Is former Georgia outside linebacker Nolan Smith coming for Kirby Smart’s job as head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs?
Coach Smart better watch out, because Smith said on Wednesday he wants to come for Smart’s job. But he wants to do it better!
“Yeah I told coach Smart I’m coming for his job,” Smith said during pro day on Wednesday.
“100 percent try and run it better than he did. Try and get some 4-peats, 5-peats. It may sound easy. He did amazing things, he’s an amazing coach, but yeah I’m coming for his job.”
First, Smith has a (hopefully) 10-plus season NFL career to complete after he’s taken in this year’s NFL draft. Smith is projected to be a first-round pick, with many mock drafts having him go in the top 10.
When Smith’s playing career ends, Smart told Smith the job is his to take.
“Nolan is intelligent. He’s charismatic, teammates love him, he’s passionate,” Smith said.
“He’s full of energy and he’s one of the toughest guys I’ve been around. Nolan is going to be successful at whatever he does. He told me he’s going to come back and be the head coach at Georgia and I told him he could have it.”
Smith and Smart might have been playing around on Wednesday with their comments, but I would not be surprised if there was plenty of truth to what Smith was saying. Smith was sidelined with a torn pectoral muscle during Georgia’s win over Florida, and he quickly adjusted into a ‘player-coach’ on the sideline, helping and instructing his teammates in practice and during games.
Smith really turned heads at the 2023 NFL combine in Indianapolis, Indiana, and displayed his leadership skills during interviews on March 1.
The 6-foot-2, 238-pound pass rusher showed off his explosive lower body with a 41.5-inch vertical jump. Only three linebackers have recorded a higher vertical jump in NFL combine history (one of them is former Georgia linebacker Channing Tindall).
Smith ran the fastest 40-yard dash of any linebacker at the combine with a time of 4.39 seconds. He is the heaviest player to have a vertical jump over 40 inches and a 40-yard dash under 4.4 seconds.
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