DALLAS — Kirby Smart is the latest coach to take the challenge.
How does one balance duties as a new head coach while serving as the defensive coordinator for an Alabama team that is back in the College Football Playoff?
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Smart knows that’s where the narrative will go, especially if the Crimson Tide fall against Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl on Thursday. A loss would put more scrutiny on Smart, who is juggling those coordinator duties with the new gig at Georgia.
“It’s a time management challenge,” Smart said at the Omni Dallas Hotel on Monday. “There's only 24 hours in a day. There's only so much you can do each day. And once you accept that and know that you've got to focus on the task at hand — which the task at hand is to get ready for Michigan State — that's what we're focused on."
Smart isn’t the first coach to take the challenge. Tom Herman managed to split duties at Ohio State and Houston last season. Jim McElwain did the same at Alabama and Colorado State in 2011-12. Bo Pelini managed both at LSU and Nebraska in 2007-08.
Smart joked that Alabama’s defensive linemen cornered him into a room and demanded that he stay for the bowl game, but the truth is Georgia administrators and Alabama coach Nick Saban allowed him to stay on for the bowl game. It’s not a distraction. It’s just more work.
“We respect him for making that decision,” Alabama defensive tackle Jarran Reed said. “It shows a lot that he really cares about us, not just as players but as people. It just shows his characteristics.”
Smart’s dual-sided challenge is to recruit for Georgia — which he spent a week on the road doing in December. There isn’t as much overlap with recruiting players who are choosing between Alabama and Georgia as one might think, Smart says.
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“When I'm recruiting for the University of Georgia, it's a one-track mind,” Smart said. “I'm recruiting for the University of Georgia. It's the primary and the only goal at that time. And, no, I don't have mixed loyalties when I'm recruiting for the University of Georgia because I'm working towards an end goal of building a successful program.”
Smart flipped the switch back when he returned to Tuscaloosa for bowl preparation, and that’s where the focus is this week. Smart has maintained that regimen while sleeping six hours a night and trying to balance in family time. It’s unfair.
“When I'm coaching these guys and I'm in the meeting room with them, I think everyone will tell you I'm 100 percent there and we're concentrating on trying to get better and beat Michigan State,” Smart said. “Separating those two things has not been difficult because you've got to be able to do that in your job.”
Smart said he talked with McElwain and Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn about ways to handle two jobs at once over the past few weeks, and it’s come down to delegating day-to-day tasks and dealing with the time constraints each day brings. It’s definitely a challenge.
Smart insists it’s not a distraction — just more work.
There’s a dual-sided benefit of what two more wins could do for the outgoing defensive coordinator and incoming head coach. It just won’t get nearly as much media attention if Alabama wins.
"Nothing more is going to help me at the University of Georgia than winning a national championship at the University of Alabama,” Smart said.
