Why the Georgia Bulldogs' 2025 Football Season Was Kirby Smart's Best Coaching Job

Why the Georgia Bulldogs' 2025 college football season was head coach Kirby Smart's best coaching job.

When the 2024 college football season came to close, the Georgia Bulldogs found themselves on the losing end of a College Football Playoff matchup, despite earning an SEC Championship victory and a bye week in the tournament.

Despite the Dawgs' disappointing conclusion to the season, head coach Kirby Smart publicly revealed that he felt the job that he and his staff turned in that season was the best of his entire career.

Fast forward to the end of the 2025 season, and the Bulldogs have found themselves in a similar situation. Despite an SEC Championship victory and first round bye in the College Football Playoff, Georgia saw its season end disappointingly with a loss in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

But while Georgia's 2025 season suffered a similar fate to 2024, the job that Kirby Smart and his staff turned in this season is arguably even more impressive than the one before. For more reasons than one.

Why Kirby Smart's 2025 Coaching Job was His Best Ever

Dec 6, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart lifts the SEC Championship trophy after the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the 2025 SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

In both seasons, the Bulldogs were forced to overcome great adversity. However, the reasons for that adversity were slightly different. In 2024, the Bulldogs' roster was comprised of more experienced players, who were unfortunately turning in rather inconsistent play.

Throughout the 2025 season, however, the Dawgs were forced to rely much more heavily on youthful players such as true freshman offensive lineman Juan Gaston and Dontrell Glover. This youth and inexperience reared its ugly head at times throughout the season.

Despite the lack of experience hindering Georgia's output, the Dawgs consistently found ways to win. The Bulldogs overcame multiple fourth-quarter and second-half deficits to win games, and managed to finish the year with an extremely impressive 11-1 record.

Winning games was not the only impressive feat of Smart's coaching staff. In fact, many of the youthful players mentioned earlier were able to undergo an in-season development that is rarely seen at the collegiate level.

Players such as Gunner Stockton, Ellis Robinson, Demello Jones, Elyiss Williams, Quintavius Johnson, and many others improved leaps and bounds from game one to game 14. Something that typically takes multiple seasons to do.

While Smart and the Dawgs will surely be looking for better results come the 2026 season, the Bulldogs' head coach should feel a sense of pride for the quality of season that he and his staff were able to turn in in 2025.