Kirby Smart set to receive major honor leaving a legacy that traces back to his father Sonny Smart

Back in 1993, Smart starred for his father, Sonny Smart, on a Bainbridge High School football team that reached the Class 4A semifinals and a Region 1 title. Smart led the region in interceptions during his junior and senior seasons with eight. He was also named the Region 1-AAAA Defensive Player of the Year and earned first-team All-State honors in 1993.

Kirby Smart is continuing to leave a legacy his dad would be proud of

Smart lost his first coach and father, Sonny, earlier this year. If not for his passing, Sonny would be right there beside him to share in this honor.

Smart opened up back in May about his father's sudden death that happened two days after Georgia's 2024-25 season came to an end.

“Yeah, it was one of the toughest times of my life. And if it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get through it,” Smart the Paul Finebaum Show. “But I know how he would have handled it, and I know how he would have wanted things handled. And our family, my mom, my brother and sister, all did the things that he wanted done, and he kind of went the way he wanted to go, and peacefully.”

Smart went on to say he did a lot for families during his high school coaching days in the states of Alabama and Georgia.

“We miss him. We miss him often. My mom misses him, but he did a lot for a lot of families,” Smart said. “He was a great high school coach in the state. He was a great high school coach in the state of Alabama. But I am who I am because of him, and I miss him often, but I’m also proud of the legacy he left."

And while Smart claimed he learned a lot of his great coaching techniques from Nick Saban, he emphasized that he learned how to be a great man from his great father.

“I learned a lot from my dad in terms of being a father and being a leader of men, and the example he set for us," Smart said. "He was a Christian man, a deacon in the church growing up. He stayed involved in the church. He led by example, and I think that’s what high school coaches do."