How Kirby Smart handles the coaching carousel with 2019 SEC Championship Game looming

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How Kirby Smart handles the coaching carousel with 2019 SEC Championship Game looming

Less than 24 hours before Georgia was set to take the field for the 2018 SEC Championship Game, it was reported Mel Tucker was going to be the next head coach of Colorado. The story broke on Friday night. On Saturday afternoon, Tucker took the field with Georgia and coordinated its defense.

This is hardly a unique phenomenon. Georgia coach Kirby Smart himself dealt with during his time at Alabama, as he was heavily connected to the Georgia job during the 2015 SEC Championship Game when he was the defensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide.

So while the rest of college football enters the coaching carousel — including three SEC schools now looking for new head coaches — the Georgia coaches have to keep their eyes on the task at hand.

And Per Smart, that isn’t all that challenging.

“Talk to me about that after the season, after everything’s done. I don’t want to deal with that,” Smart said. “If I have one minute thinking about that, it’s not about what are they doing next, what is our next call, what is the next thing we can do. That’s not fair to the players.”

Smart and Georgia aren’t the only ones dealing with this at the moment. LSU coach Ed Orgeron has been asked about keeping passing game coordinator Joe Brady, as the assistant has become one of the most well-regarded offensive minds in the country and a Broyles Award finalist, which goes to the nation’s top assistant coach

Georgia also has one of the finalists for the award — which Smart won back in 2009 — as defensive coordinator Dan Lanning was one of five recognized for the award. In addition to his work in coordinating Georgia’s defense this year, Lanning is an excellent recruiter.