Why Kirby Smart Isn’t Going to Take a Job in the NFL

Why Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart isn’t going to take a job in the NFL or the New York Jets job.

While the college football season is in full swing right now, Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart has been linked to an open position in the NFL. Earlier this week, the New York Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh and the organization is now on the search for someone to fill the position. Coach Smart’s name has been attached to the opening. It’s not the first time Smart’s name has been thrown into the ring for a job in the NFL and it likely won’t be the last, but there are multiple reasons why Smart won’t take a job at the professional level.

First of all, Smart is a college football lifer. Since getting his college coaching start in 1999 at the University of Georgia as an administrative assistant, his entire coaching career outside of one year with the Miami Dolphins in 2006 has been spent at the college level. His identity as a coach is completely built around coaching at the collegiate level. The same things that work at the college level do not work at the professional level. It would require Smart to change quite a few things if he were to make the jump.

Second, Smart didn’t just take any head coaching job. He took the job at his alma mater and at a place he loves. You would have a hard time finding a person who loves the University of Georgia more than Smart and his family, so speaking specifically to the New York Jets job, it’s hard to imagine Smart would up and leave his program and the place he calls home to go to the NFL in the middle of the season.

Another crucial aspect of this train of thought is Smart has a 10-year contract worth $130 million that goes through 2033. That means he is earning $13 million per year and is the highest-paid public school coach in college athletics. There are only five coaches in the NFL that are making more money than Smart currently is at Georgia (Kyle Shannahan 49ers, Sean McVay Rams, Jim Harbaugh Chargers, Sean Payton Broncos and Andy Reid Chiefs). For further context, prior to being fired, Saleh was making $5 million per year with the Jets.

It’s understandable why Smart’s name continues to be connected to openings in the NFL as he is widely considered to be the best coach in college football, but making the jump to the professional level never seemed to be in the cards for Smart. He’s the head coach at one of the top programs in all of college football and is one of the highest-paid coaches at both the college and NFL levels. Everything points to Smart staying at Georgia for as long as he wants to continue coaching football.

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