Georgia's Kirby Smart just dropped the most meaningful quote of the year and every college football coach can learn from it
Whether you're a fan of Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart or whether you can't stand him, you can't deny that he dropped one of the most meaningful quotes of the offseason this week. And it's a quote that every coach in college sports can learn from. On Tuesday, after the Bulldogs' 10th spring practice, […]
Whether you're a fan of Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart or whether you can't stand him, you can't deny that he dropped one of the most meaningful quotes of the offseason this week. And it's a quote that every coach in college sports can learn from.
On Tuesday, after the Bulldogs' 10th spring practice, Smart was asked by a reporter if he's had players ask Georgia to "match" an NIL offer from another program.
Smart was quick to point out that he doesn't have players coming to him and asking UGA to match an offer, before strongly noting that relationships have to matter when it comes to acquiring talent.
"If they come in and say that, then I'm going to listen to them and talk to them, but I'm scratching them off the list," responded Smart. "I'm over that, because if that's all that matters, you need to send out a bid like they do for jobs and say, supplement your bid, let me take visits, and I'm going to go to the bid and go to the highest bidder.
"I really believe that [relationships still matter]. And if a relationship doesn't matter, then I'm probably not going to have a kid that wants to play hard for Georgia. Right? So relationship matters. Work ethic matters. Do you want to be great? Do you have fire, passion, and energy? I'll pay for that. I'll pay a premium for fire, passion, and energy, because in the market we're in, there's a lack of that."
"What I do know is that we're going to continue to recruit people who love football, who are passionate about football, and that don't put money as the number one answer," added Smart on Tuesday. "I've never met a really good player that that's all they care about."
I don't think truer words have been spoken when it comes to NIL and the current state of college sports.
As Smart also noted on Tuesday, players have value and they should be rewarded for that value. There's no debate about that.
But when it comes to making a decision on where a player wants to play, if that decision is solely made because of money, then that player probably isn't about the right stuff.
Because ultimately, an NIL check isn't going to make a player perform at a high level on Saturdays. And an NIL check isn't going to provide the right motivation for a player to perform at a high level. That has to come from within.
Programs in the SEC obviously need elite athletes to compete for national championships. But fire, passion, and energy, at the end of the day, are the most important attributes that any player can have. If a player doesn't have elite competitive makeup and a process-oriented mindset (it's not about results, it's about attacking each day and making hard choices that others don't want to make), then they don't stand a chance in the SEC — regardless of athleticism.
There are a lot of coaches across college sports that are trying to add elite talent by simply being the highest bidder. That might result in a roster that looks good on paper, but Smart's approach is the only approach that will deliver wins on Saturdays and in the post-season.
It doesn't matter how much money infiltrates the sport — fire, passion, elite competitiveness, and energy will always be what determines success in college athletics.
National media outlet just did Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs a major favor that should frighten the rest of college football
The rest of the sport is now on alert
