Kirby Smart has basically taken his former boss Nick Saban’s famous “The Process” and turned it into a high-speed assembly line for the NFL since 2019. In Athens, they are basically running a pro-style internship that prepares kids for the big leagues long before they get drafted. That level of structure had the Ravens’ GM tipping his hat to Saban’s protégé and handing out serious respect.
“I mean, they love football. They’re talented, but they love the game. They play hard,” Ravens GM Eric DeCosta said when asked about his trip to Athens and what he loves about the Bulldogs during the combine. “It’s important to them, and they know what it takes when they get to the NFL.”
He doubled down: “The acclimation is going to be easier for them because they’ve essentially been in a program that has a lot of demands on them and has run like an NFL pro.”
DeCosta basically said the Georgia Bulldogs are the 33rd NFL team. Just like how NBA players love to go to Cancun after their season ends, NFL GMs head to Athens as one of their first and primary locations to spot a talent or two. The reason? “The Process.”
At its core, this success stems from Smart’s obsession with micro-level details. Following Saban’s blueprint, he teaches his players to ignore the hype and the scoreboard. Instead, they focus on winning the next five minutes of the play. Kirby Smart and his group of staff have a reputation for diabolical practices that go toe-to-toe with NFL-level practices.
Ravens General Manager Eric DeCosta tells @ZachKleinWSB players coming from Georgia love football and have a shorter acclimation period since they’re coming from a team run like an NFL program. #NFLcombine #godawgs pic.twitter.com/DApED6slo1
— Alison Mastrangelo (@AlisonWSB) February 25, 2026
Every season, you can witness a couple of university players share stories of Kirby Smart crashing out on his players from inside the training facility. No wonder they have had a plethora of first-rounders in the last eight years. To run his system and keep players intact, Smart got massive infrastructure of over 60 support staff members who keeps tabs and monitor everything from a player’s nutrition to their recovery and film study.
To keep the team from getting complacent, Smart is constantly at war with what he calls the “disease of entitlement.” He uses a strict “24-hour rule” where players can celebrate a victory for one day before it’s wiped from the slate. Furthermore, Georgia is notorious for having practices that are significantly harder than actual games.
By the time Saturday rolls around, the players feel a sense of relief because the hardest work of the week, the grueling “compete periods” and physical drills is already behind them. Saturday is just execution day.
The sheer volume of talent exiting Athens is staggering. With 13 players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft alone, Georgia has established a pipeline that rivals the peak Saban years at Alabama. Kirby Smart has taken the Saban blueprint and scaled it, proving that “The Process” is the most effective way to turn talented teenagers into the next generation of NFL stars. What’s even more amusing is that Kirby Smart is as good a stand-up comedian as he is a coach, or maybe even better, much better.
Kirby Smart Steals the Show with Cristobal Jab
When football coaches gather, there is often some playful trash talk because they have very competitive mindsets and always want to win. Earlier this week at the Steve Spurrier Awards, Kirby and Miami’s Mario Cristobal had a little back-and-forth exchange.
Smart made a joke about Cristobal taking players from other teams, referring to Miami signing former Duke quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Cooper Barkate. He said, “Gotta be careful around Mario. Sometimes he’ll take your players if you know what I mean.”
He didn’t stop there and also teased Cristobal about his record in the ACC. Smart shared, “(Cristobal) came up to me. He’s like, ‘You’ve got to start getting some protein shakes in — you’ve had too many carbs.’”
Smart responded by comparing Cristobal to Steve Spurrier, a coach known for winning many conference titles. He said, “So, I told him you’ve got to spend more time around Steve Spurrier because he won more conference championships at Duke than you have at Miami.”
That had the entire room in tears of laughter. Mario doesn’t look like someone who would let this slide like that. It feels like there will be a sequel to this, either at their event or in the playoffs next season.
Related Newsletters
