{"id":21507,"date":"2022-07-21T18:55:08","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T18:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/georgias-kirby-smart-becomes-top-paid-college-football-coach\/"},"modified":"2022-07-21T18:55:08","modified_gmt":"2022-07-21T18:55:08","slug":"georgias-kirby-smart-becomes-top-paid-college-football-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/georgias-kirby-smart-becomes-top-paid-college-football-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia&#8217;s Kirby Smart becomes top-paid college football coach"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el\" aria-label=\"Video - Breaking down the handful of teams that will compete for the College Football Playoff\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">More than six months after Kirby Smart delivered Georgia football its first national championship in 41 years, the school finally announced a new, long-term contract Thursday that will make Smart among the highest compensated coaches in the nation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Georgia will pay Smart $10.25 million in the first year of a new deal that runs through the 2031 season.  That makes him the highest paid college football coach at a public university based on documents compiled by USA TODAY Sports.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The contract will have annual increases that increase to $12,250,000 for the 2031 season, making the total package worth $112,500,000 before bonuses.  The total compensation amount is larger than any other coaching contract in college sports.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Georgia president Jere Morehead said in late May that he expected a deal to be finalized in the weeks ahead and that the athletic board would be presented terms to approve in writing before an announcement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cI am pleased that Coach Smart has made a long-term commitment to the University of Georgia,\u201d Morehead said in a statement Thursday.  \u201cI look forward to seeing his continued success with the Georgia Bulldogs for many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside aria-label=\"advertisement\" class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong class=\"gnt_ar_b_al\">FLIPPING PAGE:<\/strong>Smart says Georgia won&#8217;t be hunted even after national title<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong class=\"gnt_ar_b_al\">WHAT WAS SAID:<\/strong>Five things from Smart, Georgia players at SEC Media Days<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong class=\"gnt_ar_b_al\">NO RESPECT AT ALL:<\/strong>Will Georgia QB Stetson Bennett ever be appreciated?<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Smart, 46, is 65-15 in six seasons including 40-9 in the SEC.  He returned to his alma mater where he was an All-SEC safety following nine seasons as an Alabama assistant, eight as defensive coordinator.<\/p>\n<aside aria-label=\"advertisement\" class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">He guided Georgia in 2021 to its first unbeaten regular season since 1982 and after a loss to Alabama in the SEC championship game, led Georgia to its second College Football Playoff national championship game after the Bulldogs routed Michigan in the Orange Bowl.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Georgia then finally overcame its Alabama hurdle with a 33-18 win in the national title game in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cMary Beth, my family &#038; I are excited and grateful for the extension of my agreement with The University of Georgia,&#8221; Smart said in a statement. &#8220;This is home for us, our roots run deep here.  My commitment to this University and our Football program is unwavering.  I&#8217;m thankful to President Jere Morehead and (AD) Josh Brooks for their continued support of Georgia Football.  It&#8217;s an honor being the head football coach at the University of Georgia, and while I&#8217;m certainly proud of what we&#8217;ve been able to accomplish, I&#8217;m confident the best is yet to come!\u201d <\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_anc\" id=\"gnt_atomsnc\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"loadAnc\" aria-label=\"Newsletter signup form\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Morehead said in May that the school was working to put Smart on par with the pay of other national championship coaches.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Smart is the sixth coach to be paid at least $9 million, according to figures kept by USA TODAY Sports.  His new compensation for the 2022 season is ahead of Alabama&#8217;s Nick Saban ($9.9 million), Michigan State&#8217;s Mel Tucker ($9.5 million), Ohio State&#8217;s Ryan Day ($9.5 million), LSU&#8217;s Brian Kelly ($9.5 million) and Texas A&#038;M&#8217;s Jimbo Fisher ($9 million).<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cHe is a bright, focused, determined individual who is devoted to the University of Georgia,\u201d Morehead said at a dedication of an $80 million expansion and renovation of the Butts-Mehre building that brought a new football operations center.  \u201cJust look at his impressive record so far.  SEC championship.  Sugar Bowl championship.  Peach Bowl Championship.  Orange Bowl championship and now a national championship.  I am pleased that as a great student himself, Coach Smart expects his players to work as hard in the classroom as they do on the field with the goals of winning SECs and national championships and ultimately earning a college degree.