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UNDISPUTED KING: How Kirby Smart has changed College Football FOREVER. · Talking Dawgs

• Daniel: Alright Glenn, let's jump in. ⁓ welcome to Talking Dogs, another episode, another week, another newsletter out for the people. By the way, Clint: Yes, sir. Daniel: So grateful to all of you for being here. ⁓ this is just a brand new thing. It's up, it's we're just trying to get it off the ground. And so any support that you give us, it believe me, it's it's exponentially, we are exponentially grateful for it. ⁓ anyone that you tell about the show, about the newsletter, about all of that, we would love to see it. And if you happen to have just stumbled upon this YouTube video, ⁓ we would love to have you subscribe. The there's a link right in the description. Of this video, you can just click on that, subscribe to a weekly newsletter. Clint and I send it out every single week. It's absolutely free to you. It's all of our kind of the thoughts that don't get recorded into these microphones, all the things sort of in between the recordings that we're ruminating on. Safe to say we're thinking about Georgia football, Clint, too much. I'm gonna say too much. Clint: Every week. ⁓ yeah, I is there such a thing? Like can you think about Georgia football too much? I don't think so, Daniel. I'm gonna be honest with you. Daniel: Can I make a confession? This is not good for YouTube. On YouTube, you want to lead with your like catchy content. We're a minute and 20 seconds into this recording, and so far, people are just clicking out of it as fast as they possibly can. Can I make a confession, though? People love the banter. I spent about 90 minutes today going over. Clint: No, they're not. You may. They do. I agree. Daniel: The twenty twenty six Georgia basketball roster. About ninety solid minutes, Clint. Clint: Y can can okay, can I confess something to you now? Daniel: Yep, yep. Go ahead. Clint: Every time you tell me how often you think about Georgia basketball, my respect for you goes down just a just a little. Daniel: Well, I'm not worried about that. In fact I'm gonna double down. I think I may have talked myself into some hope. Clint. We'll talk about it on a future episode. We'll talk about it on a future episode, but all I'm trying to tell you is Dominique Wilkins' kid wasn't the best freshman on the team and it wasn't even close. And the best freshman on the team came back, Clint. Clint: Here we go. Is it cannon catching? Has he has he done it for you? Now that Daniel: It's a Carson Beck situation. That's all I'm trying to say. It's not unlike a Carson Beck situation. Alright. Today we're talking about ways that Kirby Smart has transformed college football. And shout out, by the way, to Donald O'Quinn, ⁓ who must be a heck of an Irishman. Clint: Donald, we got you, baby. Daniel: With a name like Donald O'Quinn, you are Irish if you are anything. he sent us an email, replied actually to the last newsletter. You know if when you get that newsletter, Clint, you can just hit reply in your email and it's and an email comes directly to us. ⁓ and so he replied to that last newsletter, which by the way, we got some great replies on most underrated Georgia player of all time. ⁓ which we should do a whole episode on most underrated Georgia players of all time. Clint: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Daniel: We might do that next week. But he replied to ⁓ the newsletter and said ⁓ gave us this suggestion for for something we should talk about. So let's jump into it. ⁓ I've got two. I don't know how many you have, but here's the one I'm gonna start with. And it and it is actually from our man, Donald O'Quinn. And it it is Clint: Yep, great. Right, Donald. Daniel: It is probably the most direct and profound way that Kirby Smart has changed Georgia football in the sense that he has actually changed the rules of college football. You are aware, I'm sure, but I'm not sure how many of our listeners or viewers are aware, that there is now a Georgia rule in college football. Rule 7-1-5. Which, by the way, when your rule book Clint: Here we Daniel: has a 7-1-5, it's too complex. I'm just here to tell you that right now. You've you jumped a shart. You have lost the game. Rule 7-1-5 prohibits any quote quick, abrupt, or exaggerated actions by stationary defenders within one yard of the line of scrimmage, Clint. It is the Kirby Smart line shift