Kirby Smart introduced as Georgia football coach

ATHENS — Decked out in a black suit and a red tie, Kirby Smart was introduced as the University of Georgia’s head football coach Monday afternoon.

It was a coming home party for the former Georgia defensive back who will become the 26th head football coach after the school parted ways with longtime coach Mark Richt last Sunday.

Georgia athletics director Greg McGarity said he met with Smart in Atlanta after the SEC Championship Game and made his recommendation to University president Jere Morehead. Smart has been the defensive coordinator at Alabama for since 2008.

Smart was emotional when he was introduced. The 39-year old Bainbridge native thanked countless mentors, including his father, former Bainbridge High coach Sonny Smart, as well as his mother. He also thanked his Georgia coaches whom he played for — Vince Dooley, Ray Goff and Jim Donnan — as well as his mentor, Alabama coach Nick Saban.

The new coach agreed to a six-year contract that will pay him around $3.75 million per season.

He said his time as a Georgia Bulldog player was the “five best years of his life,” and he was excited about returning home.

Smart said he and his staff will continue to build on the foundation of integrity that Richt established.

“Our student-athletes will represent the University with class and integrity,” he said. “We will demand that. The greatest satisfaction I’ve received as a coach is going into a 17, 18-year-old’s home and, recruiting that young man, and then watching them walk out the door as a graduate five years later.

“We’ll do everything in our power to help these kids be successful as true student-athletes. That student comes first. Although we know these young men will not be perfect, they’ll be held to a higher standard of behavior. Our ultimate goal is to educate students, and we’ll do this the right way, which is the Georgia way.”

Smart’s defense at Alabama have consistently ranked among the nation’s stingiest, and he plans to bring that mentality to Athens. He said he will be hands-on with the entire team, not just the defense.

“Our teams will display great mental and physical toughness,” he said. “We’ll play with great confidence and pride on the field. We’ll work toward this with relentless energy and passion, and I will demand that everyone in the organization does that.”

Smart began recruiting as soon as he was offered the job on Sunday. Published reports had him spending a good portion of Sunday afternoon with Ben Cleveland, a Georgia commit from nearby Stephens County. Smart also plans to meet with five-start recruit Jacob Eason, one of the nation’s top quarterback prospects, later this week. Eason remains committed to Georgia but has wavered on his commitment since Richt was fired.

He visited Florida last week.

But Smart will also coach Alabama in the College Football Playoffs when the Crimson Tide meets Michigan State in the semifinals at the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31.

“First off, both President Morehead and Greg were very supportive of me doing this the right way,”he said. “It’s very important to me that I finish things the right way over there. A lot of these young men playing for the University of Alabama, I sat in their homes three, four, five years ago and convinced them to come to the University of Alabama. And I don’t think it would be doing justice to turn and walk away from those kids.”

Smart would not set a timetable for bringing in a staff. One of the hottest rumors circulation on the internet had Smart pillaging Saban’s staff at Alabama.

He squashed those rumors on Monday.

“We don’t put a timetable when we make those decisions,” he said. “It’s a very fluid situation, constantly moving and changing. I won’t put any timetables on anything. Right now we’re worried about getting on the road, getting recruiting, and trying to assemble staff and talking to as many people as we can.”