Smart would like answers, too, but isn't sure a commissioner is it; More from his visit to the Macon Touchdown Club
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
Every time any college head football coach talks in a public setting, he’ll be asked at least once about the transfer portal and at least once about Name-Image-Likeness issues, and players getting money and too much money too early.
A multitude of lawsuits have completely changed all college sports in only the last half-decade. A common and popular solution put forth by a few coaches and media members as the biggest football programs pull away from everybody else is to have a commissioner.
A boss for major-college football.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was asked about it at the end of his nearly 40-minute talk at the Macon Touchdown Club’s year-end jamboree, and like most who have thought it through, said it’s not that simple.
“Everybody says that's the answer: get a commissioner, get a commissioner,” he said. “Doesn't matter if you got a commissioner if the state laws or the federal laws don't follow what the commissioner says.
“It's really hard to empower one person and say, ‘OK, this person's a commissioner and we're all going to follow what they say’ because those rules have to be enforced. So, who's the enforcement body?”
The NCAA long had that role until NCAA members – i.e. presidents, chancellors, athletics directors, and coaches – allowed it to be weakened, and none of those involved looked ahead or wanted to address the impending situation that is now the current situation.
“If we have a commissioner, because the NCAA struggled to enforce some of the things, every time we turn around, there's a lawsuit,” Smart said. “We live in a litigious society. Everybody's scared to do what’s right because of a lawsuit, and I don't want to be part of that.
“ I want to be part of what's best for the kids. I'm great with kids making money. I want them to make money, they deserve to make money. I want that.”
But ….
“But I don't want it to be the kind of money where it affects their ability to to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Smart said. “You can't tell me that a kid that's 18, 19 years old that might get $10,000 a month, $120,000 a year is going to work as hard as a kid that's 18, 19 years old that doesn't get anything, because that kid's hungry.”
Smart also has concerns about the potential negative impact on sports other than football and men’s basketball.
“There has to be a balance and a medium,” he said. “I really embrace the other sports and I worry we're not going to have any other sports at these schools because the opportunity is going to be lost because all the revenue goes to one or two sports. I would like to see that at least spread out … see every sport survive.”
He touched on several other topics.
On his connection to the Methodist Home for Children and Youth:
“I love and I enjoy this event. Unfortunately (CEO) Alison Evans couldn't be with us tonight and she is one of my favorites. She runs this organization. Most people in this community know the sacrifices that Alison makes for this organization. The Methodist Home does an incredible job for underprivileged kids and kids looking for a new home.
“My personal family foundation has given money to the Methodist Home, and we firmly believe in supporting this place, so if you feel in your heart or you have the capacity to give back, please give back to them.”
On his quiet recruitment in high school:
“I go on to play junior year, had a pretty good year, went to some camps. Didn't have any offers. I mean, these guys all got 40, 50, 60 offers each. I didn't have any offers. I finally got a Georgia Southern offer, had a Furman offer, got a Southern Miss offer, so those were kind of my three schools I was going to decide between. About a week before signing day – so, late January of my senior year - a young man, never forget it, by the name of Steve Johnson. he chose to leave Georgia, flip seven days before signing day, and go to Tennessee, (which) at the time was much better than Georgia.
“He flipped and Ray Goff called me and said, ‘Kirby, we got a scholarship open we’d like to offer you a scholarship to come to University of Georgia.’ I didn't wait. I didn't hesitate. I didn't feel in my feelings because they hadn't offered. I jumped on that scholarship as quick as I could because I wanted to play in the SEC. That was my dream. I wanted to play in the SEC. I wanted to play against the best.”
On his unusually long postgame hug and talk with Georgia Tech’s Brent Key after the epic eight-overtime win:
“There's an amount of respect I have for Brent Key, who I competed against. He played O-Line, I played defensive back. We were both coached old-school tough. The guy played for George O’Leary, he’s one of the hardest coaches to ever play for in the history of football. Brent worked at Alabama, I worked at Alabama. We have a mutual respect for each other. He probably won't admit that, but I do, I respect how he works, I respect how he recruits, I respect how they play football.”
On Brock Bowers, post-UGA:
“We’re coming in the office about 6:45 (a.m.). It's dark in the lobby area where you walk in and I noticed across the hall … there's one player sitting in there eating. I can't make out who it is, and I'm like, ‘Who is that over there?’ … It's Brock Bowers. 6:45. I've been in four straight days at 6:45, he's in the workout room, in the office, before me, before every player, before the trainers, before the strength staff, to work out.
“Guys, why is he back in Athens? Because he left in three (years) and he's there to graduate. So I see him at 6:45 eating this breakfast. Next thing I know, about 8:15, I'm up in my office … I see a scooter ride by. He's on the scooter going to class.
“The guy has a work ethic and a tolerance for doing what's right better than any I've ever seen. He just broke every (NFL) rookie record for tight ends. You think he needs to be at the workout at 6:45? You think somebody's paying him to do it? Absolutely not. (He’s) doing it because he loves the game. Came back to get his education because he loves the university he played at.”
On spring games:
“I love the spring game. Here's why. We got a kid named Ladd McConkey, who was not playing and he was a redshirt and he all he ever dreamed of was going out in that stadium and playing, and the spring game gave him an opportunity to go out and play in front of 42 people from his hometown who paid zero to get in the gate and watch him. I got offensive linemen who are walk-ons, they practice every day of the year to get to go play in that game. They put on a uniform, they put on a logo, their parents come, they get their name called out and that's their day. Why in the world would I run from that for the fear of a kid being upset about his playing time or his touches? Or the fear is the parents of the players … at the spring game … going, ‘Well little Tommy didn't get enough snaps, we got to go in the portal.’ Well, if they don't understand what we're trying to do as an organization, then maybe he shouldn't be there. I want to reward our kids who practice every day.”
On Georgia’s rivals, and Georgia Tech’s place on that list:
“I asked our staff, ‘What do we have to do to wake our players up to to make this a rivalry? What do we got to do to convince our players that Georgia-Georgia Tech’s a rivalry?’. You know what they said? ‘Lose to ‘em. You lose to ‘em, you'll know.’ You know what I mean? It’s real. Nobody wants to admit it, but it's real, and at halftime, it was headed that direction.
“You ask old Georgia fans who they dislike the most, they will tell you Tech every day of the week. If you ask our team that question or my generation - I'm 50, I'm old - they'll tell you somebody else. … It was a very hard-fought game. This state deserves a great rivalry.”