Kirby Smart frustrated with Georgia being “millennial player-led,” will volunteer to confront players himself

Georgia scored on its first five possessions, led #22 Missouri 31-0 midway through the second quarter and cruised to a 48-21 win at Sanford Stadium on Saturday.

Kirby Smart still found plenty to be mad about, and that should come as no surprise when you factor in the Saban coaching tree he is a direct branch off from.

The final stretch of the first half got away from the Bulldogs. Missouri put together a long touchdown drive, Georgia’s offense went three-and-out on back-to-back possessions and a mishit punt piled on, turning a 31-0 game into a 31-7 halftime score. 

Smart said afterward the defense had one of its worst drives of the season and that his team didn’t make good decisions heading into the break.

Smart was asked after the game whether his sideline frustration helps his team become player-led - a goal all coaches share.

“I don’t know if that helps them be player-led. The players need to do it."

"Like I said, this team is player led. The player-led version I’m seeing now is like a millennial player-led. Ten years ago, it would have been player-led, I wouldn’t have had to.”

He added, “I don’t think in this day and age more kids want to confront and demand each other. If they are not willing to, I’ll volunteer.”

Confront and demand was a staple of Nick Saban's process at each stop, most notably at Alabama.

For the record, his roster is Gen Z, not millennials. Regardless, everybody in the room knew what he meant.

Smart has been preaching this for years. At SEC Media Days in July 2025, he famously said, “People don’t want to confront and demand anymore for fear of losing a player,” and added that he’d rather “go get the right player that buys into that and then I’ve got something special when they do develop.” 

Smart is in his 11th season in Athens. Before that he spent eight years as Nick Saban’s defensive coordinator at Alabama, from 2008 to 2015. He won back-to-back national titles in 2021 and 2022. Last season’s team went 12-2, won the SEC and lost to Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.

This year’s group is 9-1 overall and 7-1 in the SEC, and sits at #1 in the CFP rankings. A month ago, Georgia climbed to #1 for the first time this season and promptly lost at home to an unranked Auburn team. 

Since then, the Bulldogs have beaten Florida, Ole Miss and Missouri by a combined 117-36, per the Associated Press. After the 42-7 win in Oxford, Smart noted to reporters his team was “a week away from humility.”

Next up is a trip to #20 South Carolina on Saturday, November 21. A win clinches a spot in the final SEC Championship Game on December 5.

If the most talented roster in the country needs its head coach to supply the confrontation, the rest of us can’t assume our captains will do it on their own. Leadership has to be coached like a pass set. Give your leaders the language, put them in situations where they have to use it in practice, and back them up when they do.

And if they won’t, there’s always the Kirby Smart method.

Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.