Kirby Smart has established himself as one of the nation’s top college football coaches and he is being rewarded for that success.
Smart and the University of Georgia Smart agreed to a contract extension that will pay him an annual salary of $13 million—making him the highest-paid coach in college football.
In addition, Smart could also receive up to $1.55 million per year in bonuses based on the new 12-team playoff structure, an increase from $1.3 million from his previous deal. The deal keeps him in Athens, Georgia, through the 2033 season.
Smart’s resumé includes winning back-to-back College Football Playoff National Championships in 2021 and 2022. He has gone 94–16 and made six bowl victories over the last eight years.
“I continue to be grateful and humbled by our administration’s commitment to our football program,” Smart said in a statement. “The current culture in collegiate athletics is ever-changing and as challenging as it has ever been, so I truly appreciate the leadership that our team is continually provided.”
Last season, the Bulldogs went undefeated during the regular season and won the SEC Eastern Division title.
However, Georgia lost to Alabama 27–24 in the SEC Championship game to fall out of the College Football Playoff. The Bulldogs bounced back by rolling past Florida State 63–3 in the 2023 Orange Bowl, finishing the year 13–1.
The Bulldog offense ranked first in the SEC in total offensive plays (958), second in the SEC and fifth nationally in both total offense (496.5 yards per game) and scoring offense (40.14), and second in the SEC in passing offense (305.29 yards per game). The 2023 Georgia senior class set a program record for career victories, going 50–4 over four years.
“There’s a culture at our place of work ethic and the job is not done. I think a lot of coaches relax at the end of the year and say this game doesn’t matter or this game is not important,” Smart said after the game. “There’s nothing that’s not going to be important at our place. I think that standard has translated into success, and I think that’s a big part of the culture that’s been created.”
In 2021, Georgina won its first national championship since 1980 and the first team since 1982 to go undefeated in the SEC regular season, a No. 1 national ranking by all the major polls, and the first ever to win 14 games.
It marked the fifth straight team to finish the regular season ranked in the top ten of the College Football Playoff rankings. The team set 21 school records, highlighted by the nation’s top-ranked defense. The Bulldogs defeated No. 2 Michigan, 34–11, in the Capital One Orange Bowl in Miami and then No. 1 Alabama, 33–18, in the championship game in Indianapolis.
The Bulldogs then set an NFL Draft record with 15 players taken, including five defensive players in the first round, led by the first overall selection, junior Travon Walker.
“Somebody told me you’re not playing for the 41 years that we haven’t won a national title, you’re playing for the men in the room, and that really touched me, because that’s what it was all about was those guys in the room,” Smart said.
In 2022, Georgia captured its second consecutive national championship and second SEC title, going 12–0 in the regular season and beating LSU in the conference title game, earning a No. 1 seed in the final CFP rankings.
The Bulldogs beat No. 4 Ohio State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl CFP semifinal before a decisive 65–7 win over TCU in the College Football Playoff title game at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Georgia was the only team to finish the 2022 season nationally ranked in the top five for scoring offense (41.1 points per game) and scoring defense (14.3 points per game).
Those performances earned Smart a huge payday and expectations remain high for the Bulldogs for next season and beyond.
“I continue to be grateful and humbled by our administration’s commitment to our football program,” Smart said. “The current culture in collegiate athletics is ever-changing and as challenging as it has ever been, so I truly appreciate the leadership that our team is continually provided. I have an immense pride for representing my alma mater and look forward to that relationship continuing for many years to come.”
