BATON ROUGE — Kirby Smart, who served as a defensive assistant the last two years at Florida State, has been named LSU’s defensive backs coach, head coach Nick Saban announced on Thursday.
“First of all, it’s an honor to even be considered for a coaching position here at LSU,” Smart said on Thursday. “Coach Saban is known as one of the best defensive coaches in all of football and to be able to coach alongside him and learn from him is something special.”
Smart, a 1998 graduate of Georgia, worked primarily with the defensive backs for the Seminoles serving as a graduate assistant in both 2002 and 2003. Prior to that, Smart spent the 2001 season as the defensive coordinator at Valdosta State and the 2000 season as the defensive backs coach for the Blazers.
Smart’s 2001 defense at Valdosta State ranked second in the nation in scoring as the Blazers posted a perfect 11-0 mark during the regular season.
“Kirby is one of the brightest young coaches that I’ve had the opportunity to meet,” Saban said. “He comes highly recommended from the coaches at Florida State and he brings a great deal of enthusiasm and defensive knowledge to our staff.
“I’m very impressed with what Kirby will bring to our organization in terms of character, his ability to recruit as well as that of helping our players develop both on and off the field.”
Smart was a four-year football letterwinner for Georgia from 1995-98 earning First Team All-Southeastern Conference honors as a defensive back in 1998 and second team honors in 1997. Smart, who was Georgia’s team captain as a senior, led the Bulldogs in interceptions over his last two years with six in 1997 and five in 1998. He still ranks among Georgia’s all-time leaders in interceptions with 13.
Smart played on the same Georgia team as two current Tiger assistants in defensive coordinator Will Muschamp and defensive line coach Travis Jones. Smart and Muschamp also coached together for one year at Valdosta State.
Upon his graduation from Georgia, Smart signed a free agent contract with the Indianapolis Colts, spending the 1999 preseason with the NFL team. Smart began his coaching career as an administrative assistant at Georgia in the fall of 1999, before moving to Valdosta State in 2000.
Smart, a native of Brainbridge, Ga., graduated from Georgia with a 3.5 grade point average in finance. He was a four-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll as well as earning Second Team Academic All-America honors in 1998. Smart, 28, is single.
The Kirby Smart File
Name: Kirby Paul Smart
Birthdate: Dec. 23, 1975 in Bainbridge, Ga.
High School: Bainbridge (Ga.) High School, ’94
College: Georgia, ’98
Coaching Experience
1999 Georgia (administrative assistant)
2000-01 Valdosta State (defensive backs, 2000; defensive coordinator, 2001)
2002-03 Florida State (graduate assistant)
2004 LSU (defensive backs)
Transactions:
LSU – Named Kirby Smart defensive backs coach.