Even when UGA football is hectic, Kirby Smart’s family is ‘more normal than you think’

Every moment becomes hectic inside the Smart household during the heat of playoff contention. Except for the few hours of solace on Thursday evening.

A moment of rest for Georgia’s fourth-year head coach Kirby Smart. The chance to draw closer to his wife, Mary Beth Smart, and three children — Andrew (7) and twins Julia and Weston (11). They plan to lay around, eat some turkey and maybe watch the Egg Bowl on the living room television.

The family of five will be joined by Kirby’s parents, Sonny and Sharon Smart, brother Karl Smart along with Mary Beth’s father, Paul Lycett. Most of the extended family lives within an hour-and-a-half of each other, so the tradition of four years holds strong. Sharon will bring the cornbread dressing — her go-to and Kirby’s favorite dish — while Mary Beth prepares the sides to go with a turkey and honey-glazed ham.

“My favorite part is being thankful for all of the blessings we’ve got,” Kirby said. “... and mainly eatin’.”

While under the same roof, the Smarts hold value in taking the time to reflect. They share gratitude toward each of their graces, and also use it as a teaching moment for their children. Kirby’s parents have remained together, and Mary Beth’s held strong for 36 years until the passing of her mother, Linda Lycett, in 2012. The Smarts recognize being thankful for good health, and also the well-being of their young ones.

Those values are ever-important for the family of a premier college football coach who has the tasks of his job barking at him for hours on end. The Smarts have an unwavering bond and unity, even when it may seem difficult at times. They juggle the journeys of a coach’s wife, remembering the special moments, welcoming the bigger Georgia football family and significance of returning home.

And through it all, they’re most thankful for each other.

“That’s really what is important,” Kirby said. “I think people lose sight of that a lot of times, and it puts things in perspective and that’s what is important to me. I want to be a good husband and father for them a lot more than I want to be a good coach.”

FINDING THE NORMAL

During February and March, Mary Beth could see her husband at home by 5 p.m. like many other fathers across the country. Sometimes Kirby gets a chance to throw a baseball with Andrew in the front yard. Over a seven-month span, life of the Bulldogs’ head coach might not be as frantic.

They’ll make a short drive down to Lake Oconee during the summers and spend quality time on the boat. A exotic Spring Break trip has become a ritual within the family. The Smarts went to Puerto Rico this past spring, then to St. Lucia in 2018.

Sometimes they’re found with a deck of cards on a relaxed night. Spades is the game of choice. Julia teams up with Kirby while Weston partners with Mary Beth. Andrew, who doesn’t yet understand the game all-too-well, plays either DJ or scorekeeper. But that’s the perfect role for the 7-year-old who is a relentless fireball of energy. The twins, on the other hand, have a more quiet and focused personality.

“We’re more normal than you think,” Mary Beth said.

For the other five months of the year, however, that’s nearly indiscernible. Welcome to the life of a college football family.

Once preseason practices begin in August, the time spent together begins to fade. The Smarts become disjointed for most of the week, and reality whips them in a unique way. Kirby spends endless hours inside the athletic facility. Mondays and Tuesdays are laden with late nights and game preparation. He could arrive home before Mary Beth and the kids on a Wednesday night, but then he takes recruiting calls. Thursday is Kirby’s chance to escape — if even only to blink an eye — at 8 p.m. after his weekly radio show.

The ideal Thursday night pastime is to sit down with Andrew to watch about a quarter of Thursday Night Football. They especially enjoy it if Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, Roquan Smith or Mecole Hardman suits up for his respective NFL team.

Otherwise, it’s keeping up from afar. Each of the children are on different basketball teams, and Weston plays tennis on a year-round basis. Kirby doesn’t get to attend often, so he checks in on them at every given chance. Even at the most-peculiar of times: running into Julia while jogging off of the field at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“You can’t take things personally. The kids and I know that we’re all very important to him,” Mary Beth said. “He’s very good at showing us that through his words and actions.”

One of the most-thrilling moments comes after an afternoon home game — 3:30 is perfect. They are glued to their seats (hoping for a Georgia win), love on Kirby at midfield and ask him, “How can we get home as fast as we can?”

A postgame pot of chili or some late-night Krystals await a reunited family to celebrate.

LIFE OF THE COACH’S WIFE

Once the sun set on Saturday, Oct. 26, the Smarts found themselves in a rare spot: Georgia didn’t have a game. The three children had a Halloween party to attend with friends. Kirby and Mary Beth had the chance to spend time alone during the middle of an SEC slate.

That meant date night.

“All right, let’s go to dinner,” Kirby said, as recalled by his wife. “We have to go where there’s a TV.”

They ventured out to LRG Provisions, because the ranked showdown between Auburn and LSU couldn’t be missed by the fourth-year coach who will now face them both this season. They sat at the bar, watched the game together and cemented another great memory between the two of them.

Other than bye weeks, that’s the extent of one-on-one time from August to January. Mary Beth has to flex her independence on most other occasions. Their interactions come on those brief family-wide gatherings on weeknights. She might run by Kirby’s office inside Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall to drop off lunch, or they’ll periodically call or exchange text messages throughout the work week.

