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Georgia

Kirby Smart details difficulty of repeating as national champions to Mike Krzyzewski

IMG_6598by:Nick Kosko•04/08/23•

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(Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart joined former Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski on Sirius XM and discussed the difficulty of repeating as national champions.

The Bulldogs have a chance for a third consecutive national title in 2023. But just to get the second one was quite the challenge.

But Smart loved the way his team changed its attitude after winning the first one under his watch. He also used prior experience with Nick Saban at Alabama.

“I certainly appreciate it,” Smart said to Krzyzewski on Basketball and Beyond. “It’s not easy to do and I have a lot of respect for you and for anybody that’s been through that when you have to repeat. It’s always a challenge. You have to really start brand new and start all the way over and we had the pleasure of doing it when I worked for Nick at Alabama and it’s one of those feats that you’ll look back on a long time and appreciate but if you look back at right now and you’ll you’ll probably have a rough year.”

The culture is really what gave Georgia a leg up on pretty much every other school in the country.

“In this league football, where so many kids are drafted and every game is so tough, it speaks volumes for the leadership and those kids, that senior group,” Smart said. “They wouldn’t sacrifice what they believe in how they practiced the work ethic in the offseason. It was a special group of leaders now because they went into every game not thinking about the score, not thinking about winning. 

“They wanted to make the other team quit. And they played angry and mad. I really loved the way they practiced and practiced harder against each other sometimes. Then maybe they had to play in certain games and I loved it. I loved that element.”

Nolan Smith, who’s NFL bound, explained why Georgia’s dominance won’t end anytime soon under Smart.

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“When he talks to you, he’s real. He’s open,” Smith said in an interview on The Pat McAfee Show. “The connection piece is real. You feel connected to him not only as your coach but to your whole coaching staff. All 10 members of the staff. We all try to pull in the same direction. And that’s for the G.”