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in the late forties and fifties. He said “hogwash” to that notion. “We never talked about any curse,” he said. “We just didn’t play well enough when we needed to.”
Williams believed his body of work defined his career. Was Joe DiMaggio, who won nine World Series rings, a better player than Williams because of a collection of jewelry? I believe any reasonable analyst would safely suggest that Kirby Smart’s body of work will be trumped by losing close games to Alabama.
He may have done his best coaching job Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. He wouldn’t let his team give up. He would not let them throw in the towel, even when it was 30-7 at the half in favor of Alabama.
To give up on this team now, would be foolhardy. The driven Bulldog coach is playing with talent that was brought to Athens based on the immediate past when UGA was a play away from getting into the playoffs which could have led to a third consecutive national title.
This program has not gone to seed overnight. The Smart preachment to his players is that “you are a good team, not perfect and there is work to do. Good things happen when you make them happen.”
There is no magic potion when it comes to coaching. It is still a game of blocking and tackling, and he and his staff will work overtime to see that the chapel bell will ring more often than not the remainder of the season.
Smart’s career winning percentage is .851, and with three more victories he will have won a hundred games in his career. Gen. Robert Neyland is the winningest coach in SEC history at .829; Bear Bryant’s career winning percentage was 78.0; Nick Saban’s 79.3; John McKay’s (college) 74.9; Bobby Bowden’s 73.4; Steve Spurrier’s 72.0.
In modern times, nobody has been more successful sooner than Kirby Smart. You think he has lost his touch overnight? You think he doesn’t have the same commitment, the same pride that he had the day of his hiring back on Dec. 16, 2016?
The view here is that if college football ever gets the external issues ironed out, he likely will set records and reach goals that will be sensational.
Many ticked off Georgia fans “fixed” another drink Saturday night and slept in Sunday morning: then started castigating the team on the Internet. The Bulldog head coach, flew home from Tuscaloosa, slept a couple of hours and went to work.