rule. Clint: You've gone too far. Too far. Called the s it's called the stunt. The line stunt. Daniel: And it was implemented because Georgia was too busy whipping people's ass that they had to say, Nope, sorry, we cannot allow that to happen any longer. We're gonna have to make a rule that says you can't do that. Clint: Which Which by the way, is the stupidest thing in the entire world for any sports to make a rule. Let me tell the offense, here here's here's a little secret. The offense dictates when they snap the ball. And we could all get together before that, and we could talk about when we're gonna do it. Daniel: Okay. Shocking. Yeah. But what would we call that time when we all circle around each other and get together and talk about what we're gonna do? There'd be have to be a name for it, Clint. Yeah, we could call it but little bighorn. We just your own little bighorn back there behind the line of scrimmage. Where you're talking about what you're gonna do. ⁓ Kirby Smart's literally changing the rule book of college football Clint: The the the Alamo? Lopez. Daniel: Because he just said, you know what, I bet we can get the offensive line to jump five times a game. And for four straight years he did. Every single week he got them to jump. They knew it was happening. And he still got him to jump. So much so That ⁓ people whined to Greg Sankey enough, that Greg Sankey moaned to the Rules Commission enough that ⁓ we got the rule changed. So congratulations to college football. ⁓ Kirby Smart's too good for you. He is quite literally better than you deserve. ⁓ and you the only way you know how to deal with it is to run and tell mommy, I guess. But Alright, Clint. Clint: Yep. Daniel: Your first way first way that you you see that Georgia has or that Kirby Smart specifically has changed college football. Clint: The he's changed college football in so much as He has allowed every single person that enjoys football, wants to pursue football, and is talented at football, a process in which you can achieve your dreams on the greatest stage of NFL production in the world by coming to Georgia and getting drafted, no matter which star rating you've had. That's how he's changed college football. Okay. Go listen to Nick said go. Daniel: Thank you. Clint: Anybody. This is what Lane Kiffin's trying to do at LSU. This is what every you go get talent acquisition. And before NIL, before the the the earth was flat, Curry Smart Nick Saban cornered the market on this and just stacked dudes everywhere at Alabama. And when you're the best, so you're only graded high, you win all the games and you win championships, people are going to draft you. And that's what Alabama was. They just it was just Call talk about pipeline. It was just here it is. Here's your one thing. Go get it. And then all of a sudden, NIL came around. And all of a sudden, it gave what NIL has done extremely well, truth be told, extremely well. Is it has allowed a greater number of players to show who they are on a grand stage. They they're getting paid, yes. Good on them. And Daniel and I, again, for the record, we appreciate NIL. For all the naysayers and all the we like NIL. Players should be getting their their due, okay? But it also made it so that now all of a sudden, guys who weren't getting NIL had a path to play ahead of those. Alabama, you coming as a three star, you are riding that pine for four freaking years, and hopefully you're gonna get in the fourth quarter of game nine. That's what you're hoping. Okay. Now of a sudden, what what happened to Dan Jackson? Daniel? Daniel: Dan freaking Jackson. Clint: What Stetson Bennett. Like, without Kirby Smart, I could th those are just two literally. Okay. And they're side by side with Devontae Wyatt. Hello, payday from the Green Bay Packers, who let another guy go in a trade because they said, We're fine. We got Devontae Wyatt. Daniel: Yep. We could go on and on and on and on. 