Before Andrew Smart ever takes a varsity snap, the buzz around him is already loud.
The Athens Academy freshman stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 191 pounds, which makes him look well beyond the usual first-year student. He has already picked up three reported college offers, one of them from Georgia Tech, Georgia’s in-state rival. And, of course, he carries a last name that turns heads in this state without much effort at all.
Smart is the son of Georgia coach Kirby Smart, and that alone has pushed him into the spotlight before his high school career has even started. His throwing videos are already making the rounds online, and the attention has arrived fast.
Athens Academy opens its season Friday night at home at 7 p.m., and Andrew’s role remains undecided. Whether he starts, comes in for specific situations, or spends time adjusting to varsity pace is a call that belongs to head coach Josh Alexander.
That decision may matter more than the offers right now.
The easy version of this story is the one people are already telling: the size, the arm, the recruiting interest, the father coaching a national title contender. It’s the kind of buildup most high school seniors would love to have, and Smart is getting it before his first game.
But the more interesting part is what this season actually looks like for a ninth-grader who is already carrying recruiting attention and public expectations before the team has even played a down. Most freshmen are still worrying about ordinary things - hallways, cafeterias, trash duty - while Smart is dealing with a very different kind of noise.
Kirby Smart has already put that in perspective. “He's got a long way to go,” the coach said at SEC media days when asked about his son.
That may be the clearest line in all of this. The offers are real, the hype is real, and the spotlight is already on. Still, the bigger question is how much of the 14-year-old part of Andrew Smart’s story he gets to keep while all of that is happening.
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Former Georgia Stars Got An Early NFL Reality Check
Zachariah Branch and Oscar Delp got their first taste of NFL preseason action this week, and the early returns offered a reminder that the jump from Georgia to the league is never a straight line. Branch, now with the Falcons, touched the ball a few times as a receiver, runner and punt returner, while Delp began his Saints career with a little more volume and even found the end zone.
Still, neither debut was the kind that settles anything for the long haul. Branchs stat line was modest, and Delp mixed his touchdown with several drops, the sort of uneven opening that can happen when young players are learning the speed and margin for error at this level. It is still August, after all, and both former Bulldogs have time to settle in as the regular season approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Is Taking A Different Path In College Footballs Spending Race
The post-House settlement spending race has pushed college football into a new era, and Georgia has kept pace in its own way. The Bulldogs roster is now valued near $40 million, a figure driven in part by top players such as quarterback Gunner Stockton, yet the program still sits in a second tier behind the biggest spenders like Miami and Ohio State. In Athens, the message from the coaching staff and athletic director has been consistent: money is available, but the way it is deployed reflects a larger internal approach.
Georgias position makes this a little different from the arms race narrative that now hangs over the sport. The Bulldogs are not operating with a financial ceiling so much as a philosophy, one that shapes how they build and manage the roster even as spending keeps rising everywhere else. For a program accustomed to competing at the top, the interesting question is not whether it can spend more, but how far it wants to go in chasing the sports most aggressive model. [Read more 🡒]