Is Kirby a good coach?

#1

KnoxRealtorVOL

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#1
On the surface this may seem like an obvious answer, but l want to open it up a bit.

Kirby is a dynamite recruiter. Now let’s be honest, there’s obviously some shady stuff going on with his recruiting.

To this point about recruiting, In 2016 he won 8 games, got embarrassed by Ole Miss, lost to Derek Mason’s Vandy, lost to us and Florida, and barely squeaked by Nicholl’s State, yet was magically able to pull the #3 class the next year. What did TWENTY 4/5 star players see that made them want to come play for Kirby after year one? Since then, every year some other teams win or play for a Natty, but Georgia still manages to either recruit at the same level as teams that are winning it all, or in some cases recruit better than teams that are winning it all (see the 2020 class for example). But that being said, more power to him, he’s found a way to beat the system, even if this does have a very “Hugh Freeze Ole Miss” feel to it.

In 2017 he played for a Natty, can’t deny that it was impressive, but let’s talk about how he got there. Richt’s juniors and seniors, combined with a mysteriously epic recruiting class, led to a really good football team. But Kirby got some help. In 2017 the East was a dumpster fire, with Tennessee and Florida being the dumpster fire-est of them all. From the West, Georgia drew Miss State, who was awful, and Auburn, who murdered them, handing them their only loss of the regular season. Georgia didn’t have to play Bama in the SEC Champ game like teams usually do, as Auburn had beaten Bama in the regular season and went on to rematch Georgia in the championship game, which Georgia won. To cap it off, Georgia got the luxury of annual playoff chokers Oklahoma in the first round of the playoffs. They squeaked by with an OT win, then went on to lose to Bama in the Natty.

Since then, they have dropped a game every year they have no business losing, even though they are playing with some of the best talent in the country. In Kirby’s fifth year, he has Bama-level talent, and yet just got humiliated by Nick Saban.

So is he legitimately a great coach? Or is he honestly just working with enough talent to hide the fact that he is mediocre at best? What would his record look like if his classes were hanging around that Top 7-12 range like Richts?
 
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#2
#2
I think you said it.

Kirby is an incredible recruiter, but his management of the offense and in-game calls leave something to be desired. It isn't terrible, but it isn't great either, and it has cost Georgia in some key situations.

His success at Georgia thus far is primarily a function of how talented his teams have been, but he's no different from any other college football coach in that regard.
 
#3
#3
Just keep in mind here you're comparing him to a national championship. You're not comparing him to whether or not he beats Boston College or something. What is he missing that he needs to win a natty? I'm no analyst of football, but I would say he's missing explosive offensive play. So I think they need to build the talent they have into a little better offensive system. They haven't done that, so I would say he is a coach that is "pretty good". If you are a HBC for several years and win 70%, you're pretty good, and he's actually closer to 80%. Pretty good like Mark Richt.

If he can just stay where his is, that'll be a huge accomplisment, and I think they will win a Natty after a while. If you play in the CFP occasionally, you don't have a whole lot else you can do. People struggle psychologically with maintaining the status quo at a really high level.
 
#4
#4
Just keep in mind here you're comparing him to a national championship. You're not comparing him to whether or not he beats Boston College or something. What is he missing that he needs to win a natty? I'm no analyst of football, but I would say he's missing explosive offensive play. So I think they need to build the talent they have into a little better offensive system. They haven't done that, so I would say he is a coach that is "pretty good". If you are a HBC for several years and win 70%, you're pretty good, and he's actually closer to 80%. Pretty good like Mark Richt.

If he can just stay where his is, that'll be a huge accomplisment, and I think they will win a Natty after a while. If you play in the CFP occasionally, you don't have a whole lot else you can do. People struggle psychologically with maintaining the status quo at a really high level.
He's definitely missed explosive offensive play this year and last. In 2017, he was right there; the title was up for grabs and Alabama happened to make one more play than they did.

The cruel irony for Georgia fans is that the two best QBs that have been on Kirby's rosters, Jacob Eason and Justin Fields, ended up transferring. Eason played one year then got hurt and transferred, and Fields had backup duty then transferred. They had high hopes for Jamie Newman, but he opted out.
 
