Kirby Smart says Vols RB Dylan Sampson reminds him of an all-time Tennessee great

Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart was extremely complimentary of Tennessee Vols running back Dylan Sampson this week. 

Sampson is having a terrific year for the Vols, rushing for 1,129 yards and 20 touchdowns through the first nine games of the season. 

Smart told reporters on Tuesday that he thinks Sampson is an "elite runner". He also said that Sampson reminds him of former Tennessee running back Alvin Kamara. 

"He is an elite runner," said Smart when asked about Sampson. "The runs they run are sometimes nontraditional. They run some runs that other people don’t run because of the space in the box. He’s very patient. He hits small creases. He’s hard to tackle. I mean, you don’t put up how many touchdowns he’s got in the SEC, 20-something? I mean, that’s crazy. In the SEC? The SEC’s the hardest league in the world to run the ball in, because they’ve got the most (big) sized defensive linemen. And he continues to do it at a crazy pace to me."

"And I know where he’s from, in Louisiana, they do nothing but have great backs from there," added Smart. "He reminds me so much of his run skill set of Kamara, of Alvin. He’s very smooth and elusive.”

Smart coached against Kamara a couple of times. First in 2015 when Smart was the defensive coordinator at Alabama and again in 2016 during his first season as the head coach at Georgia (Kamara totaled 65 yards on nine touches against Alabama in 2015 and he totaled 88 yards and a touchdown against Georgia in 2016).

Sampson has certainly earned the right to be mentioned alongside Kamara with the way he's played for the Volunteers in 2024.