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3 takeaways from Georgiaâs 24-21 loss to Alabama, Kirby Smart takes the heat
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3 takeaways from Georgiaâs 24-21 loss to Alabama, Kirby Smart takes the heat
Alabama beat Georgia 24-21 on Saturday night at Sanford Stadium, snapping the Bulldogsâ school-record 33-game home win streak while dropping Smart to 1-7 against Crimson Tide teams.
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Fellas, I’m starting to connect the dots—and the shine may be coming off Kirby Smart.
Listening to sideline reports and various insiders, one theme keeps coming up: it’s Kirby who insists Georgia must be a run-first team. That directive puts Mike Bobo in a tough spot, forcing him to balance a run-heavy approach with just enough passing to keep things interesting. It also explains why Bobo never seems to be in hot water—he’s doing exactly what Kirby asks.
But here’s the rub: Kirby’s “run-first” philosophy may be hurting UGA’s ability to land and keep top wide receiver recruits. Todd Monken, for instance, reportedly clashed with Kirby over offensive control. According to Buck Belue (680 The Fan), Monken was fed up with Kirby’s antics and unwilling to compromise his offensive philosophy. That friction, combined with the grind of recruiting, played a major role in Monken’s departure.
Even legends like Champ Bailey have weighed in. In an interview (not sure when it was recorded), Champ admitted Kirby is a hard coach to play for—too intense on the sidelines at times—and noted Kirby was a difficult teammate back in his UGA playing days. Sure, his competitiveness is admirable, but college football has changed. Today’s players won’t tolerate being treated “old-school” for long—they’ll jump in the transfer portal. And we’ve seen that, year after year, with 15–20 guys leaving Athens each offseason.
Did anyone catch Connor’s comments about Kirby being defiant in the press conference? That’s exactly the concern. Instead of owning mistakes and adjusting, it’s always “Kirby and the Dawgs,” when in reality it should be the other way around.
Now, I’m not calling for panic. I still believe Kirby can right the ship. But he has to swallow some pride, modernize his approach, and adjust. Otherwise, the barking in Athens won’t just be directed at opponents. No one—not even Kirby—is bigger than the University of Georgia.
Final thought: recruiting and coaching better along both lines of scrimmage will fix a lot of issues. If we shore that up, we’ll be just fine. But until then, it feels like UGA is leaning on the past while the rest of college football keeps evolving
No mention of total lacking of pass rush. The blitzes got recognized right away and Simpson adjusted. Why is there zero pass rush without a blitz call. This is not new for this year. The same was true last year. Sure miss Jalen Carter!
As a former D linemen I’ll let you guys harp on bobo and the offense but this defense wth . 13 -19 3rd down conversions. It feels like they’re stuck in 2021 w/o the 21 players and not adapting to what they have .Clearly trying to play man to man is not working because these corners aren’t built like that . You can’t get a pass rush so why not try more zone coverage ? There is clearly no alpha leader on this defense . They look slow and confused half the time . Love my team and hope they will bounce back but this defense is missing that edge and attitude.
Your defensive coordinator doesn't have the passion. He is coaching with no excitement. Just going through the motions. Look at him on the sideline. #33 need to be replaced on the edge. The guy can recruit linebackers, but can he handle the defensive. Where is Muschamp???. 2 games in a row that the defensive can't stand up from the start. Bobo play calling on offense is to predictable. Get vertical on the passing game
seldom does one play determine the outcome but our failure on 4th and 1 to kick a FG and the accompanying morale and momentum boost; comes close to being that type play. I;m sure that making a first down would have been even greater but our history of success on 4th and 1 plays isn't so wonderful. Many other contributing factors in our loss but there were some bright spots that I hope we see more of. Tough loss. Keep fighting!
" The pass rush is almost nonexistent. The pass coverage isn’t much better. The tackling is often poor. The run defense has been good, but when the other team can convert eight straight third downs to start the game, and 13 total — the most ever against a Smart defense at Georgia — who needs to run? "
Seth Emerson described the defensive performance yesterday very succinctly.
BUT, despite the poor defensive showing during the first half, the offense left many points on the table:
Ty Simpson was the better QB yesterday.
Kirby doesn't have a Nick Saban problem....he has a big time Bama problem.
The Dawgs simply aren't a very good team right now.
