Guerry Clegg: Recruiting, development key for Smart
Even if it's debatable that Georgia's decision to fire Mark Richt was the right call, one point is almost inarguable:
Kirby Smart is the perfect choice -- really, the only logical choice -- to lead the Bulldogs.
Sure, some of the dreamers among the fan base saw the opening as a chance to pursue some bigger name coaches.
But, please. David Shaw? He wasn't leaving Stanford for Georgia. Jon Gruden will never coach again. Les Miles? Yeah, now that would have been interesting. Fortunately for LSU, the administration sobered up just in time.
Besides, who's to say Smart won't make a better head coach than any of them? Nothing can justify firing a coach who won 74 percent of his games and operated with impeccable integrity. But the availability of Smart did justify the risk.
Aside from no head coaching experience, Smart's resume makes him uniquely qualified. Start with the fact that he's a Bulldog, having played for Ray Goff and Jim Donnan. School ties can be overrated. But in some cases, understanding the history and culture of a school is almost vital. He played for Georgia at a time when winning 10 games was considered an achievement.
Smart coached under Bobby Bowden at Florida State and Richt for a year at Georgia. He has spent the past 10 seasons learning under the master himself, Nick Saban -- one with the Miami Dolphins and nine at Alabama.
No, he's not Nick Saban Lite. But neither is he Will Muschamp 2.0.
He's Kirby Paul Smart, son of a south Georgia football coach, and a devoted husband and father of three young children.
Working under Saban has taught Smart the value of details. "The Process," as it's called.
"The process is hard work, that's what it is," Smart said. "It's hard work through commitment and doing things the right way. A commitment to excellence on the field, off the field, in the classroom, and every social aspect we have for our players. The only way you achieve that is by getting a great organization, a great support staff, surrounding yourself with great people and great coaches. That's what I hope to do here at the University of Georgia."
What has separated Georgia from Alabama more than anything has been talent. That flies in the face of the perception that Georgia has been loaded with players. But just examine the NFL draft records. Going back to the 2010 draft, Georgia has had 32 players drafted. Alabama had 42. Dig deeper and you'll see that the talent disparity is greater than that. The Dogs had four first-round picks, three of whom -- AJ Green, Alec Ogletree and Todd Gurley -- lost playing time at Georgia for suspensions and injuries. The Tide had 16 first-round picks. Bama had seven second-rounders, compared to one for Georgia.
It's not only Alabama. Florida had 35 players drafted in that time, including 14 in the first and second rounds. When Jeremy Pruitt was hired from Florida State as defensive coordinator, he deemed that the Dogs had only two defensive players -- linebackers Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins -- that could have started for FSU or Alabama.
What has been the difference?
Recruiting? It starts there. Alabama and Florida also out-recruited Georgia, which is nothing new. Florida has always been loaded with talent.
Player development? That's definitely been a part of it.
So if you want to blame everything on Richt, start with recruiting and development. All of that falls on the head coach.
What it tells you, though, is Smart must ramp up the recruiting. He's using this week before the recruiting dead period to win over the key commitments that Richt had in place, namely quarterback Jacob Eason and offensive lineman Ben Cleveland.
As for development, there's a chance Smart will hire Scott Cochran from Alabama.
"I firmly believe that you can take and develop players and you can show improvement within a team, and we need to do that here," Smart said. "We're going to challenge them and demand toughness and effort out of every person and every aspect of their life. We're going to push them harder than they've ever been pushed. But I think to be excellent, they have to do that."
There's also a mindset that champions possess.
"I think first and foremost these players at the University of Georgia have to believe in themselves," Smart said. "We've got to do a good job of instilling them with that as a staff."
One thing that helps Smart is he inherits a team that can win next season. Ole Miss, which will be rebuilding, replaces Alabama on the schedule. The Dogs open against North Carolina, but quarterback Marquise Williams will be gone. Tennessee ought to be loaded, but the Vols have to travel to Athens. If the Dogs can develop some offense -- and a healthy Nick Chubb will help -- they could make Smart's transition much easier.
-- Guerry Clegg is an independent correspondent. You can write to him at sports@ledger-enquirer.com
This story was originally published December 8, 2015 at 9:04 PM with the headline "Guerry Clegg: Recruiting, development key for Smart ."