Georgia Makes Kirby Smart College Football's First $13M Coach

The Georgia Bulldogs announced this week that head coach Kirby Smart has received a new 10-year, $130 million deal that was approved by university officials Thursday. Per AJC:

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The University of Georgia announced Thursday it had raised Smart’s salary to $13 million a year and extended his contract two more years. Smart received a 10-year, $112.5 million contract in 2022 that made him the college football’s top-paid coach. But that lasted only a month or so before Alabama’s Nick Saban and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney’s received salary adjustments to move them back ahead of Smart.

That represents a significant jump from the first contract the 48-year-old Smart received when he was hired as Georgia’s head coach in December 2015. He received a six-year deal that paid him $3.75 million annually. Since then, Smart has won two national championships and two SEC champions with the Bulldogs. Georgia has lost only two games in the past three seasons, going 43-2 during that span.

“I continue to be grateful and humbled by our administration’s commitment to our football program,” Smart said in a statement released by UGA shortly after the board’s action. “The current culture in collegiate athletics is ever-changing and as challenging as it has ever been. So, I truly appreciate the leadership that our team is continually provided. I have an immense pride for representing my alma mater and look forward to that relationship continuing for many years to come.”

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