In just his second season at Georgia in 2017, Smart led the Bulldogs to an SEC Championship win, Rose Bowl win and a national championship berth. However, he was beaten by his former boss, Nick Saban, and his former team, Alabama, in the College Football Playoff final. He was named the Georgia Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year for the 2017 season.
He has won the SEC Coach of the Year award 3 times — 2017, 2021 and 2022.
While his first season in 2016 was somewhat disappointing — finished 8-5 overall, his second season sure wasn’t.
During its historic season, Georgia’s one loss came to Auburn in Jordan-Hare Stadium, but the Dawgs got revenge on Gus Malzahn and the Tigers in the SEC Championship Game, 28-7.
In Smart’s first title-winning season in 2021, Georgia’s only loss was to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, 41-24. After blowing out Michigan in the CFP semifinals, 34-11, the Dawgs got their revenge on the Tide, winning the championship game 33-18.
In the 2022 College Football Playoff, the Bulldogs squeaked by Ohio State 42-41 in the semifinals before a historic performance against TCU in the title game. The Dawgs blew out the Horned Frogs 65-7 to claim a second-straight title. That 58-point drubbing of TCU is the biggest margin of victory ever in a bowl game.
While the Bulldogs have turned things around on the field, the recruiting has certainly followed suit. In the 2018 class alone, the Bulldogs snapped Nick Saban’s and Alabama’s No. 1 recruiting class streak, signing a whopping seven 5-star prospects, including the nation’s No. 1 dual-threat QB, No. 1 RB, No. 1 OG and No. 1 OLB. In the years since, Smart has kept Georgia among the recruiting juggernauts.
