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Kirby Smart's biggest concern: 'We're going to ruin all the other sports'

Jeremy Johnsonby: Jeremy Johnson05/27/26JeremyO_Johnson

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart had the chance to express his concerns with the media on Tuesday in Destin during the SEC Meetings.

Smart is the head coach of a football program that is racing to keep up with the arms race that has become building and funding competitive football teams.

The SEC is working to potentially set its own set of rules, which Smart is an advocate of. The SCORE Act has been in a standstill in Congress for some time.

When asked if Georgia’s roster could cost $40 million in 2026, Smart revealed it was in that ballpark in 2025.

 “We had $40 million last year,” Smart said.

The escalating costs of college football bring about a warning from Smart. The long-term health of college football is the only thing on the line. It has a trickle-down effect on the rest of the sports. Smart is not okay with the sacrifice of the other sports.

Smart has been a known supporter of many of Georgia’s other sports. He’s a regular at basketball, baseball, and gymnastics events. His wife, Mary Beth Smart (formerly Lycett), was a basketball player at Georgia during her time in Athens.

Smart feels that creating a workable model with a cap can go a long way toward keeping the rest of the programs intact.

“Everybody’s going to talk about pro sports and baseball and these teams and these teams that spend,” Smart said. “I mean, we are like them, but we’re not like them. So you can’t make a comparison because of the CBA and the regulatory agencies that govern them.  They operate under a different premise. But we’re becoming them. Our spending is rapidly becoming them. My biggest concern for our sport is that we’re going to ruin all the other sports. And people say, well, that’s just the way it is. I don’t agree with that because we fund Olympic sports at our program. We develop Olympians. We go to class with people who throw a javelin. Sit in class with an extra person who swims and dives. You learn culture by being with those people.”

Kirby Smart issues a warning about the disappearance of the student-athlete

Smart still believes in the student-athlete. While most of the revenue sports have seen athletes make money at a high level in recent years, other sports still operate in the ways of the old.

Smart wants that student-athlete to have a chance as well.

“That’s the assumption that we’re talking about student athletes, which most of you all would argue in this room, that there is no student in the athlete,” Smart told reporters. “I still think that the best thing for a young student is to go get a degree and train to be a professional while also training to be a professional athlete, both of those. We’re going to lose that if we keep spending because not everybody can spend at the rate we’re spending at.”

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