Where did Kirby Smart play football? Revisiting Georgia coach's college playing career, stats

Kirby Smart has bucked every trend since becoming Georgia's head coach after the 2015 season.

Smart built the Bulldogs back into a national powerhouse with a lethal combination of excellent recruiting and on-field management, guiding Georgia to its first national championship in more than four decades and knocking off former boss Nick Saban in the process.

Now a two-time champion, Smart, 47, hasn't lost a game in two calendar years and has his sights set on a third consecutive title. He is 5-1 in College Football Playoff games, losing only one in overtime, and he's won three SEC Coach of the Year awards in eight seasons in Athens.

Before Smart became one of the more accomplished coaches in modern college football history, he showed something on the field as a player.

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Here's a look back at Smart's playing career before his journey led him to coaching.

Where did Kirby Smart play college football?

Smart played college football at Georgia from 1995-98, establishing himself as a key member of the Bulldogs secondary. 

He went undrafted in 1999 but did latch on with the Colts in the offseason. After Smart was cut by the team at the end of training camp, he joined Georgia as an administrative assistant on head coach Jim Donnan's staff.

Smart had four separate stints at Georgia between his playing days and his coaching career. He spent four years as a player with the Bulldogs, one as an administrative assistant, another as a running backs coach in 2005, and then finally eight years and counting as the program's head coach.

Because Smart wasn't able to stick in the NFL, he was able to get a head start on his coaching career and became defensive backs coach under Nick Saban at LSU by the age of 28. 

Below are more details about Smart's time as a player at Georgia.

Kirby Smart playing career

Smart had 13 career interceptions over four seasons at Georgia, ranking sixth in program history, and he led the SEC in interceptions in 1998. That was enough to make Smart a first-team All-SEC selection as a senior.

Smart was also a four-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection, which might not come as a surprise considering he's turned out to be one of the nation's top coaches. 

While he excelled as a defensive back, Smart also handled kickoff returns early in his college career. He returned 15 kickoffs for a 332 yards as a freshman in 1995, the ninth-highest total in the SEC that season.

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Kirby Smart college stats

While individual defensive stats from this era are incomplete, it's known that Smart racked up 11 interceptions over his final two seasons at Georgia. His six interceptions in 1997 were tied for ninth in the nation, while his five picks led the SEC in 1998.