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The reason Kirby Smart hasn't led Georgia football to a national title is ...
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Posts: 10,490 admin
The reason Kirby Smart hasn't led Georgia football to a national title is ...
Well, that's certainly an intriguing Georgia football topic we are looking at today with the DawgNation Cover 4 question? The DawgNation Cover 4 crew has their ideas on why Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs have yet to break through despite a few title-worthy teams.
Comments
Sorry boys, these all sound like excuses to me rather than valid reasons. Sure, luck always plays a role. And honestly we stumbled into the playoffs in 2017 with a bit of luck all around. We didn't have to play Bama in the SEC Championship game (we beat an Auburn team in the SEC Championship that BEAT that same Bama team we lost to). If we had played Bama in the SEC Championship then we might have certainly lost and never even made it to the playoffs.
Bama is our Achilles Heel but we've had the talent to beat them. Remember, Ole Miss (twice), Auburn (twice), Texas A&M, and LSU have all beaten Bama in the last 8-9 seasons. We have no excuses to not have beaten Bama. Mike, are you saying that these teams are more talented and better coached than the Dawgs under Kirby?
We've had the talent at QB as well (whether or not we actually used that talent is another topic). And remember, Bama was winning National Championships by simply handing off the ball and pounding it along with having a dominant defense since Kirby has been the coach of the Dawgs. This universal high flying pass heavy offensive style has only really taken off in the last couple of seasons. Kirby is entering his 6th season as head coach.
Kirby has recruited at the highest levels of college football and has had almost all Top 5 recruiting classes. So it ain't that we lack the talent.
So yes, Bama has been a huge roadblock for us reaching the playoffs but then that comes back to the bottom line on winning a NC: Coaching and Development
And with the high flying and talented offensive pieces we have for next season, there will be absolutely no excuse for the Dawgs not making the playoffs.
All of the above & a dozen or more additional reasons are between UGA an SEC title and their first national title in 41 years.
Mountain Dawg. I think it was Alabama who stumbled (or more accurately, sat on their couch and scouted Georgia during the SECCG) into the 2017 playoffs, with a bit of luck all around.
Alabama failed to win the West, meaning they got a bye into the play-offs. Meanwhile, Georgia was earning it in the SECCG. By the time Georgia played Alabama in the NCG, Bama was a fresher team. And it still took everything they had, not to mention a few extra calls to win it.
QB play, and receiver talent top the list. Not getting a few calls at just the right time have also been costly. Injuries have also played a part.
Saban. Not anything else written above.
Although I do think your points are valid to an extent, I do think these are still mostly excuses since they happen to all teams.
All teams have injuries, and all teams get bad calls on them. It's how you respond to those things and adjust that can determine outcomes.
And most of the time, a team will come into the season with missing talent or experience at a position or lack of depth at a position...basic weaknesses or gaps. A roster rarely lines up perfectly on Day 1. In 2020, Bama's defense was suspect and their biggest weakness in the beginning part of the year. Heck, Ole Miss scored 48 points on Bama. However, the defense improved dramatically as the season went on and became a strength. And Bama manages to reload players and even train brand new coaches at key positions every single season....and they still rarely skip a beat. Clemson is not far behind. That's more than just having the talent - that is coaching and development. That's also having a winning attitude that permeates your entire organization...expecting to win...deserving to win.
The 2017 SEC Championship game was played on Dec 2nd - several weeks before the playoffs started. There was plenty of time for all teams to rest and study film of opponents. #4 Bama played #1 Clemson in the first round of the playoffs and annihilated them 24-6. The Dawgs struggled against Oklahoma and had to resort to overtime to win their semi-final game. They then went to overtime with Bama and lost after Bama made the necessary adjustments after the half and we made mistakes. But before we ever got to overtime, Bama erased a 13 point halftime deficit and outscored the Dawgs 20-7 in the 2nd half. Bama played to win, and in the end Bama was the better team. We should have never even gotten to overtime. As we all know, this wasn't the only time the Dawgs have blown a halftime lead to Bama.
So, all I can say now is everyone keeps giving excuses/reasons about Smart not finishing the drill. I still don't see a single VALID "reason" in any of the answers above in this article. To me, they are all excuses, and I honestly don't think Kirby would blame anything or anyone but himself for why he really hasn't won a NC.
This alone. More specifically, in game coaching (lack of adjustments and terrible situational play calling) .
the refs in the 2017 NC game.
If half of those no calls had been made...holding, unsportsmanlike conduct, etc. It would have been over.
We were running away with that game, but the offensive holding calls that didn't get called allowed Bama to extend drives that just gassed our D.
I know we went conservative on the offensive play calls, but I think the fact that those calls were so blatant, and not called were demoralizing.
The real reason Kirby & Co. didn't win it all in 2017 was due to the most god-awful officiating I have ever seen. We were absolutely robbed. The lesson here is you have to beat bama and the refs.
