as the coach should lead to this prediction: Another bad year for the offense and/or offensive line will lead to changes. In the meantime, Smart is cashing in the credibility earned by two national title rings to essentially tell the fan base to trust him.

As they do every offseason, Smart and his coaches went through a self-assessment of the entire team and how it did in 2024. That included taking into account who the team played, in what was one of the nation’s toughest schedules, a big reason why Georgia’s 2024 was a lot rockier than fans and media had come to expect from Smart’s teams.

But the harder schedules, thanks to the SEC scheduling model, are just the new normal, as Smart acknowledged.

“We thought going into last year that we would have to deal with more adversity and more failures, and how we dealt with them would indicate our year,” he said. “I was very pleased with how we responded to losses, to keep ourselves afloat and to win the SEC championship.”

And if the season had ended there in Atlanta with an SEC title, celebrating an overtime win over Texas, everything would feel different. But the season ended one game later in New Orleans in the Sugar Bowl, with a thud, in a game that reinforced concerns about Georgia’s season and its coaching staff. Publicly, Smart is standing by his coaches.

(Top photo of Kirby Smart: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

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