Georgia coach Kirby Smart’s No. 3 Bulldogs were defeated in the Sugar Bowl by the No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels to finish their season short of a national championship for the third year in a row. The Bulldogs won the SEC championship by blowing out the Alabama Crimson Tide, but a familiar College Football Playoff curse has continued to haunt them.
Why Was Kirby Smart Given a Georgia NIL Warning?
During Thursday’s segment of “The Herd” podcast, analyst Colin Cowherd left out Smart’s Georgia as a NIL power in the coming years, predicting that the Big Ten teams will dominate the portal market due to their financial power.
“The SEC was 2-8 in the non-conference bowls this year,” Cowherd said. “This week I offered something and called it, ‘best ten and the next ten.’ All things considered, NIL and the portal, three Texas schools (A&M, Red Raiders & Longhorns). Phil Knight – Oregon, Cignetti & Mark Cuban, Indiana. Michigan, Notre Dame, because of endowments.
“Ohio State’s totally committed. I said No. 10’s not Georgia, I said that’s USC because I just watched them spend $30 million to buy the No. 1 recruiting class. People look at Georgia and think they get that Coca-Cola and Delta Airline money. No, they don’t. Atlanta’s never embraced it. The big money in Atlanta does not give to Georgia.”
The Big Ten has produced the last two national champions (Michigan & Ohio State) and has a chance to produce a third consecutive, when the No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers play against coach Mario Cristobal’s No. 10 Miami Hurricanes.
Analyst Dethrones Smart From CFB Throne
After former Alabama coach Nick Saban retired in January 2024, Smart was seen in many quarters as the heir to the throne of the best coach in college football. Alongside Clemson Tigers coach Dabo Swinney, Smart is also the only active coach in college football with multiple national championships.
During this week’s segment of the “Next Round” podcast, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt opined that Smart is no longer the best coach in college football.
“You can make the argument,” Klatt said. “Some would disagree, but there’s no doubt, Kirby Smart hasn’t even been in the final four in the last three years. It’s a long time, that’s basically a whole cycle, almost a whole cycle of college players. We are approaching very quickly a roster full of kids at Georgia who have never even played in the final four.
“It leads to this idea that Kirby is the best coach in college football. No, he’s not. He hasn’t even played in the Final Four in the last three years, with good teams by the way and in some cases, based on the composite, the most talented team. Curt Cignetti is doing more with less than anybody, at a pace that is fairly unprecedented.”
Cignetti has compiled a 45-6 record as an FBS head coach at both James Madison and Indiana (26-2), including winning a Big Ten title, and has a chance of winning Indiana’s first national championship. On the other hand, Smart has an incredible 117-21 overall record in charge of Georgia, including winning four SEC and two national championships.
