Kirby Smart provides clarity on leaked pregame speech: ‘They ain’t even heard the best one’

Georgia got all the pregame motivation it needed from head coach Kirby Smart before breaking records against TCU in the CFP National Championship game. However, according to him, the leaked video circulating online was not the message on this particular day.

During an appearance on The Steam Room with TNT’s Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley, Kirby Smart said the leaked video came from a different game, but assured everyone the real thing was just as fiery and even better than the clip.

“For the record, that was not before the TCU game,” said Smart. “So that was leaked from a previous game. And somebody asked me what game, I said, ‘I don’t ever remember because they all sound like that.’ The players were all laughing when it came out. A bunch of my guys texted me and said, ‘coach, they ain’t even heard the best one.’”

Georgia went on to defeat TCU 65-7, even getting a chance to make curtain calls for departing players before allowing the next generation of Bulldogs to find the endzone a time or two. In the end, whatever pregame speech was given provided enough – and then some – to lift Georgia to a second consecutive national title after a 40-year drought before then.

Kirby Smart on curtain calls

Kirby Smart made sure to give his outgoing players proper send-offs. A former Bulldog himself, Smart said he had a hard time with their pending departures — something he doesn’t experience often.

Stetson Bennett and Javon Bullard were among the players to take curtain calls as they wrapped up their respective Georgia careers. They sat next to Smart as he talked about everything they did for the program over the years, including back-to-back titles.

“Because of what they’ve done for this program,” Smart said after the game. “I got really emotional, and these guys will tell you. Before the Ohio State game, I don’t know what got into me. I hadn’t been that way forever. I don’t know if it was exhaustion, stress anxiety. But I got pretty emotional. And I held it together tonight for the most part, but that moment with the timeouts, seeing Stetson and those defensive players — you don’t see what they sacrifice.”

Now turning his attention to the 2023 season, Kirby Smart must replace the production of those impactful players if he hopes to honor his prediction of a three-peat.