First Photo Of Kirby in Georgia Attire
By: Larry Burton
While Alabama fans were sad to lose Kirby Smart, they knew the day and time were coming and much like Saban, wish him well on his new endeavor as head coach of the University of Georgia and thank him for his great service to the team here for so many years.
Still, to see Smart in Georgia garb for the first time hurts a little, but hey, it’s just business as usual as Smart will be on the recruiting trail during the 10 days of downtime from practice at Alabama.
As you all know by know and from previous articles here in Larry’s Lowdown, Smart and Georgia agreed that he would remain at Alabama during this run through the College Football Playoffs so for at least another few weeks, Smart will split his time and allegiance between the two schools.
In a teleconference Sunday with Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio, Saban said, “Kirby’s gonna do what he does over there for the next week or 10 days, and when we come back and start practice, he’s gonna come back and do what he does here. I know the professional integrity that Kirby has and the commitment that he has to our players, as well as his new job. I feel very comfortable that he’ll be able to manage that, and I think the University of Georgia’s been first class in how they’ve handled this transition in helping us both be able to do this the way we’re gonna do it.”
While some media pundits think this is doing a disservice to Georgia, his new employer, both Smart and Georgia feel that this is the high road to take. When Georgia hired Mark Richt away from Florida State, they allowed him to coach through the Seminoles national championship game also, so there is history there that shows they feel this is the right thing to do.
You would expect nothing but class when it comes from Kirby Smart and Alabama fans got nothing but that and his best for all the years he spent as a coach here.
Smart with Stephens County offensive lineman Ben Cleveland and friends. (Photo Twitter)
Larry has been published in almost every media outlet for college sports and now primarily writes here for Touchdown Alabama. Follow Larry on Twitter for inside thoughts and game time comments at https://twitter.com/LBSportswriter
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