Kirby Smart was complimentary of Texas, but he stressed how "in the SEC humility is a week away"
DALLAS — Kirby Smart got the ‘are Texas and Oklahoma ready’ question that’s been a constant presence at SEC Media Days. Before he went into the answer most coaches have given by rote during the first two days of the event, Smart wanted to make sure anyone levying great expectations on the Longhorns received a small dose of reality.
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Coach, you mentioned wanting to play the best. You have Texas this year. Do you consider them to be one of the best, and what stands out to you about them?
Smart: “Every team we play is the best that week. Please understand that. In the SEC humility is a week away.”
Those words from Smart, a coach who has been a part of multiple national championship teams both as an assistant and as a head coach, carry a lot of weight. Typically, his Bulldogs are the best team on the field. For him to stress the difficulty of a SEC slate stands as one of the most effective endorsements of how ‘it just means more’ in the Longhorns’ new conference.
That said, Smart sees a Longhorn team that can do some great things this season. He based that thought not only on what he saw on film when studying the Longhorns, but also from his own battles in the past with Steve Sarkisian.
“Got to watch them play last year against several common opponents, got to watch them play in the playoffs,” Smart said. “They have a tremendous recruiting base. They do a tremendous job in recruiting, that includes NIL and everything included in that.”
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The Bulldogs will head to Austin on October 19, a weekend that will feature not just a potential top-five matchup in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium but also the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas.
The two teams on Campbell-Williams Field will be the best team each program faces that week, and could possibly be the best programs in America at that time. Smart can’t wait.
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“They’re a big, physical team,” Smart said. “They are built like an SEC football team, so looking forward to an opportunity to come play them. What a tremendous matchup it will be.”
