Nolan Smith is coming after Kirby Smart’s job
ATHENS, Ga. — Former Georgia linebacker Nolan Smith has goals of following in the footsteps of Kirby Smart. A former player who returned to his alma mater to coach, Smith thinks he’d be a great fit to do the same once Smart’s time is up. Only he thinks he can do even better than what Smart’s already done.
“I told Coach Smart I’m coming for his job. 100 percent. Try and run it better than he did,” Smith joked with reporters after his workout at Georgia Pro Day on Wednesday. “Try and get some 4-peats, 5-peats. It may sound easy. He did amazing things, he’s an amazing coach but yeah I’m coming for his job.”
Smart is only seven seasons into his time in Athens but already is part of an elite club of coaches to win multiple national titles. Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney are the only other two active to have done so with Saban having seven to his name – most all time – and Swinney two, both of which came prior to Smart’s first.
“Nolan is intelligent. He’s charismatic, teammates love him, he’s passionate,” Smart said about his former player. “He’s full of energy and he’s one of the toughest guys I’ve been around. Nolan is going to be successful at whatever he does. He told me he’s going to come back and be the head coach at Georgia and I told him he could have it.”
This isn’t the first time Smith has made mention of coaching either. At the Combine earlier this month he laid out a plan to start his coaching career in high school where he could have the most impact on kids. It’s something he said he learned about himself while being on the sideline this past season, injured for the second half of Georgia’s championship run.
“What I learned about myself is that I want to be a coach and affect kids’ lives in a positive way,” Smith said in Indianapolis. “I may start off in high school. I want to start off small so I can actually affect kids. A lot of people say that and they don’t really do it. I think high school level is where you can affect them. What I learned about myself is no matter what adversity, you’ve got to push through. Like I always tell people, I wasn’t going to give up on myself, I wasn’t going to give up on the team. I was going to do everything I can to just be with them. I was a glorified GA and it was the best GA job ever.”
As for the present for Smith, he’s focused on his future playing football, not coaching. He wrapped up his Georgia career this past season after four seasons on the field between the hedges. The former five-star totaled 114 stops in his career including 56 in 2021 to help Georgia to its first National Championship since 1980. He played eight games in 2022 before suffering a torn pectoral muscle that ended his season.
Smith impressed in his return to the field at the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this month in Indianapolis and is projected as a probable first round pick in April’s NFL Draft, set for April 27-29 in Kansas City. He only did position drills at Georgia’s Pro Day.
“Oh man, it had been a long time coming. I had dreamed of this day, my Pro Day every day I was Georgia,” Smith said after his workout on Wednesday. “I was happy to come out here and show my skillset. I’m able to bend, run the edge, run the 40. I didn’t touch any bags, dipped through all of them. Really was just out here having a great time with a bunch of guys. It was a good day.”
