Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart has been named as the SEC’s coach of the year. SEC coaches named Kirby Smart as the coach of the year.
Why is Kirby Smart the conference’s coach of the year after winning a national championship? Because Georgia lost 15 players to the 2022 NFL draft and numerous other players to the transfer portal.
Despite the roster turnover, the standard remained the same for the Bulldogs. Georgia finished a second consecutive regular season undefeated and won the SEC championship against LSU. This combination of accomplishments is why SEC head coaches voted for Kirby Smart as the coach of the year over LSU’s Brian Kelly and Tennessee’s Josh Heupel.
Georgia earned the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff and will look to repeat as national champions. The Bulldogs face the Ohio State Buckeyes in the CFP semifinals on Dec. 31.
A big reason for Georgia’s continued success was special teams. Georgia kicker Jack Podlesny was named as the SEC’s special teams player of the year. Podlesny make 23 of 26 field goal attempts in 2022 and did not miss a single kick under 40 yards.
Podlesny was named first team AP All-SEC. Georgia’s coaches and offense did not like having to attempt so many field goals, but they were happy to have a reliable kicker that made field goals when the offense got stopped in the red zone.
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