#5
#5
I think Kirby is a terrific recruiter and good coach. He is better than Richt. Kirby almost won it all in his second year but couldn’t defeat the best coach in college football history for the ring. UGA has never really had a problem landing elite prospects with the amount of talent GA produces. With that being said, I hope his high point was the loss to bama in the championship game. UT has enough obstacles to overcome and can at least point to UGA not winning the big one in 40 years.
 
#7
#7
Kirby Smart is Richt 2.0. Will always pull talent, will always lose at least one game a season keeping a NC away from them. He's an underperformer.
 
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#8
#8
Kirby Smart is Richt 2.0. Will always pull talent, will always lose at least one game a season keeping a NC away from them. He's an underperformer.

This is where I am too. He’s Richt except he can pull Bama level talent.
 
#9
#9
Kirby Smart is Richt 2.0. Will always pull talent, will always lose at least one game a season keeping a NC away from them. He's an underperformer.
He's an even better recruiter than Richt was, which probably gives him a better chance at winning a title than Richt. However, Richt's first 3-4 years at Georgia match up really similarly with Kirby's first 3-4 years. The one big difference is that Kirby has already played for a title, but had a 4-team playoff existed in 2002 Richt likely would have been in it (they were #4 in the BCS) and he theoretically could have won the semifinal and been in the title game.
 
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#11
#11
He's an even better recruiter than Richt was, which probably gives him a better chance at winning a title than Richt. However, Richt's first 3-4 years at Georgia match up really similarly with Kirby's first 3-4 years. The one big difference is that Kirby has already played for a title, but had a 4-team playoff existed in 2002 Richt likely would have been in it (they were #4 in the BCS) and he theoretically could have won the semifinal and been in the title game.
He’s Richt with a natty appearance through 4 years, so I guess one step up from Richt. What’s odd is most ppl act like Richt was fired for his first 4 years when making this comparison. In reality Richt was also very successful in his first 4 years. Will Kirby fall off like Richt? Maybe. As of now he’s one of two SEC coaches with a winning record against top 10 opponents, so UGA would be dumb to can him for 3 straight top 10 finishes.
 
#12
#12
He’s Richt with a natty appearance through 4 years. What’s odd is most ppl act like Richt was fired for his first 4 years when making this comparison. In reality Richt was also very successful in his first 4 years. Will Kirby fall off like Richt? Maybe. As of now he’s one of two SEC coaches with a winning record against top 10 opponents, so UGA would be dumb to can him for 3 straight top 10 finishes.
I don't think anybody acts like Richt was fired for his first 4 years. Tennessee fans, including myself, were quite concerned in the early days about him but he throttled back some as time went on to the point where I know Florida and Tennessee fans were hoping you'd never fire him; everybody knew he was a good coach, but you wouldn't reach your full potential as a program with him.

It's eerie how similar the marks are between Richt and Kirby in their first 4 years, especially the first 3 years. I personally think the pattern is interesting because if it continues, then that means Kirby has already hit his high water mark at Georgia.
 
#13
#13
I don't think anybody acts like Richt was fired for his first 4 years. Tennessee fans, including myself, were quite concerned in the early days about him but he throttled back some as time went on to the point where I know Florida and Tennessee fans were hoping you'd never fire him; everybody knew he was a good coach, but you wouldn't reach your full potential as a program with him.

It's eerie how similar the marks are between Richt and Kirby in their first 4 years, especially the first 3 years. I personally think the pattern is interesting because if it continues, then that means Kirby has already hit his high water mark at Georgia.
It’s impossible to know when a coach hits their high mark. Recruiting hasn’t fallen off and any top 10 talent team is a QB away from making a run. I’ve always thought Smart would need the right OC to get over the hump, regardless of the 2017 success. Monken’s playcalling has been great, but I would bet money Monken gets a HC offer or NFL OC job soon. Still, Saban, spurrier, Dabo, and Meyer all took longer than 4 years of being a HC to win a title. While Smart has outperformed Richt, it would be crazy to just assume he’d outperform the others listed.
 
