Hey folks - as a member of the DawgNation community, please remember to abide by simple rules of civil engagement with other members:
- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans
- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans
- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
Comments
This is kind of a nonsense argument. College football - sports in general - has always had yearly turnover with respect to who happens to be at the top of the mountain at any given time. But that's never been the standard by which any consensus of "the best there is" in any greater sense has ever been determined. By that standard, Saban was getting knocked off every other year (or more) once he got into his prime years. Then he was the best in the sport again. Then he wasn't. Then he was...
Obviously, that's not how anyone will ever see it. Saying that the best coach in the sport is whoever happens to be doing the best at any given moment is meaningless, as that constantly fluctuates.
Case in point, Klatt's argument that "three years is a long time" not to have a semi-final appearance, so he's declaring "no doubt" in crowning a coach who only just did it for the first time ever. If Cignetti can one day match or surpass Smart's resumè at the highest level of the sport, the it will be fair to argue that he's the top coach in the sport. Until then, it's just an exercise in moving the goalposts.
Oh and I wanted to address this, too: "But the sport he conquered no longer exists in the same form. NIL, the portal, schematic aggression, and real-time adaptation have reshaped the game."
It's ridiculous - demonstrably false - to suggest that Smart hasn't won anything in that environment. "Schematic aggression and real-time adaptation" are vague terms, but undeniably have existed in the sport since before Smart was a head coach. And Smart's two national championships, three of his SEC championships and his SEC record win streak all occurred during the NIL/portal era.
If you aren't saying something controversial then you aren't getting clicks!
I will say this every time I've seen Cignetti he's been impressive. He's as passionate as you can get. Pays every attention to detail. He demands excellence, the way I used to feel about Kirby.
Just casual observations : Can't seem to land the big fish type QB, Can't seem to land 1st round receivers like BAMA and Ohio St have done. Is that a UGA thing or a CMB thing or what is that exactly? Why won't Kirby hire Hines Ward? Is it personal? Everyone knows he could recruit if given the chance. Will Kirby stick with Bobo in 2027 if again we don't again win a playoff game? My guess is he will. (See demanding excellence sentence above)
Obviously not having a Mendoza type QB didn't keep us from winning the NAtty when we had a great defense and better people to catch it, even without a Mendoza protypical guy in SB. WHo believes we wouldn't of won the NAtty this season if we had Mendoza at QB? Maybe winning the Natty won't require a "special" QB next season, like Mendoza, but If UGA is to win it then it will require better of CMB and GS next season than the version we had this year. Better receiver play also.
It takes better coaching now IMO than it did even just a couple of years ago when you could win without superior coaching against all but a couple of teams because you recruited the most 4 and 5 stars. THat model has changed with Cignetti and Kiffin. Every team that had more 4 and 5 stars on their roster than Indiana is sitting at home already, except for Miami who had less than BAMA, UGA and Ohio St . Interesting.
Prove Klatt is an IMBECILE- No Pro team thinks that Cignetti is in Kirby's hemisphere.
Wow, brilliantly written... no exaggeration. I think you've made a really compelling case
Shiny new objects tend to catch the eye but I'll stick with the tried and true, CKS is my coach.
Can't argue with the facts. Cignetti does more with 2-3 star talent than Smart does with 4-5 star talent. That is based on player development, strength of coaching team, ability to assess talent, and basic leadership.
Even Ed Orgeron was touted as a better coach than Kirby when he had Joe Burrows. Vignette lucked up with the steal of the decade from the transfer portal. When Mendoza moves on to the NFL Cignetti will take his place on the second team coaching bench with good ol Ed…
Smart is a flat-8 engine compared to today's hybrid 1,000 HP drive trains. Old school, obsolete. Hasn't kept up with the quick changing CF environment and stubbornly hired friends and family instead of best available assistant coaches available. It will just get worse over time. Complacency has set in whle Smart and his buddy assistants count all that money every month.
