Everything Kirby Smart Said About Texas Longhorns at SEC Media Days

At SEC Media Days, Fellow SEC Coach shared their thoughts on the Longhorns football program

Georgia defensive lineman Mykel Williams (13) sacks Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) during the second half of the SEC championship game in Atlanta, on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. | Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

SEC Media Days are underway in Atlanta, Georgia, and while there has been a packed docket with coaches and players addressing the media for the first time since the spring, there were questions all around waiting to be asked.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has been battling internal questions, though, wondering what it will take to continue the run of success they have had over the Texas Longhorns, beating them twice last season, including once in the SEC Championship.

Now, the Longhorns will have one of the best teams they've fielded in the Steve Sarkisian era, and Smart will be dealing with a younger roster than Georgia fans are used to. The two teams should be battling it out for years at the top of the conference, throwing uppercuts back and forth at the top of the SEC standings.

Kind Words From An Old Foe

On the second day in Atlanta, Kirby Smart was asked about his thoughts on his team and their chase of the Texas Longhorns, the preseason favorites in the SEC, despite beating them two times last season, including once in Austin.

"I think if you're going to beat a good football team, you've got to be sound football team yourself."

Kirby Smart has been involved in the game of football long enough to know what it takes to be the best and beat the best. It wasn't long ago that Smart's Bulldogs beat Alabama for his first national championship in the program, and continued that reign, winning back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022.

Smart would continue on during his nearly 30-minute talk with the media, and shared his thoughts about Steve Sarkisian and what he has done since his time on the Forty Acres:

"Tremendous respect for Steve Sarkisian and his program, the job they do. It's not about us as coaches, it's really about the players and what you believe in. We got a lot of really good football teams to play next year, besides just Texas, so we're prepared for all of them."

While the two coaches never spent time at a program together, Sarkisian would spend a year at Alabama in 2016, one season after Kirby Smart would depart the program to take over the head coaching role with the Georgia Bulldogs.

The two coaches are familiar with each other and how their programs are at a deeper level than on the field. The two programs fight over top recruits every cycle, with the Longhorns winning the recent battle and getting a commitment from Tyler Atkinson, still have a mutual respect as they know how tough the job can be.

Fans will have to wait until November 15th, when Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns travel to Athens to take on Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs in what should be one of the most anticipated conference games of the season.