Kirby Smart has set higher standards for Georgia Bulldogs football

In just his second season, Kirby Smart has set higher standards for Georgia Bulldogs football, and simply winning the SEC East is just one step to a greater goal.

The Georgia Bulldogs football team defeated South Carolina 24-10 on Saturday to achieve their first 9-0 start since 1982. With Kentucky’s loss to Ole Miss, Georgia also clinched their first SEC East title since 2012.

The Bulldogs have had their fair share of preseason and early season hype in recent years. In many seasons, experts expected Georgia to dominate the East division and be a contender to win the SEC, but they always seemed to fall short.

Key players would get injured. Or maybe, an upset would happen at some point in the season, and the Bulldogs would struggle to bounce back. Any hope of getting to Atlanta to play for the conference title would be lost. The possibility of playing for a national title would always seem to be too far out of reach.

However, this season seems to be different. There seems to be a new enthusiasm and confidence around the program that has not really been present in previous years.

This newfound confidence is evident in the Bulldogs’ performance this season. With the exception of No. 3 Notre Dame and South Carolina, Georgia has defeated every opponent by more than 20 points. The Bulldogs have dominated with a fairly young team, including true freshman quarterback Jake Fromm.

But despite the hype, head coach Kirby Smart has managed to keep his young team grounded. Each week, the coach and his players emphasize their main focus is their next opponent. The Bulldogs do not get caught up in the hype around their record or ranking. They keep their focus and worry about one game at a time.

Smart is also always looking to get better. In each halftime interview or postgame press conference, he almost always points out where there is room for improvement no matter what the score happens to be.

When asked about winning the SEC East, Smart said there would be no celebration. With the potential to earn a spot in the playoff, this Georgia Bulldogs team knows that simply winning the East is not good enough. It may have been in previous years, but not now. The standard for success is now much higher at Georgia. Smart has made this happen in just his second year as head coach.

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The Bulldogs were a good team under Mark Richt, and there is no doubt that he is a good coach. He has Miami, who has struggled in recent seasons, on track to win the ACC Coastal division and possibly a spot in the playoff if they win the conference title.

But Richt did seem to lack the competitive drive that is necessary to be a contender in the SEC, especially with everyone scrambling to try to keep up with Nick Saban and Alabama. Smart does have that drive, and he has a perfectionist attitude similar to Saban, who is his former boss.

With that kind of mindset, a division title is simply one step closer to achieving a much higher goal.