Georgia is quickly becoming Clemson. Smart is becoming Dabo.
Beachwagon, spot on. Kirby won't upgrade his coordinators.
Of course, Curt won't be the same once people come get his coordinators. It's the challenge of any great coach. Probably harder than getting players.
IF Cignetti wins the NC and if he does well again next season, he will no doubt be the new "hot coach" on everyone's list to hire for a more storied and bigger program. I doubt he has trouble recruiting or pulling from the portal from this point moving forward. And whose to say that if BAMA struggles again next season todo anything significant that the Crimson Tide won't come calling on Cig.
I-65 heading north to Indy, don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Bullfeathers…just quit identifying as a Georgia fan. The SEC gauntlet is real. Try playing 9 conference games against teams with great talent. Indiana would have 2-3 losses if they played our schedule. Last 3 years…12-0, 11-1, 11-1…Back to Back SEC titles. Indiana got Beatrice in last years CFP by Notre lame. Georgia played them with a backup. 2023 finished #5 in CFP standings. Committee didn't want a 3 pest champ. Left em out. Last year...backup started CFP. This year got miraculous play by opp qb. So spare me...34-2 in 3 **** years. CLEMSON? DABO? PLEASE! IGNORANCE IS STRONG WITH YOU
🤣🤣🤣....and, awaay we gooo!
Wow....it only took HIM one season. Kirby's Won multiple Titles over a stellar 10 year run.....AND.…They still can't decide if he's "taken over CFB". Post-Saban mind you.
THEY....had Dabo Sweeny crowned and, named Heir Apparent after a few great seasons as well, didn't they.
What happened to the Standard of "Sustained Superior Performance". Lol....smh....the CFB Hype Machine never rests.
Tell me there isn't an existing and systematic bias within the National Media....against certain "Southern Teams". It's existed, since before I was born. Lol
You talking to me?!
No one is saying “the best coach is whoever won most recently” and then declaring victory like they cracked the code. That’s a straw man without a cause. The actual point is whether dominating this version of college football should count more than dominating a version that barely resembles it anymore.
And that’s where the train leaves the track.
Yes, turnover has always existed. Congratulations — players have been graduating since leather helmets. But NIL + the portal didn’t just add churn, they changed the job. This is no longer about stacking four-year recruiting classes and letting them mature. It’s roster free agency, instant chemistry, and week-to-week adaptability. Saying “it’s always been like this” is like saying smartphones didn’t change communication because people used to have phones too.
On KIrby, specifically — you’re accidentally making the other side’s argument.
Of course he’s won in the NIL/portal era. No one disputes that. But the Dawgs peak came during the transition period, when elite recruiting depth still gave you insulation. The real question isn’t “has Kirby ever won recently?” It’s whether that advantage has scaled cleanly as the sport has fully crossed into transfer-heavy, plug-and-play chaos. That’s not disrespect. That’s just math.
And “schematic aggression and real-time adaptation” aren’t vague unless you’ve stopped watching the sport closely. It’s the difference between programs that can rebuild an entire position group in one offseason and ones that need three years and a prayer. That gap didn’t matter nearly as much ten years ago.
As for the résumé argument — sure, Smart’s résumé towers over Cignetti’s. No one’s hanging a “Cignetti > Kirby all-time” banner. But résumés are backward-looking. The debate is forward-looking: who is best equipped to win now, not who has the nicest trophy case.
No one’s stripping Kirby of his accomplishments. But treating past dominance like a lifetime appointment in a sport that reinvents itself every offseason is how you end up confused when the landscape shifts underneath you.
And honestly, the funniest part is accusing others of “moving the goalposts” while pretending the field itself hasn’t moved since 2019.
To me, Kirby is the greatest coach in college football, today. But to sustain his position he will need to make some serious adjustments. Kirby can fix this. He learned from the GOAT how to fix this. But he won't fix this until he makes some personally tough changes—and we all know what that means.