“It has to be quality time,” Kirby said. “It has to be quality over quantity.”

Luckily for Mary Beth, she’s independent by nature. She brushes off her duties as “just like any mom,” but they’re slightly amplified. Each morning, Mary Beth prepares the kids for a school day then returns for a list of her own responsibilities — exercising, managing the Kirby Smart Family Foundation and handling ticket requests. Then, it’s picking up the children and hassling with the logistics of practices, homework and activities.

She carpools with parents, and has a babysitter to assist at times. Mary Beth takes it in stride, but sometimes Kirby’s lengthy absences lead to those random lonely Tuesday nights once her kids are sound asleep. There have been times where his presence has been urgently needed, too, such as Linda’s passing. During that time, however, Alabama was between games against Texas A&M and LSU and Kirby could only bring limited companionship.

“He has to be glued to (coaching),” Mary Beth said. “That’s what makes him so good at it. If you don’t, you don’t stay very long.”

In each of those moments, however, Mary Beth leaned on her role models — other coach’s wives — for support. She also knew something: Kirby had undeniable purpose.

“That’s why I do this,” Kirby said. “I do it for my kids and my wife.”

LOVING ON THE LARGER FAMILY

Mary Beth and the three Smart children don’t go on the field unless they’re certain Georgia will win. They missed the chance against Florida. They narrowly made it down at Auburn as the game-clinching sack came in the waning seconds.

Once they hit the turf, each of the Smarts spread out in search of their loved ones. Mary Beth obviously finds her husband for a congratulatory embrace. Julia might search for J.R. Reed, Weston goes to find Richard LeCounte and Andrew hunts down his favorite freshman — which at this moment is Lewis Cine, but that changes frequently.

Weston and Julia are old enough to understand that Georgia players probably don’t want to be bothered much, but Andrew is a different story. He’s the star of the show. He’s the one who makes public appearances riding atop Brian Herrien’s shoulder. He chaotically sprints around the field with players after a win to celebrate, simply because he can’t define the word shy.

“Andrew’s just all over the place. He’s very hyper,” linebacker Monty Rice said. “A fun kid to be around. When he’s celebrating, we’re celebrating.”

Once exuberance settles, a significant moment followed. Andrew walked through the visitor’s tunnel in locked arms with his father after Georgia sealed its 21-14 win over Auburn to a chorus of “KIR-BY, KIR-BY” chants.

“It is the cherry on top,” Mary Beth said. “We know the stress he’s under. That moment makes it all worth it.”

Some of the players have built relationships with Andrew, Julia and Weston. Some memories — mostly with Andrew — are unforgettable. After the aforementioned Auburn game, senior receiver Tyler Simmons gave Andrew a bag of Now and Later candies. (Actually, Simmons had them stolen.) Andrew repays the act of gratitude by pouring them over Simmons’ head and punching him.

Reed remembers the first day he arrived at Georgia and met the family. He cherishes getting to see the younger trio of Smarts grow up. They’re around on recruiting events, during road trips and other team-wide functions. Kirby serves as the players’ father figure, but it extends beyond the head coach and includes an entire new family to lean on. And celebrate with.

“We’re going to turn up, jump around and do everything with them,” cornerback Eric Stokes said. “They’re our family.”

BEING BACK HOME

Julia awaited the start of her father’s biggest game inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Georgia and Alabama were readying to square off for the national title on Jan. 8, 2017. She was born in Tuscaloosa, so only knew “Roll Tide” for the longest time. She sat in her seat, heard the “Alabama Yea” fight song by the Million Dollar Band and had to resist.

“I have to keep myself from singing that,” Mary Beth recalled Julia saying as all of the crimson-clad memories returned.

“Don’t listen!” Mary Beth replied.

The Smarts spent eight years at Alabama. Kirby emerged as arguably the nation’s premier coordinator under legendary coach Nick Saban who won his share of national titles. Once the time came for Kirby to move up the coaching ladder, he waited for a good job.

The perception is that he stayed at Alabama until Georgia called, but Mary Beth assures that’s not the case. When the moment came after the firing of Mark Richt in 2015, however, Georgia became hard to resist. Kirby played Bulldog football from 1995-98 while Mary Beth became a well-known Lady Bulldog from 2000-03. They took the dream job.

“The timing worked out perfect,” Mary Beth said. “God has a plan, and there’s no bigger believer in that than we are.”

Kirby doesn’t take time to reflect upon it much during the season, because his thoughts center around “Where can I go further?” in order to take Georgia to a different spot. Mary Beth, however, thinks about it frequently. She’s in amazement of being in such close proximity to family and friends, because most of their coaching colleagues don’t have such a luxury. The thought of seeing her kids grow up together with their cousins is “priceless,” Mary Beth said.

As they sit around the table Thursday with some cornbread dressing and a gathering of family, the Smarts have something to be thankful for each year.

Home. At the place where it all began.

“Never in our wildest dreams did we think to end up here,” Mary Beth said. “It’s almost too good to be true.”

This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 11:53 AM.