The Tuscaloosa News was the first media outlet to report that Georgia had an offer on the table for Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart to assume the same role in Athens.
In their report, the News stated that Smart had a written contract in hand from UGA, a deal that contained annual salaries well in excess of what he’s currently making at with the Tide.
Thanks to Gentry Estes of the Mobile Press-Register, we now have a better understanding of just “well in excess” may mean in this case.
According to Estes, and citing multiple sources, UGA could be willing to pay Smart at least double his yearly salary if he makes the move across SEC divisional lines. Since Smart made around $370,000 in 2009, UGA is apparently willing to pay the 34-year-old assistant somewhere in the neighborhood of three-quarters of a million dollars annually to run their defense.
Such an agreement would make Smart the third-highest paid defensive coordinator in the country, behind Tennessee’s Monte Kiffin ($1.2 million in ’09) and Texas’ Will Muschamp ($900,000).
So, when you add the financials to Smart’s Georgia ties — he was a defensive back for the Bulldogs from 1995-1998 — it’s very easy to see why he might have an interest in leaving a school that just brought home the crystal less than a week ago.
Not to mention the fact that, as pointed out by several readers, the school he might be headed to could very well be in the market for a new head coach following the 2010 season.
