Paul Finebaum Says Kirby Smart's Plan "Isn't Working" At Georgia
ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 08: Head coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs reacts to a play during the second quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 8, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
This season, Georgia won its third-straight SEC East title and earned a trip to the Sugar Bowl for the second year in a row. The Bulldogs have also won at least 11 games in three consecutive seasons for the first time ever.
Still, with all of that success, there's a feeling of unfinished business among Georgia fans. That's because the Bulldogs still have not won a national title under Kirby Smart and were shellacked by LSU in the SEC Championship Game over the weekend.
In an appearance on WJOX 94.5 this week, ESPN's Paul Finebaum addressed some of the pressure on Georgia head coach Kirby Smart. Finebaum argued that the former Alabama defensive coordinator is trying to duplicate the Crimson Tide at his alma mater.
It's not working, Finebaum said.
“Listen Kirby Smart is trying to run Alabama 2.0 and it’s not working,” Finebaum said. “I say it’s not working because they’re not winning and competing seriously for national championships. You can’t end the season like that and you know I hear Georgia fans saying, ‘Well we didn’t have Cager, we didn’t have -‘. Hey, when you recruit at the level that Alabama and Georgia recruit, you don’t have excuses, because nobody else is in that league other than maybe Ohio State or Clemson and now LSU.
“And listen, I think everyone talking right now is a fan of Kirby Smart but he’s going to catch a lot of heat, and you know it started with the bowl game (the Sugar Bowl loss against Texas) which everyone wrote off as they didn’t care and this season has been a roller coaster. And the one thing this season didn’t have until Saturday was that predictable one-off Kirby Smart blowout. Got that now!”
It's hard to blast the job Smart has done at UGA. However, there is justifiable frustration at the team's inability to field an explosive offense this season.
Right now, it looks like Georgia's offense lags behind some of the more innovative in college football, even with a proven quarterback in Jake Fromm and ample skill talent. If Smart's program is to take that important next step, this is where he will have to make improvements.
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