Ellis Robinson's poor play and inexcusable and costly penalty late yesterday is a symptom of the depth of Georgia's issues .
bama is what Florida was to us in the late 90’s and early 2k’s
This was the most beatable looking bama team I’ve seen in 20 yrs and we lay’d a steamer in the bed on national tv to once again booster them
They whooped us in the blackout game, 2017 ncg, 2023 seccg ( broke our winning streak), now whipped us and broke our home winning strength.
It’s time for Kirby to take these games personally. This one program has snapped UGA off of every high horse we’ve been on. It’s time to take it personal like the Florida rivalry and let loose with one of those famous pregame speeches on them
Cash Jones in on key 4th down run? Yup, you deserve the heat on that boneheaded decision…what a gut wrenching loss but…let’s move on. The Bama curse is real…
Just remember...the Dawgs were resilient, BUT very lucky to have survived the game against the Vols (lady luck helped the Dawgs when the Vols missed that game winning FG).
The Dawg's issues are not new. They are still there and Bama took advantage, coming out strong and completely confusing and outplaying the Dawgs in the first half. We never caught up, but we certainly had our opportunities to do so and win this game.
All of the losses to Bama come with a lot of disappointment, but this one is especially tough after the Dawgs finally got them at home, at night, with the chance to "change the narrative" as some experts predicted would happen. CKS is an incredible coach, and as a fan that has lived through the doldrums with this team, I'm extremely judicious with any comments suggesting otherwise. For whatever reason, against his old team, it just seems like he struggles to make the right call at the most critical points. I won't rehash them all here, but the poor game management decisions are uncanny, and really make you wonder how much of this "Bama thing" is in his head. Of course, as fans, we would nitpick any loss about such decisions, but they happen nearly every time against Bama. It's even more of a mystery now that he continues to be outcoached well after Saban.
I’ve mentioned it another another thread but Bama’s offensive coordinator made Bobo look like an amateur. Or is it Smart? Is he telling Bobo what kind of scheme he wants run? Is Bobo just an OC in name only? This team has a lot of issues and these issues begin with the head Coach. Kirby, like Napier at Florida, may be too stubborn for his own good! Go Dawgs!
Bobo didn't drope the ball. #11 did
Dude, you’re spot on, Kirby can recruit the best defensive linemen, or just top players in general, in the country, but he struggles to keep them on the roster. And before folks call me crazy, just look at the pattern.
First it was Justin Fields, then Stetson Bennett, and now Carson Beck-quarterbacks who either left or voiced frustrations. And it’s not just QBs. Plenty of other talented players have transferred out, even when they had money (NIL deals) and playing time. That tells you something deeper is going on (15-20 players transfer via portal is crazy for a top coach and university like Georgia).
Players aren’t just chasing opportunities anymore; they have to genuinely like the coach they play for. And with Kirby, that’s where the friction lies. He’s brilliant, no doubt, a defensive mastermind, elite recruiter, and one of the top coaches in the game. But brilliance can also come with a cost.
It’s like working for a genius manager at the office: at first, you’re in awe of their vision and drive. But over time, the cockiness, the stubbornness, the unwillingness to bend—it begins to take its toll. Eventually, people start looking for the door, not because they can’t succeed under him, but because the environment wears thin.
They forgot to rate coaching. Er, uh, that would be an F. Kirby Smart has gone from a treasure to a liability. Bama resides in his head, and his lack of confidence toward them results in unwise coaching decisions every time we play them. His leadership is flawed as he places his personal friendship with his incompetent coordinators over the team's success. He has grown to be arrogant and fearless in believing that he is so good he is untouchable. The coaches' payroll is obscene. These elite players deserve elite coaches. In effect, Smart is now Dabo 2.0. Too stubborn to change for the good of the program. I would trade Alabama's coaching staff for Georgia's in a heartbeat. The Bama staff is an order of magnitude more competent than Bobo, Schumann, and their buddy assistants. Our Natty is now four years old. Last night we showed the nation on national TV that we are no longer elite becuase our coaches are not elite. The bottom line is that Kirby Smart is not indispensable. The athletic director and university president need to direct him to make significant coaching changes or else pack up his own bag. The UGA coaching staff has turned into a bunch of good ole buddies with a whole lot of salary money without the eye of the tiger. We should demand better rather than excuses and obfuscation. It was sickening to watch Bama take over our house after the game last night. Sickening. This is not OK.
I agree with everything you said up to the AD forcing Kirby to make a decision. You talk about a puppet…it's him.