'Cause we want to keep former three star Devontae Wyatt. Yeah. Clint: Kirby Smart has changed how college football has progressed because now it is giving credence to every player to say truly, come get developed, work your tail off, and I will get you into the league to pursue your dream. That hadn't been done before. The Rudy movie, it wasn't a thing, ladies and gentlemen. Like, it just wasn't. Okay. Now you can will still get top tier, top tier talent. But also, Kirby Smart has taken guys. That's that's what's so hilarious to me again about people talking about Kirby Smart recruiting. We have video evidence, literally, it is recorded on this thing called a video and and broadcasted across the entire globe. Of top-tier talent, Jalen Carter, side by side, s literally, side by side with Dan Jackson on the field. This is how Kirby Smart has made his teams and how he's made. Daniel: Yep, that's the irony. Clint: Young men's dreams come true into the league, in which no one else has done it that way in the history of the sport. Daniel: No, not even close. And I'm gonna take that thought and I'm gonna piggyback for my next one because it's NIL related. And so you you kind of you hinted at this, but I think it's it's worth directly saying. Kirby Smart, it's not just that he has changed college football. You can literally if you'll open your eyes, you can watch him changing college football right now. Because guess what's happened since Kirby Smart has gotten to Georgia? NIL has happened. Right? And since NIL has happened, people are like, ⁓ Kirby Smart's fallen off. Really? 'Cause NIL started in twenty twenty one. Did Georgia do anything significant in twenty twenty two, Clint? Anything of note? Any winning football being played in twenty twenty two after NIL was a thing? Is that is that ⁓ is that an exaggeration on my part? Probably yes. College football has changed in the Kirby Smart era at Georgia. Clint: ⁓ here we go. Here we go, we go. Daniel: But you can literally watch Georgia and Kirby Smart changing college football into something else right now, here before your eyes. And what he is changing college football into and you touched on this er in an earlier newsletter, this is why you subscribe to Between the Banner. You Clint: Go subscribe. Daniel: Georgia has turned college football into a retention numbers game. There are people out there, and they are fools, and I won't name their names, but their names are Lane Kiffin and Lane Kiffin's former defensive coordinator, unqualified head coach. And some guy at Texas Tech whose name I won't even bother to learn. Clint: There it is. No it is. Daniel: There are people out there who still believe that college football is a get as many talented transfers on campus as you possibly can game. And Kirby Smart has simply just said, I'm not going to play that game. And instead of get left behind like Dabo Sweeney, what Kirby Smart has done instead is absolut is systematically change the way people look at successful off seasons and five years from now, ten years from now, you will have statistical services measuring retention percentage of rosters in college football. It will be a stat on twenty four seven sports. And it will be the Kirby Smart number. Clint: Yep. Daniel: Because that's what Kirby is doing. He's saying, You you guys are playing the one-hit wonders game. What I'm trying to do is keep guys and develop them, and I'm trying to hold the reservation. You see? Anyone can just take a transfer. It's the holding of the player. I think I know why we have transfers. I don't think you do. Clint: Yep. Mm. ⁓ L Literally d Texas Tech. Texas Tech is not going to be relevant much longer. Period. You can say, Well, I have deep pockets. Mm-hmm. They a hundred percent do. When you don't win. Daniel: Yep. And D pockets will always be good enough to get you something. Something. Clint: Correct. Cr. Daddy's trust fund can get you the nice car. It can't make you somebody that other people want to be around. Daniel: You w Well, and we know from Georgia fans when Stetson Bennett was the quarterback, they they'd rather have the Ferrari that breaks down every two days than the Honda Accord that gets you where you need to go all the time and wins the championship. And is the offensive ⁓ VP of the college football playoff. Clint: Give me the Land Rover that has electrical issues all day, but dang that badge looks good in my driveway. Daniel: Yeah, it looks nice sitting there 'cause it can't start. Clint: It looks so ⁓ look let me let me let me let me polish that guy up a little bit too. That's that's what it's like. And Kirby Smart says, Nope, I'm not playing that game. Daniel: Yeah. Yeah yeah. It's it's a retention game for Kirby Smart. I got I got one more, Clint. You got any you got any more? Alright. Clint: Mm. Yeah, I do. I Kirby Smart has changed how college football hires coaches. Daniel: Okay, here we go. Clint: Definitively. How how coaches are hired, Kirby Smart has