Dana Holgerson says Kirby Smart, Georgia 'on a whole nother level'

It’s hard to not be impressed by what Georgia has accomplished recently as the Bulldogs have won back-to-back national titles. Even Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen is blown away by what is happening with Kirby Smart‘s program in Athens.

Holgorsen spoke at a high school coaches clinic at Georgia this offseason and spent plenty of time around Smart and the Bulldogs program while in town. He couldn’t say enough good things about Georgia while speaking with ESPN at Big 12 Media Days on Wednesday.

“What they’re doing in Athens, Georgia right now is on a whole nother level. I’ve been to a lot of NFL camps. I’ve been to Alabama. I’ve been to a lot of places. What they’re currently doing at Georgia is on a whole nother level,” Holgorsen said. “Just the commitment from the athletic department, to the funding, to how they’re feeding them, to how they’re practicing, how they’re lifting, what their staff looks like. It’s big time. And clearly it works because they’re back-to-back national champs.”

Kirby Smart brought in Dana Holgorsen to speak about the air raid offense, which is a system he ran in the past but no longer does.

Holgorsen has evolved throughout his career, whether he was an offensive coordinator or head coach. He isn’t stuck in his ways and believes adapting is key.

After visiting with Smart and the Bulldogs, he plans to continue to adapt how he runs his program.

“It was awesome for me, because I’ve been doing things one way for a long time – the air raid way. I’ve evolved and I’ve developed,” Holgorsen said. “I wanted to look at their day-to-day facility, too. And they were gracious enough to open all their doors. And I took a lot of ideas of what their building looks like and what the day-to-day for the student-athlete looks like. We’ve been designing our building for the last six months. So it changed a lot of our thought process going into the building that you’ll see in a few years.”

Overall it was a positive and eye-opening experience for Holgorsen, who is entering his fifth season at Houston. The Cougars are coming off of an 8-5 year in 2022. They went 12-2, including an 8-0 mark in American Athletic Conference play, in 2021. Houston is entering its first season in the Big 12 in 2023. The hope is that the Cougars will be able to compete for championships in the league. Learning from Smart and Georgia seems like a good place to start.