Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart fired off a message to fans on Saturday following the team’s 31-13 win over Auburn.
“If anything, to be honest, I’m probably disappointed in our fans for the first time,” Smart told Fox 5’s D.J. Shockley in a one-on-onee interview after the game. “I thought there was a lack of really affecting the game crowd-noise wise, passion and energy. Hey, it was hot, but our players got full pads on, helmets, pads and it’s hot there. They’re pushing trying to have a home-field advantage like we’ve had when we’ve played against teams and I can’t get crowd noise. That’s frustrating for me.
“I’ll just be honest about it. I think we’ve got to do a better job as fans. I know I’ve got to do a better job as a coach, but we need these fans to support us and these players need them behind them.”
Fans didn’t take to Smart’s initial comments very well and he elborated on his overall message some more on Monday after the weekend.
“I said what I said, and I stand on what I said, and feel that it could have been better. But, you know, my job is to coach the football team, and I’m going to do the best I can in my power,” Smart said. “I’ve been in some really good places where there’s times that you create a monster, whether it’s when I was at FSU, when I was at Alabama, and you have to appreciate that and you have to create home-field advantages. We’ve had coaches tell us that come in here and play and say that it was the best environment they played in the entire year, but I didn’t think that was Saturday, and I don’t think I’m the only one that feels that way. My concern is with Mississippi State, not the other. I trust the people that are in charge of it to help. I trust our fans.”
Smart went on to emphasize that he’s not trying to make it an “us against them” situation and stressed the importance of a team effort.
“I’m not like, you’re wanting to make this us against them, Marc. That’s not really what this is about,” Smart said. “We’re a team. We’re a unit, and I think it’s okay to say how you feel and try to pull the family together and pull in the right direction, and you guys want to make it about Kirby said this. We’re a team. We’re a team. Let’s do this together. Let’s help each other, not make it about he said and they said. I’m not into that. We need to all be together. That’s, when I got hired here, It was all about pulling in the same direction, creating an atmosphere that’s hard to play in.
“You win these games at home, and maybe you take it for granted if you win so many games at home, but I know this. It’s hard. These teams are going on the road all across the SEC. You make it hard on them by what you do and what you create, so it’s not about a specific point in time. It’s about us all pulling in the same direction.”
You heard that Bullodgs fans; it’s time to put Sanford Stadium back on the map as one of the loudest and hardest stadiums to play in, starting this Saturday when Georgia hosts Missisippi State.