changed. Now, I'm gonna go a couple different places for this that that is gonna be anecdotal because it hasn't caught on everywhere. Because l let's let me just say this. Louisiana's a state still exists. And that's a shame for all of us. Like everybody's less. Daniel: Yep. I love this one. Specifically those who travel there. Clint: specifically those who have had the misfortune of traveling there. Okay. And the state of the state of Florida exists. And that's also a shame. For the world. We we export Floridians to the world and they think and the world thinks that's why I can't. Daniel: Correct. Yppers. It's a global tragedy, yeah. It's a Chernobyl of sorts. A ch It's the Chernobyl of States. It's a tragedy the world really rallies around. Clint: wish people you know what, we should start we should start up a charitable trust to keep Floridians confined in the state of Florida. Daniel: Yes. Yes, a GoFundMe. That just Yeah. A very specific close the border program. I don't know what li side of the aisle you're on, but I think you can get behind this idea of closing the border. I believe we will be together on this. Yeah. Clint: A GoFundMe actively keeps them. Go. We are all on the same page there. ⁓ let me let me tell you a couple of ways in which Kirby Smart has changed coaching. One, people come to Georgia and try to rifle through the treasure chest to get their coach. Point one. Now you might be saying, well, that's what that's what Alabama had before Nick Saban. Yeah, you're right. Nick again, don't don't hear anything on this podcast. Currently, right now, Nick Saban is the best college football coach ever to have coached. Like That's currently the case. Come come back in five years and let's have a conversation. So, yes, that is true. Dan Lanning, Mel Tucker, like we we've seen coaches go elsewhere. Okay. But we've also seen colleges who have said, I want, not the Mario Crystal Ball. He got paid at Miami and he took him to National Championship, in which he couldn't win because again, he backs horses like Carson Beck. Daniel: Yep. Carson Beck might be the best thing that's ever happened to Mario Cristobal. Before he got there, he he ran the ball instead of taking a knee and lost a game. I've never. You and I were sitting we were recording a podcast in a hotel room. When that happened, and we both just stopped recording. We were both just like. Clint: That's actually not Lit literally all he had to do all he had to do was take a knee. Couldn't believe it was happening. Oui. Daniel: Did you what? Did you see what he It's unbelievable. Truly the most Mario thing of of all things. Clint: It's unbelievable. But look at Dan Lanning, look at the Mel Tuckers, look at what Arizona State did. Daniel: Mm-hmm. Clint: Went out and got a guy who loved the valley, who wants to stay there, who wants to build, who let Sam Levitt leave for LSU for other greener pastors, who has talented people, who is truly building something. What he does this year, I'm okay, I don't know quite yet. It's gonna be interesting. I'm gonna be watching it with wide eyes. But Daniel: I think both he and Mike White have some talent. That's all I'm trying to tell you. I think there's some I just think there's some talent there. Clint: Y'all remember I was there, you were there, people. When this man next to me quit on Mike White. I I was there. I was. I I will have the receipts. Text messages live forever. ⁓ But but look at Daniel: Never I never heard of such a I never heard of such a fool. Clint: Signetti, the top two coaches in college football, head shoulders. Many people have ⁓ Signetti the psychopath number one, which is foolish. He doesn't have nearly the resume Kirby Smart. It's insane. It's categorically insane. Do I have a problem with you listing him as two? No, I do not. I I don't have a problem with that. Daniel: Insane. Who else are you gonna put at two, by the way? I mean Ryan Day's the only guy that's got a prayer. Which, like, we can make fun of Ryan Day all we want. Who else are you gonna put at three? Nobody in college football even holds Ryan Day's jock strap. I love Dan Lanning as much as the next guy. Nobody. So Clint: Ryan Day. They're gonna say Ryan Day. Who else you putting at three? Nope, no one. What coaches did is they went out and they tried to find people. Daniel: There's a Clemson fan right now. I'm sorry, there's a Clemson fan right now going, but my coach Clint: If if you if you have any integrity in