Why Kirby Smart’s Dad Was Hospitalized Before Georgia-Notre Dame

Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart is in New Orleans, Louisiana, looking to capture his third national championship as UGA takes on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.

The Sugar Bowl, which was originally scheduled to be played on New Year's Day at 8:45 p.m. ET, was rescheduled to Thursday at 4:00 p.m. ET following the attack that took place on Bourbon Street in the early hours of the new year.

In an accident unrelated to the tragedy, Smart's father, Sonny Smart, had to be hospitalized on New Year's Eve after suffering a fall at his New Orleans hotel. According to UGASports.com's Radi Nabulsi, Sonny Smart is expected to have hip surgery.

Sonny Smart was in New Orleans to attend the Sugar Bowl, a game that Georgia entered as a one-point underdog (ESPN BET). A win for the Bulldogs on Thursday will move them to the College Football Playoff semifinals, where they would play the Penn State Nittany Lions for a spot in the national championship game.

In January 2023, Kirby Smart revealed that his parents would not be present for the Bulldogs national title game against the TCU Horned Frogs, a game that Georgia won 65-7, due to medical issues.

“It hurts me that he and my mom won’t be here, but I know it’s the right decision for him,” Kirby Smart said at the time. “He’s been at almost every (game), in terms of home game in Athens and playoff games. It’s tough that he’s not able to make it.”

Kirby Smart often speaks of his father, who played college football at Samford University in the late 1960s. 

“I give a lot of credit to my father, who was my first coach,” Kirby Smart said last year. “And I grew up under his tutelage, and he meant a lot to me as a coach.”