"I had to hand draw every play": Kirby Smart reveals old-school practice that made him a successful coach

Kirby Smart is pretty old school. His coaching journey began in Georgia in 1999 when there were no advanced computers and analytical tools to evaluate the game play-by-play.

It was all the traditional method of coaching where everything was hand-driven and completely orthodox, something that Smart is very proud of. While speaking to Josh Pate in a sit-down interview on Monday, the Georgia coach reminisced about his journey of over two decades where he has seen it all.

The 49-year-old mentioned that old-school methods are effective because they gave the coaches a better understanding of the dynamics than today's tech-driven analytics. Although it was time-consuming, it helped them to grow.

“When I got into coaching, Joe Kines gave me a job," Smart said (Timestamp: 27:56) "I'll never forget I went in. He showed me how to break down a tape. It was before the computers, and you had to write every play.

“You had to write first down, second quarter, and you had to write down 10 or yard line. It was you entered everything by hand. Then you drew the play, and you had to do 10 games. Well, I'll never forget we played Purdue in a bowl game in 1999, either 99 or 2000 here's Drew Brees out there.

"Well, I broke down every game of their season and had to hand draw every play and everything. I think there is, there is no like growing up in the coaching profession like we did. They all have analytics computers. So it just completely gives you right after the game, you did that by hand.”

Smart also gave a big shout-out to legendary coach Nick Saban during his explanation, where he mentioned having learned a lot during his tenure at LSU.

Kirby Smart could be eying for a national championship in the 2025 season

Despite having an unstable roster last year, Kirby Smart and Co. got past the regular season and punched a playoff ticket.

They struggled against Notre Dame and eventually lost the Sugar Bowl matchup. However, Smart believes it was a major success due to the amount of coaching and work they had put in behind the scenes.

This year, things are expected to change. Georgia is undergoing a major revamp in its roster since many seniors will leave for the NFL. A new starting quarterback is also required after Carson Beck made his way to Miami.

If they could to get close to a title game with a shaky roster, Smart can easily make his way to lifting the golden trophy in 2025.