Kirby Smart Says Most Important Item In College Football Isn’t NIL Or Settlement

DESTIN, Fla. – There’s a new voice that has taken over for Nick Saban in these spring meetings that take place every year in Florida, and it’s Georgia head coach Kirby Smart. 

While there are plenty of coaches who can control a room, like Saban did during his time in the SEC, it’s become abundantly clear that Kirby feels much more comfortable talking about the key issues that are plaguing the sport of college football. 

And sure, there are plenty of voices to go around, but being the tenured head coach of a conference as big as the SEC, the need for one guy to be the voice was up for grabs the day Nick Saban announced his retirement. Now, with all the talk being centered around how much money a player will be making, or how college athletics is headed for massive change if the House settlement is approved, Smart is pointing his attention towards another hot-button issue. 

If you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you have missed a lot when it comes to how long players are sticking around at one school. And, it’s not just about an athlete chasing a paycheck with the current NIL system. There is a contentious conversation ongoing inside meeting rooms across the country about how college leaders can control the transfer portal. 

For Kirby Smart, this is the biggest issue in college athletics that is not being talked about enough in his eyes. To be honest, I tend to agree with Kirby Smart, though there are plenty of subjects that have college administrators scrambling towards the July 1 deadline of when these new rules under the House settlement would begin. 

But, speaking inside the Hilton theater room on Tuesday, there was a sense of urgency in the voice of Kirby Smart while discussing what he thought was the biggest problem in college athletics, with so many coaches having differing opinions. 

“I am so glad you asked that question,” Kirby Smart started. “The biggest decision that has to be made in college football right now, by far, is when the portal window is, and is there one or two. That’s not being decided by us today. A lot of people don’t even know how it’s getting decided, and who’s deciding it. We had an AFCA (coaches) meeting … we unanimously decided there needed to be one portal window, whatever that is, is what it is. It needs to happen sometime in January.”

“I think it’s really important in football to have your team your team at whatever date in January, whatever we decide that is, and then you work those guys out,” he said. “You train those guys, you lift, you prepare, you do meetings and all this preparation, and then that’s your team.”

Transfer Portal Moves Need To Be Made. 9-Game SEC Schedule?

If there ever was a time when coaches needed to come together to decide on how to approach the rules committee, that time is right now. But, until there is a ‘College Sports Commission’, decisions about the portal will not be made, at least according to Texas A&M AD Trev Alberts. 

There are so many problems with the transfer portal currently, and keeping the two different windows is only leading to further chaos in the sport. 

Does Kirby Smart have a case for bringing it down to just one period? Sure he does. But, getting coaches across the country to agree on when that period should be is a different story. 

Everyone has an agenda, and moving the portal window to sometime in late spring would obviously cause further chaos at the moment. Now that players can leave during the spring, and some coaches are advocating for NFL-style workouts in the summer, it seems as though we are at an impasse. 

Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione says a vote on a 9-game conference schedule this week would surprise him. The CFP format needs to be decided, but he makes it clear that the powers that be need to make the regular season a priority as they head towards an expanded playoff. 

“We’ll get the postseason figured out, but it’s paramount to make sure to keep the regular season relevant.”

This had more to do with fan engagement, while making sure not to diminish the regular season, which then affects the fans who are buying tickets. 

Obviously, there will be some type of change down the road. But, there are schools out there that load their rosters up during the spring in hopes of finding a hidden gem from the portal. But, the noise is starting to get louder when it comes to the transfer portal, and those that participate in the CFP are paying a price. 

In other news, most coaches speaking on Tuesday pointed out that it would be in the sport’s best interest if the college football playoff selected the best 16 teams in college football. So, if that were the case, how many would have made decisions based off seeding alone? That’s a rhetorical question, by the way. 

While we wait on the House settlement to be either approved or denied, Kirby Smart is making sure we know about the bigger problems in college athletics. Whether you agree with him is up to you. 

But, one thing we can agree on is that Kirby Smart is filling the shoes that Nick Saban once wore during these meetings, and is becoming a voice of reason for college athletics.