#14
#14
It’s impossible to know when a coach hits their high mark. Recruiting hasn’t fallen off and any top 10 talent team is a QB away from making a run. I’ve always thought Smart would need the right OC to get over the hump, regardless of the 2017 success. Monken’s playcalling has been great, but I would bet money Monken gets a HC offer or NFL OC job soon. Still, Saban, spurrier, Dabo, and Meyer all took longer than 4 years of being a HC to win a title. While Smart has outperformed Richt, it would be crazy to just assume he’d outperform the others listed.
I know that it's impossible to know. I'm just saying that if his mirroring of Richt continues, then he's already hit his high water mark. 2002 was his best season at Georgia.
 
#15
#15
I know that it's impossible to know. I'm just saying that if his mirroring of Richt continues, then he's already hit his high water mark. 2002 was his best season at Georgia.
Richt had similar success in 2007 and 2012. lol it’s odd, but Richt had competitive teams once every 5 years. Strange enough 2017 would keep with the trend.

A bit off topic, but what do you think the perception of Mullen would be if he loses Saturday? Have to think this is his year with UGA having a walk on QB and depleted D.
 
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#17
#17
Richt had similar success in 2007 and 2012. lol it’s odd, but Richt had competitive teams once every 5 years. Strange enough 2017 would keep with the trend.
Yes, but neither of those teams got over the HWM, which was 2002. He also won an SEC title in 2005, but that team also lost 2 regular season games and the bowl game.

The 2007 or 2008 team was probably his actual best group of players, but he blew 2007 with an upset loss to Tennessee and lost multiple regular season games as a preseason #1 in 2008. I think 2008 was the year when people kind of started to mail it in on Richt; not that he should have been fired at that point or anything crazy like that, but that he probably was never going to win a national title.
 
#18
#18
A bit off topic, but what do you think the perception of Mullen would be if he loses Saturday? Have to think this is his year with UGA having a walk on QB and depleted D.
I think it affects the perception of Mullen in a pretty negative way if he loses Saturday. He in all likelihood is not going to Atlanta with a loss. He already has a little bad PR already because of the Mizzou fight and his Darth Vader press conference.

If I was a Florida fan, it's already kind of frustrating because he has an all-world offense this year but the defense can't stop a nosebleed, and another loss to Georgia would make him 0-3 against them (and 4 losses in a row in the series).
 
#19
#19
I think it affects the perception of Mullen in a pretty negative way if he loses Saturday. He in all likelihood is not going to Atlanta with a loss. He already has a little bad PR already because of the Mizzou fight and his Darth Vader press conference.

If I was a Florida fan, it's already kind of frustrating because he has an all-world offense this year but the defense can't stop a nosebleed, and another loss to Georgia would make him 0-3 against them (and 4 losses in a row in the series).
Just not sure if Mullen will ever get the advantages he has this year again. UGA down to a 4th string walk on QB and the defense will be without multiple starters. He’s been successful outside of this game, but this game has a “if not now then when” feel to it.
 
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#20
#20
Yes, but neither of those teams got over the HWM, which was 2002. He also won an SEC title in 2005, but that team also lost 2 regular season games and the bowl game.

The 2007 or 2008 team was probably his actual best group of players, but he blew 2007 with an upset loss to Tennessee and lost multiple regular season games as a preseason #1 in 2008. I think 2008 was the year when people kind of started to mail it in on Richt; not that he should have been fired at that point or anything crazy like that, but that he probably was never going to win a national title.
I think 2007 or 2012 were Richt’s most talented teams. It’s been a while, but I think USC also got UGA in 2007 and 2012. USC actually blew UGA out 2012 if I remember correctly. Richt mainly got unlucky in 2007 with the east being stronger than the west. In 2012 he came up just short to Bama.
 
#22
#22
I think Georgia will win a N.C. with Kirby. He will get it figured out with all that talent.
Yeah sooner or later I dont know if he figures it out but eventually with as much top level talent they will have cards fall their way.
 
#23
#23
Just not sure if Mullen will ever get the advantages he has this year again. UGA down to a 4th string walk on QB and the defense will be without multiple starters. He’s been successful outside of this game, but this game has a “if not now then when” feel to it.
JT Daniels overrated? How can he not beat out Bennett at this point?
 

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