SerpApi.Org
Georgia‘s Kirby Smart doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of sheep — or, in this case, anyone outside the Butts-Mehre athletic complex. And he learned that from the man he succeeded as the dean of SEC head football coaches — Nick Saban.
The 50-year-old Smart wrapped up his time at the podium Tuesday morning during Day 2 of the 2026 SEC Football Kickoff Media Days event in Tampa by answering a question about how the media should treat longtime Bulldogs offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. The 52-year-old Bobo, a former Georgia quarterback who once roomed with Smart during their playing days in Athens, has long been a scapegoat for disgruntled Bulldogs fans and social media pundits anytime the team stumbles, especially offensively.
But rather than go on the defensive for his friend and coaching colleague, Smart harkened back to a lesson learned during his 15 seasons serving as Saban’s defensive coordinator at Alabama.
“I was blessed to work for the greatest college football coach in the history of all of college football, and I don’t even think it’s arguable — I don’t think you can even debate it. But I learned from him that you evaluate things from inside-out,” Smart said Tuesday. “And I do think football intuition is one of my strengths, and knowing that, I know we have the right offensive coordinator.
“What you guys want to write and talk about is completely up to you,” Smart concluded. “Because I look at the production he’s had, the success he’s had, the team success where he doesn’t worry about stats, he worries about winning football games. And the way he coaches our players day-to-day is unmatched in this country.”
Bobo is entering his 12th season as Georgia’s offensive coordinator, and fourth in his second stint in the position, where he’s spearheaded the Bulldogs offense to back-to-back SEC championships the past two seasons. Of course, that run has also coincided with two straight one-and-done appearances in the College Football Playoffs.
Bobo was also a notorious punching bag for fans during his first stint with the Bulldogs, where he served as both quarterback coach and offensive coordinator between 2001-14 under former head coach Mark Richt. Despite that criticism, Bobo’s Georgia offenses have averaged 34.6 points per game during his second stint in Athens. In fact, the Bulldogs have finished Top 5 in the SEC in scoring through two of the last three seasons, and ranked sixth in the league averaging 32.1 points per game in 2025.
