PHOTO STORY: The crazy gameday faces of Georgia football coach Kirby Smart

Kirby Smart is just like DawgNation. His life’s calling has now meant Saturdays with the Dawgs for over 15 years.

He excelled academically and athletically. When his playing days were up, Smart returned to UGA as an assistant, eventually married a fellow Georgia alum and accepted the head coaching job in December of 2015.

He’s led Georgia to more glory over the last decade than the program has seen. There’s only a handful of Georgia teams in the 1940s and 1980s that could debate that.

There was an idea for content. Sparked by seeing Smart over the years, covering the Dawgs as a photographer. Partly inspired by a T-shirt found in abundance on game day of a Fathead-sized image of Smart’s face.

Brayden Fogle, a prized TE commit from Ohio, wore that shirt on Saturday.

Georgia TE commits Brayden Fogle (left) and Kaiden Prothro (right) soak up the pregame energy before the Alabama game on Saturday, September 26, 2025, in Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/ DawgNation) (Jeff Sentell/Dawgnation)

The look on Smart’s face was like he just feasted on the Gators. Again. We were looking for more of those faces at the Alabama game.

The ones this week did not have that same measure of triumph. Not with the Dawgs falling behind 14-0 and seeing their 33-game home win streak snapped.

Watching Smart on the sidelines, like Vince Dooley two generations ago, is exhausting and exhilarating. Smart’s always moving, always gesturing.

And always coaching.

What would it be like if a 600mm lens followed him every play?

/Dawgnation)

The man widely regarded as the best coach in college football is so immersed in the game that his face must be sore on Sundays. The man with 108 career wins shows at least that many faces on Saturday.

That’s what this essay hopes to show. We deemed everything was fair game except for something embarrassing that TV cameras would not show.

The lone exception is that we won’t include pictures that involve hand signals from the Georgia sideline and tie them to specific instances of play calls or time on the clock. We tracked those details, but there’s no need to publicize those.

The one Connor Stalions saga was enough.

Kirby Smart hunkers down

There was something that happened repeatedly: Smart really likes to hunker down.

Larry Munson would be proud. That was by far the most common visual.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart hunkers down on the sideline during a key moment of the Alabama game on Saturday, September 27, 2025, inside Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/ DawgNation) (Jeff Sentell/Dawgnation)

It was on almost every third down. Despite all those Crimson Tide conversions.

The wrinkle to that observation was that he hunkered almost exclusively on defensive plays. He is, after all, a former ALL-SEC safety and a defensive coach at heart.

When it came to offensive snaps, he stood up tall.

The next visual was one of the two most talked-about moments of the game. When Cash Jones was stopped on that big 4th-and-1 play from the Alabama 8-yard line, Smart kept chopping with plenty of time to secure a win.

There wasn’t a single expressive image in those moments. He might as well have been going through his favorite drive-thru.

It was the other huge moment that showed the real Smart on gameday.

Kirby Smart: Never stops being a player’s coach

There’s a trusted staple for coaches at every level: They are needed most when things go wrong. To correct mistakes and refine ‘okay’ and ‘pretty good’ into ‘very good’ and ‘exceptional.’

Every UGA player has been “the man” at every level. Freshman receiver Talyn Taylor is no different. It took his high school coach about 30 seconds once to try to count the number of times the 5-star had dropped the ball in games or practices.

Taylor had a significant drop on Saturday. Smart must believe Taylor will make catches like that over and over in the future. That’s why he acted the way he did after that rare Taylor drop.

Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart reacts to a key second-half play in the Alabama game inside Sanford Stadium on September 27, 2025, in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation) (Jeff Sentell/Dawgnation)

There are many things at play here that show why Smart is already a Hall of Fame-level coach. Competitiveness. Empathy. Passion. He walked with Taylor for some 20 yards up the sideline. He patted both shoulders and shared helpful words to both sides of his helmet.

“You show confidence in them, you love on them,” Smart said on Monday, referring to challenging moments for Taylor and redshirt freshman cornerback Ellis Robinson. “You discipline them, you grow them, you try to get them better.”

He added another layer of thought on Taylor.

“Talyn’s deal was tough, but Talyn will grow from it,“ Smart told reporters this week. ”He’s a tough, competitive kid, he practices his butt off. People don’t give him enough credit for, he’s changed our punt team in terms of, he’s replaced an Arian [Smith] and a Dom [Lovett] as a gunner and been really elite. Every time we’ve called his number, he’s answered it. He’s going to continue to do that. I mean, the guy’s a worker. I told him that, look, we’re going to come back at you and continue to use you, and just keep getting better."

Robinson gave up an early touchdown because he didn’t press a receiver. It allowed an easy inside release and then an easier score.

