When Nick Saban stepped away from the game, Jimbo Fisher was fired, and Jim Harbaugh darted to the NFL, that left Kirby Smart as one of just three active head coaches with a national championship on their resume. So, with Georgia’s back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022, Smart is now the patriarch of the SEC and the sport.
Dabo Swinney and Mack Brown are the only other two active head coaches with a title, so it’s no surprise that Smart, who’s the highest-paid head coach in the game, is followed by Swinney at No. 2.
Smart’s team is the favorite to win it all again this season, with elite defensive talent and for the first time since he took over in 2016, a quarterback in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy. Carson Beck could be the best QB in the country this year and that means there is even more reason to believe in the Dawgs.
Smart will need to navigate one of the toughest schedules in the country with trips to Austin, Tuscaloosa, and Oxford, but as they say, that’s what the money is for.
How much does Kirby Smart get paid a year?
This offseason, heading into the 2024 campaign, Smart received a new contract extension from Georgia which raises his yearly salary to $13 million and makes him the highest-paid coach in the country. The deal ties him to his alma mater through 2033.
Smart’s new extension replaces a 10-year deal that he signed following his second national championship in 2022. That $110 million deal paid him a $10.25 million a year.
With his newest deal, Smart can earn up to $1.55 million a year in bonuses.
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