Ex-Gators HC rubbishes critics' "ridiculous" narrative on Kirby Smart's Georgia

Former Florida coach Steve Spurrier doesn’t consider Georgia's 2024 college football season a failure. Despite experiencing some setbacks during the regular and postseason, the Bulldogs secured the SEC championship by defeating Texas in the conference title game.

Georgia finished the 2024 season with an 11-3 record. The Bulldogs lost to Alabama and Ole Miss during the regular season and ended their postseason campaign with a Sugar Bowl loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff. Spurrier sees this feat as commendable.

Spurrier also reminded college football fans how difficult it is to win the SEC championship. The conference has been the most dominant league in the landscape for the past two decades, and gaining its crown is only second to the national championship title

"You’ve got some people out there saying Georgia didn’t have a good season, and that’s ridiculous," said Spurrier in an interview with Dawgnation published on Thursday. "When you get to downplaying an SEC Championship, that’s not good. That’s the second-hardest thing there is to do in college football, and they beat Texas twice in one season to do it.”

Steve Spurrier believes Georgia fans need to appreciate Kirby Smart

Kirby Smart is undoubtedly one of the best coaches in college football. He’s transformed Georgia into a contender in the college football landscape since arriving in 2016, winning the national championship twice.

Steve Spurrier said the Bulldogs fans need to appreciate Kirby Smart as a coach. He highlighted that he is the only active SEC coach to have won an SEC championship. The program defeated Texas—one of the nation's top teams—twice to secure the conference title.

"Those fans need to appreciate Kirby (Smart)," said Spurrier “...There’s only one coach who can say he had a better year than Kirby last year. That coach is Ryan Day, and he needed a do-over. [He] wouldn’t have even made the playoffs last year when they took four teams.”

Brian Kelly is the only coach to have managed to win a division in the SEC, further underscoring the gap between Smart’s experience and winning track record compared to the rest of the conference. Furthermore, no active coach has won more national titles than him.

As Smart approaches his 10th season at the helm for Georgia, he boasts an impressive 105-19 (.846) record—a level of success that has earned Spurrier's admiration. In fact, Spurrier believes Smart deserves a place among the greatest-ever SEC coaches in history.