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Smart was paid $7.2 million last season before bonuses as part of a contract he received in May of 2018 after Georgia reached the national championship game in his second season that ran through the 2024 season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cCoach Smart&#8217;s impact on the University of Georgia extends far past his significant accolades as our head football coach,\u201d Brooks said in a statement.  \u201cHe and his wife are Bulldogs through and through, and it is evident that Athens and UGA mean as much to him as he means to us.  I am excited for our football program&#8217;s continued success under his direction.  The future of Georgia Football remains bright with Coach Smart as its steadfast leader.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"gnt_em_gl_i\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/07\/20\/NTRE\/582e22fb-c512-4d89-809f-7a62180baa37-USATSI_18721326.jpg?resize=660%2C372&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/07\/20\/NTRE\/582e22fb-c512-4d89-809f-7a62180baa37-USATSI_18721326.jpg?crop=3781,2127,x0,y192&amp;width=1320&amp;height=744&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp 2x\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"372\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than six months after Kirby Smart delivered Georgia football its first national championship in 41 years, the school finally announced a new, long-term contract Thursday that will make Smart among the highest compensated coaches in the nation. Georgia will pay Smart $10.25 million in the first year of a new deal that runs through &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/georgias-kirby-smart-becomes-top-paid-college-football-coach\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Georgia&#8217;s Kirby Smart becomes top-paid college football coach<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21475,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/kirby-smart-georgia-agree-to-massive-contract-extension\/","url_meta":{"origin":21507,"position":0},"title":"Kirby Smart, Georgia agree to massive contract extension","date":"July 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Kirby Smart guided the Georgia Bulldogs to their first college football national championship since 1980, and he is entering the 2022 season with a bit of a fatter wallet.The university announced Thursday it agreed to a lucrative contract extension with the 46-year-old\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21564,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/kirby-smart-contract-georgia-boss-becomes-highest-paid-coach-at-public-university-with-10-year-extension\/","url_meta":{"origin":21507,"position":1},"title":"Kirby Smart contract: Georgia boss becomes highest-paid coach at public university with 10-year extension","date":"July 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"On the heels of its first national title since 1980, Georgia announced a 10-year, $111 million contract extension for coach Kirby Smart following his appearance at SEC Media Days. The new deal will run through the 2031 season and pay Smart between $10.25 million and $12.25 million per season, making\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20397,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/georgia-qb-stetson-bennett-unrecognized-for-talent-coach-kirby-smart-says\/","url_meta":{"origin":21507,"position":2},"title":"Georgia QB Stetson Bennett unrecognized for talent, coach Kirby Smart says","date":"July 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"ATLANTA -- Georgia football coach Kirby Smart says he believes that starting quarterback Stetson Bennett is \"one of the least respected good players in the country.\"\"The kid is a tremendous athlete. He's got good arm strength,\" Smart said Wednesday at SEC media days. \"People keep doubting him, and that's fine\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21067,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/kirby-smart-renews-complaints-about-facing-florida-every-year-in-jacksonville\/","url_meta":{"origin":21507,"position":3},"title":"Kirby Smart renews complaints about facing Florida every year in Jacksonville","date":"July 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, Kirby ... we get it -- you don't like playing the Florida Gators in Jacksonville.University of Georgia football coach Kirby Smart won't give up on his thinly-disguised hints that he'd like to move the Florida-Georgia game in Jacksonville to home-and-home, or a rotation between Jacksonville and Atlanta. Gene Frenette:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20653,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/cant-get-a-florida-coach-to-agree-with-me-about-moving-georgia-florida-game-on-campus\/","url_meta":{"origin":21507,"position":4},"title":"&#8216;Can&#8217;t get a Florida coach to agree with me&#8217; about moving Georgia-Florida game on campus","date":"July 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Georgia coach Kirby Smart offered some of his strongest comments yet Wednesday about wanting to move the Georgia-Florida football game to the schools' campuses rather than playing it in Jacksonville, Florida, every season.During an interview on SEC Network at SEC media days Wednesday, Smart said having the game in Jacksonville,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/media\/2022\/07\/21\/USATODAY\/usatsports\/30d0b98a60604380888fe9fa299af86f.jpg?width=660&height=441&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21507"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21507\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}