ATHENS — The teams at the top of the college football world haven’t enjoyed much stability of late.
Of the four teams to make the College Football Playoff this season, three of them have new head coaches. Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh will now be the head coach for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Just three active coaches in college football have won a national championship. Kirby Smart is the SEC’s lone representative, with North Carolina’s Mack Brown
The turnover among upper-echelon coaches somewhat reflects that change at the top of the sport. The College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams. The SEC and Big Ten will be adding new powers this offseason. Unlimited transfers and NIL are here to stay, with little sign of guard rails being set up to curb them.
This makes Smart’s position in the sport all the more interesting and important. With Nick Saban’s retirement, Smart is now the second-longest tenured coach in the SEC. Only Kentucky’s Mark Stoops has been at his current spot longer than Smart, who will enter his ninth season at Georgia this fall.
Stability is something Smart has preached in his time at Georgia, even before the sport was turned on its head. He spoke multiple times during the season about the importance of having continuity on the coaching staff. All 10 of Georgia’s on-field coaches in 2023 were with the team in 2022.
Georgia will have two new on-field coaches in 2024, with Donte Williams stepping in as the defensive backs coach and Travaris Robinson becoming the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach. Of course, it’ll help that Will Muschamp is sticking around to work as an analyst for the Bulldogs. Robinson also has extensive experience in working with Muschamp at Florida, Auburn and South Carolina.
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