Smart expressed his initial frustration, but shifted into teaching mode. When there was another end zone throw, Robinson applied better technique and broke up that pass.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart meets with redshirt freshman cornerback Ellis Robinson IV after a key early play against Alabama on Saturday, September 27, 2025, in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/ DawgNation) (Jeff Sentell/Dawgnation)

When Georgia guard Micah Morris was shaken up, we saw more of that. Smart walked out to the field, took a knee next to Morris and looked relieved to see him rise under his own power.

Smart then walked Morris to the sideline, showing support with his hand on his back.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart walks back to the sideline with redshirt senior OL Micah Morris while facing Alabama on Saturday, September 27, 2025, in Athens, Georgia. Morris was shaken up on the play. (Jeff Sentell/ DawgNation) (Jeff Sentell/Dawgnation)

Kirby Smart: Calm in the middle of the storm

We’ve heard SEC officials over the years refer to Smart’s sideline mannerisms as something resembling a walking inferno.

Smart might have mellowed. Well, for him. Strength coach Scott Sinclair doesn’t need to pull him back to the sidelines as much as he used to.

There were many moments in the Alabama game where the Bulldog sideline was nuts. Fireworks were capping off. The red LED lights were blazing.

Smart was poker-faced. For the touchdowns, he’d do a kicking motion or hold up a “1″ sign afterward to signify an extra point.

While his sideline was exuberant, he couldn’t do that. It felt like the “Attitude reflects leadership” line from the “Remember the Titans” movie.

He kept his focus because his team needed to keep its focus. Cynics might wonder why he didn’t do the same thing on the Taylor play. Smart’s the alpha competitor who’s been preaching “fire, passion, and energy” to this team all year.

And like Dooley, he lets his emotions come out on the sidelines. The great Erk Russell is immortal among the Georgia faithful because of how he’d headbutt his players in games.

Kirby Smart gives instuction to his Georgia football team on the field during the Alabama game on Saturday, September 27, 2025, inside Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/ DawgNation) (Jeff Sentell/Dawgnation)

Georgia coach Kirby Smart watches a touchdown unfold for the Bulldogs against Alabama on Saturday, September 27, 2025 inside Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/ DawgNation) (Jeff Sentell/Dawgnation)

Georgia coach Kirby Smart watches a touchdown unfold for the Bulldogs against Alabama on Saturday, September 27, 2025 inside Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/ DawgNation)/Dawgnation)

Georgia coach Kirby Smart watches a touchdown unfold for the Bulldogs against Alabama on Saturday, September 27, 2025 inside Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/ DawgNation)/Dawgnation)

Georgia coach Kirby Smart watches a touchdown unfold for the Bulldogs against Alabama on Saturday, September 27, 2025 inside Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/ DawgNation)/Dawgnation)

Georgia coach Kirby Smart watches a touchdown unfold for the Bulldogs against Alabama on Saturday, September 27, 2025 inside Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/ DawgNation)/Dawgnation)

Check out this sequence of two plays in the second half before Georgia scored a touchdown that sent everyone’s tongues wagging. Those back-to-back plays inspired a Xerox of the same face. That’s his we’re-about-to-score face.

/Dawgnation)

/Dawgnation)

The many gameday faces of Kirby Smart

By this point, one might be wondering where the rest of the faces are. Where’s Smart exploding? Questioning a call? Yelling about a look and getting his Dawgs lined up right?

Consider this the “Easter Egg” hunt checklist for an ensuing photo gallery. Look for the following faces:

Are we going to get it Kirby
Best friend to officials Kirby
Chopping wood Kirby
“HBTFD” Kirby
Mt. Vesuvius Kirby
Need to see the replay Kirby
Barking on the headset Kirby
Stiff Upper Lip Kirby
TV timeouts take forever Kirby
We didn’t get it Kirby
We’ve got a good play call coming, Kirby
“WTH” just happened Kirby (Multiple instances)

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Georgia head coach Kirby Smart hunkers down on the sideline during a key moment of the Alabama game on Saturday, September 27, 2025, inside Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/ DawgNation)
Photographer: Jeff Sentell
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Georgia coach Kirby Smart reacts to a play during the Alabama game on Saturday, September 27, 2025, inside Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/ DawgNation)
Photographer: Jeff Sentell
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Pregame Kirby: Smiles allowed

Smart’s mood steels itself as the game draws near. Prior to that, when the 10th-year coach takes the field for warmups, he’s in a different mood.

Especially when facing Alabama. He spent nine years in Tuscaloosa. There were still many friendly faces in the Alabama athletic department. There looked to be at least one of his former players who is now a graduate assistant on that staff. He had nothing but love for those familiar faces.

When it was time to meet SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer at midfield, he was all smiles. He was also able to take time to meet with a few vital recruits.

It was a different dynamic than the sixty minutes of competition that lay ahead.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart gets ready during pregame to face Alabama for the eighth time since he's been in Athens. His Dawgs fell 24-21 to the Crimson Tide on Saturday, September 27, 2025, on Dooley Field inside Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/ DawgNation) (Jeff Sentell/Dawgnation)

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(Check on the recent reads on Georgia football recruiting)