your soul, it's still a Daniel: Simpson is still a program. Can you even imagine? Clemson? Program? Clint: Literally couldn't. Like, nope. Couldn't. But but look at the rest of this list. And where remember when Steve Sarkeesian was going to be the great hope? What what did Steve Sarkeesian do in his time at Texas or anybody? He hasn't done anything. At USC, he was a pretty dang good coach, and then unfortunate person personal things came in, came over to Texas. But even he has changed his coaching philosophy. Even Texas AM has changed their coaching philosophy. They no longer went after Y the the big fish, the Jimbos. Mike Elko was a name that everybody should have known because he's a dang good football coach, defensive minded guy who Okay. Marcus Freeman. Remember when Notre Dame lost Kelly to LSU? Daniel: Yeah. Second best coach in the SEC. Yeah. Clint: Remember LSU so hold on, LSU. Remember when you all were excited about the last head coach that came to you as a big name? Rem Daniel: But not this one. This one's different. This one's different because he won all those championships at his last stop. Clint: Yeah. ⁓ Daniel, I don't know if you know this, but that's not that's not true. Daniel: ⁓ he's never won anything meaningful ever in his entire career? Not a single thing? Not once? Clint: hasn't done it. hasn't done it. Not once. Marcus Freeman can't comes up a dang good coach. I would rank him inside the top four right now. Okay. ⁓ Marcus Freeman, Kurt Signetti, Kirby Smart, Dan Lanning. You wanna get weird in a hurry and talk about I look, I know Michigan stumbled into this. Daniel: Sure. Clint: But Kyle Whittingham is a dang good coach and is still there because he's building programs the same exact way that Kirby Smart has done it. Tough, no nonsense, disciplined, get better each day, guys. Okay. Daniel: I I just you talked about Mich a Michigan coach stumbling into something and I got nervous. I was trying looking for the bleep button. I was trying to figure out how to end the show prematurely. I didn't want You gotta be careful when you're talking about Michigan coaches, Clint. It's Let me tell you the last way I think let me tell you the last way I think Kirby Smart has changed college football. And you touched on this in your in your earlier point, but I wanna get real specific about it. Clint: Kubersmart has changed. Daniel: And it's and if it's if this sounds like I'm attacking you personally, I probably am. Clint: He likely is. Daniel: You probably should have had less dumb opinions. And I'll raise my hand and say I had some dumb opinions. And the guy sitting next to me, he better raise his hand as well, because I heard him have some dumb opinions about this matter. And some of the Georgia Twitter personalities that you find to be very insightful. I was in an Airbnb with them when they had some dumb opinions about this particular matter as well. But here's the deal about Kirby Smart. Clint: No. No. Ha ha He was. Daniel: Here's the deal about Kirby Smart. Kirby Smart has said to all of college football, you no longer need a five-star quarterback to win a national championship. Period. End of story. Like you. It's no longer a requirement in college football. People thought that that died with you know, McIlwain or McLack McLamore. Clint: No. I like Mac Owain. That's Daniel: What the heck is Mac McIlwain, McLamore? Jim McIlwain. McElwa it's Jim McIlwain. It's McElroy. McLeroy. But McNamore is the white rapper. Clint: That's McLamore is a is a is an artist for yeah. McElroy is the quarterback. Jim McElwain is the quarterback. ⁓ What what about McNamara? Daniel: McNamara is yeah, he hits a s slapper over to the second baseman. Clint: ⁓ huh. Daniel: ⁓ McElroy. People thought that ended with him in Alabama. You no longer need if this show had segments, you know which one we would be in at this point. You no longer need a five-star quarterback to win a national championship. Kirby Smart has said give me guys that are winners, give me guys that fit what I'm trying to do. I will have the guts. Clint: Yes. You know it's the whole damn thing. Daniel: To put the guy you want to start on the bench. And he can do whatever he wants from there. If he wants to transfer, let him transfer. If he wants to pout, let him pout. If he wants to leave, let him leave. If he wants to quit midseason, let him quit midseason. I don't care. There are very just be honest, there are very few coaches in college