Curtis Compton/AJC
Georgia's Kirby Smart had a coach's instincts long before he actually became a coach.

As a player, Kirby Smart once coached up an opposing QB after sacking him

Cy Brown
Cy Brown

Welcome to Good Day, UGA, your one-stop shop for Georgia football news and takes. Check us out every weekday morning for everything you need to know about Georgia football, recruiting, basketball and more.

Kirby Smart coached long before he was a coach

Kirby Smart is a coach to his core. His father Sonny, a long-time high school coach in Georgia, once said Kirby “was like a coach on the field from the time he was 10.” And that coach’s intuition served him well from Pop Warner to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, and everywhere in between.

Case in point, this anecdote from former Mississippi State quarterback Matt Wyatt, host of Head to Head Radio and an analyst for Mississippi State football broadcasts. During a spot on the Chuck Oliver Show on Tuesday, Wyatt relayed a story about Smart from Georgia’s 38-19 win against Mississippi State in 1996. Transcription from Dan Mathews of Gridiron Now:

“I was sacked by none other than Kirby Smart,” said Wyatt, who said the then-Georgia safety also passed along a tip.

“He actually said to me after the play something along the lines of, ‘You should have thrown hot,’” Wyatt said. “We both laughed right there on the field because I said, ‘You’re a safety! You don’t know what that means.’ ”

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“A Final Look …”

Over the last few days, Chip Towers and Seth Emerson of DawgNation have a final look back at the National Championship Game with a series of post appropriately titled “A Final Look.” Although it can be painful to relive these memories, a lot of valuable insight can be gleaned from analysis of that heartbreaking loss to Alabama. Links to posts in the series are provided below.

Derek Ogbeide is excelling as a substitute

Georgia hoops’ NCAA Tournament chances are still slim, though it received major boosts  with wins against Florida and Tennessee in the last week. Those could be valuable wins when the selection committee analyzes Georgia’s resume. After going 2-8 in their previous 10 games, how were Mark Fox and the Dawgs able to right the ship and beat two of the best teams in the SEC?

One potential answer is the deployment of junior forward Derek Ogbeide, who moved to the bench a few weeks ago after starting 67 consecutive games dating back to his freshman season. From Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald:

Ogbeide provided a spark in back-to-back wins last week, recording double-doubles against Florida and Tennessee, just the fourth and fifth of his career. He had 10 points and 10 rebounds in an overtime victory against the Gators and tied his season-high with 16 points to go along with a season-high 11 rebounds in a 73-62 win against the Volunteers.

“I didn’t necessarily have to get into a new frame of mind, just really try to get into a better frame of mind,” Ogbeide said. “Definitely, I embraced it. It’s a new role and I’m actually quite comfortable with it, coming off the bench. I really don’t mind it all. I’m very comfortable with it.”

When nothing is going right, sometimes a small shakeup can change one’s fortunes. Ogbeide will get another opportunity to prove his worth as a super-sub Wednesday night when the Dawgs travel to South Carolina for a virtual must-win game. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on SEC Network.

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