Kirby Smart

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Kirby Smart was born December 23, 1975 in Montgomery, Alabama. Kirby Smart is the defensive coordinator for the University of Alabama.

The son of a coach himself, Kirby Smart started his football career playing High School ball with the Bainbridge High School (Georgia) Bearcats. He then moved on to play defensive back for the University of Georgia Bulldogs. As a senior, he was a first-team All-SEC pick. He finished his career with 13 interceptions, which is currently fourth on the all-time Georgia ranks. He was also a member of the Lambda chapter of Pi Kappa Phi and a four-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll.

Kirby Smart  began his coaching career with the University of Georgia in 1999, serving one season as an administrative assistant. He then moved to Valdosta State where he spent two seasons as defensive backs coach then being promoted to defensive coordinator in the 2001 season. Between the 2002–2003 football season, Smart was a graduate assistant under Bobby Bowden at Florida State. Smart spent one season in 2004 under LSU head coach Nick Saban. Smart then moved back to the Georgia Bulldogs football program as he served as the team's running backs coach for the 2005 season. His only season in the NFL occurred in 2006 in which he served under Nick Saban again, this time as Miami's safeties coach.

In January 2007, Kirby Smart  once again followed Nick Saban after Saban was named the head football coach at the University of Alabama. On January 9, Saban named Smart as an assistant coach. On February 27, 2008, Smart was promoted to the team's defensive coordinator.

On December 8, 2009, Kirby Smart  was awarded the Broyles Award for the nation's best assistant coach. He is the first Alabama assistant coach to win the award.

Kirby Smart  considered a lucrative contract to be the defensive coordinator at his alma mater, the University of Georgia, but chose to stay with the Tide in early January 2010. On February 2, 2010, the University of Alabama System's Board Of Trustees voted to more than double Smart's salary and extend his contract a year making Smart the highest-paid football assistant on head coach Nick Saban's staff.