football who have the guts to do that. There are very few coaches in college football who would sit Justin Fields on the bench. Very few. Because he's not the best quarterback. Full stop. He's not the best quarterback. Clint: Full stop. Daniel: JT Daniels. He's the five-star guy you brought in specifically to do this. You put him on the bench. ⁓ he's healthy again? Well, he can stay healthy on the bench. Because guess what? A no-name, absolute afterthought is out here bawling out, and ⁓ we're gonna ride the hot hand. We're gonna do what's best for the team. Okay. Kirby Smart cares more about winning than he cares about looking good to fans. And there are not, you could say whatever you want. Every college coach would say that about themselves, even Lane Kiffin. But there are not very many college football coaches who actually believe that, who actually put that into practice. They they want you to like them. Just as much as you, listener, want other people to like you. And so they are human beings and they are very susceptible to that kind of pressure. But not Kirby Smart. Kirby Smart plays the guys that win the football games. And you don't have to worry about it. If Ryan Montgomery is the best quarterback heading into the fall this year, Gunnar Stockton's behind is on the bench. It doesn't matter what he's done. It doesn't matter who he is. It doesn't matter. Kirby Smart was actively recruiting against Stetson Bennett the year after he won a national championship, trying to get other quarterbacks to come to Athens to compete with Stetson Bennett. Clint: Y yes. Definitively yes. Daniel: He does not care. He does not care. He is ruthless and heartless. Clint: The last five. He is. He let's get better. Anybody to make us better, I will take. And if they can make better or they can win the job, I'll have them in. Be better. Guys, I love you. I want the best for you. Here's how I love you so much to get you better. Last five national championship, the highest rated quarterback leading the charge is JJ McCarthy on a team that ran the daggum ball more times than they passed. JJ McCarthy is the highest rated recruit. On any Will Howard transferred in from podunk nowhere. Stetson Bennett podunk nowhere. Mendoza transferred in podunk nowhere. But I but I want the five star coming out of high school. Wide receiver with him. Daniel: Yes. Yeah. Fernando Mendoza. Yeah. Great. You probably you probably won't win a national championship then. That's all. Clint: The statistics are telling you, percentage-wise, you're going to lose the championship. Daniel: But Arch Manning will probably break that trend this year, but put a bunch of money on it. Let's put a bunch of money on it. Let's bet on Arch to win the Heisman. Clint: He's gonna be great, guys. He's gonna be LSU may not win eight games. Daniel: I'm sorry. We talked about Arizona State earlier. Can we t Sam Levitt isn't him. I Clint: He he's fine. He's fine. Daniel: Is he ⁓ what percentage of Trinidad Chambliss is Sam Levitt, Clint? Clint: Zero Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero and off. Zero. Sam Levin and Trinidad Chambliss share the only thing they share in common is they play in the SEC. That's end of sentence. Daniel: Is less than zero an option? Like 'cause he's he's not That's even that is even that, check back with me after week three and tell me if both of ⁓ play in the SEC. Both of ⁓ might be on SEC rosters. But listen, I'm just telling you. People are like, well, he's going to play for that offense, Lane Kiff and Charlie Weiss Jr. He's he ⁓ interesting. Cause he didn't have a great offensive coach at Arizona State, I guess. ⁓ wait, what? He did? Clint: Have you ever Daniel: ⁓ interesting. A guy that's got the similar track record to Lane Kiffin, won as many meaningful games as Lane Kippen has? Cool. Cool, cool, cool. Glad we're on the same page. Clint: There it is. There it is. Guys, if you're here, you like the banter, you love what we're doing, we're gonna give out a season preview, whole daggum bit. I mean, just so many pages of a season preview. Daniel: Whole PDF, all of our takes, all of our thoughts headed into the season. The only thing you have to do to get it is absolutely free. You just have to be subscribed to the newsletter. There's a link in the description. If you're here and you haven't already done that, click on that. Make sure you're signed up for that. And ⁓ we'll see you guys next time. Clint: See ya.