ATHENS, Ga. — Kirby Smart will be announced as the University of Georgia’s head football coach as early as Sunday barring a last-minute snag in negotiations, sources say.
One Bulldogs assistant coach told Channel 2’s Zach Klein Monday that the feeling among all the coaches was that Smart would replace Mark Richt, who stepped down Sunday after 15 years at UGA.
One official inside the football program told Klein not to expect the official announcement this week because of the SEC Championship game. He said official word will come early next week.
https://twitter.com/ZachKleinWSB/status/671881388577177602
Smart has spent the last eight years next to Alabama head coach Nick Saban as the Crimson Tide’s defensive coordinator. Smart has helped Alabama win three national championships and has strong ties to Georgia. He played defensive back for the Bulldogs in the mid-'90s and was an administrative assistant on the 1999 coaching staff and the running-back coach in 2005.
Smart will bring in his own staff, but is expected to retain defensive line coach Tracy Rocker, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Smart became the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the country in June when he received a $150,000-a-year raise to $1.5 million. He has three years left on a four-year deal that includes a buyout thought to be in the range of $500,000.
Richt told fans Monday he wants everyone to rally around the new coach when the announcement is made.
WSBTV
