University of Georgia

Mary Beth Smart: Get to know the 'First Lady of Georgia Football'

ATHENS, Ga. — The first lady of Georgia football is a Bulldog star herself.

Mary Beth Smart, wife of head coach Kirby Smart, was a star player on the Lady Bulldogs in the early 2000s. Her name still resides on the annals of Georgia women’s basketball.

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A full profile of the former Mary Beth Lycett appeared in DawgNation.

Here are some highlights:

Mary Beth Lycett was an exceptional basketball player. She was named Miss Georgia Basketball her senior year at Morrow High and played for Andy Landers’ Lady Bulldogs from 1999-2003.

She started 41 of 51 games over her final two seasons in Athens. She remains listed among Georgia’s all-time leaders in 3-point shooting percentage, free-throw percentage and minutes played.

Mary Beth and Kirby did not attend UGA at the same time. She is 5 1/2 years younger than him. They met when he returned to Georgia to work for Mark Richt as running backs coach in 2005.

Mary Beth was working in the athletic association’s business office at the time, and he had to call her to arrange his travel to Athens for the interview.

Mary Beth and Kirby started dating in 2005 and were married in Athens in summer 2006 at St. James United Methodist Church.

She is an avid tennis player. She ran the Chicago Marathon in 2014.

Kirby and Mary Beth Smart have three children, twins Julia and Weston (born in 2007) and their youngest son, Andrew.

Following Kirby’s hire as Georgia football coach in 2015, the Smarts moved into a 1920s cottage on a three-acre lot a few miles from Athens.

This article was written by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.