The Georgia Bulldogs reportedly have found their next head football coach.
Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported
Tuesday that Georgia will hire Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby
Smart to lead its football team. Towers added “an announcement could
come as soon as Sunday or Monday.”Smart was a defensive back for the Bulldogs from 1995-98 and was an All-SEC performer as a senior. He also served as the running backs coach at Georgia in 2005 and was the 2012 AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year and the 2009 Broyles Award winner as college football’s top assistant coach.
Smart helped the Crimson Tide win three national titles and has led the defense since 2008. Alabama is set to play Florida in Saturday’s SEC Championship Game, and Georgia is not expected to formally make an announcement until after that contest.
ESPN.com’s Mark Schlabach said Smart “has not signed [a] memo of understanding,” but he will become the Bulldogs' new head coach “barring a last-minute development.”
Towers pointed out Smart has three years remaining on his four-year deal with Alabama, but it includes a buyout "thought to be in the range of $500,000."
Smart will replace Mark Richt, whom the Bulldogs parted ways with after 15 seasons, 145 wins and two SEC titles. While Richt has an impressive resume, his two conference championships came in the first half of his tenure, and he failed to take advantage of a weaker SEC East division in recent seasons.
Smart is familiar with the SEC and has reached the mountaintop as an assistant at Alabama, but Paul Myerberg of USA Today implied he would have liked to see Georgia go a different direction after Richt's
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