Coaching, player development, and play-calling are the major reasons. We've had the players needed to have a great passing attack, we just never utilized their talent to the fullest. There's been some bad luck and bad officiating along the way, as well.
This was a very good analysis of what has kept us from winning the big one. The timing has to be perfect and everything line up. In the title game against Alabama injuries at key positions spelled our doom. Then we have had lack of depth at the receiver position after Mecole left early. Frome really had nobody that could get wide open. At the same time Alabama had several of the best receivers they have ever produced on the field at the same time. All could get wide open and were a threat to go all the way every time they touched the ball. With Smith and Waddle leaving the Tide receiver room looks much more coverable. When analyzing a team you can always find its weaknesses. On paper the youth of the defensive backs and the lack of reps for the O-line appear to be weaknesses. There is no shortage of talent at these positions. Both are filled with high ranked recruits. These young guys just have to step up. It happened for Bama in the Championship game when freshmen DeVonta Smith and Tua destroyed us. It is our time this year. Everything is aligning. Go Dawgs
Could have, should have, would have. It's always something!
Straight up.....it's bad coaching and the lack of development of the talent Kirby has that has been the issue. Not even counting the 2017 title game, which was flat out stolen from UGA and handed to Saban (Look only 1 call in that game needs reversed to the correct call- the offsides on UGA on the blocked punt in the 3rd quarter-for UGA to win that title. It was 13-0 and we woulda had 1st and goal inside Bama's 5 yard line. Instead they end up with 3 points out of that crap making it 13-3 when it shoulda been 16-0 at least and most likely 20-0 at that point which woulda been it, Bama woulda folded, cuz they almost did until the refs brought them back and made it a game again.) besides that game, Kirby has completely relied on his defenses to carry UGA because thats what they did when Kirby was at Bama, they dominated college football with their defenses and an offense that could barely score TD's at all against the top teams- remember them beating LSU 9-6 and games like that? Kirby MUST change was all u heard in 2018/19, which he finally did on THAT one offensive philosophy at least with Monken, Then the fact that we had Stetson Bennett as our starter for over half the year was another huge blunder. Again CKS has to change his philosophy- Basically over the last 5 years CKS will recruit QB's to have a #1 starter with a back up capable of also starting if called upon, but after that the QB's left (QB3, QB4, and sometimes QB5) are there to run the scout team offenses and "play" the QB, for the teams they play each week, in practice vs the #1 defense. Well now CKS realizes you must be 3 deep at QB with potential starters. 1st reason you need a back up is injury of course, well now there's a #2 reason getting more and more traction- THE PORTAL. So in today's NCAA a team can have a starter go down to injury the same year the back up transferred out via the portal and your looking at QB3 to take you to a title. lol
So now you see CKS getting all kinda QB talent on campus cuz you never know how a season will play out. You could lose QB2 to the portal, then QB1 gets injured in the first game of the season, then QB3 also quits the team due to covid medical concerns and your looking at QB4 like, bro you got this right? lol
It seems as if Kirby does learn lessons, just slower then everyone else I guess. What takes most coaches 1 year maybe 2 to change up it takes CKS 3 and even 4 years to learn that same lesson.
Good news is the longer he is there the better his chances are at winning it all are....I think? lol
All of the above are true. Silly to think you are going to win a Natty without a great QB who will go in the top 2 rounds. Is it impossible? No! We almost did it with Fromm because the supporting cast was so great. It's just a part of the winning formula to have a great QB.
You can't really have a great QB or an effective one without great receivers as the past two years have shown with LSU and BAMA having the 1st rounders.
The timing for UGA has been off. LSU and BAMA the past 2 seasons have been teams for the ages. Also Clemson 3years ago. No one was going to beat that team.
Sometimes the stars have to line up just right. I believe this is the year that happens for UGA. Maybe for a few years running!
evaluation development culture
I think everyone needs to chill out on the "Kirby is a terrible coach" because that is some straight up nonsense. Kirby has a better 5-year coaching record vs Nick Saban when he started as a head coach (not when he was at AL obviously). Kirby is still a very young HC and those game time, high pressure, situations is something you have to learn from experience. He will get there and you can't let the media trap you in high expectations.
IF you are a DAWG fan then you should have very high expectations. Especially this year. Media didn't cause those high expectations. I don't wait around for the media to tell me I can get hyped up about my team. Isn't that what being a "fan" means? I wasn't hyped up last year after the WF QB guy left and heard Daniels was still nursing an injury. Knew we would struggle some. I've seen enough UGA football to know when we have a serious shot at something. 50 years, living and dying on every play.
Unless you seriously think you're going to jinx something, I don't understand that line of thinking. If you don't won't to get excited about this year, good for you, just don't try squelching everyone else's.
Imagine someone on a BAMA board telling others to don't let the media trap you into high expectations. At BAMA? LOL!