TAMPA, Fla. — Georgia coach is well-versed in many things.
He’s an expert at motivating football players. He’s a genius at drawing up suffocating defensive schemes. He’s also an enjoyer of the , reminding reporters at SEC media days on Tuesday that he’s a native of Plant City, Florida.
“If you don't know, you don't know,” Smart said. “And if you know, you do know.”
What Smart doesn’t know as well is the definition of certain words.
Like “troll,” which a reporter used to describe LSU coach , a fellow assistant at Alabama from 2014-15 who remains in Smart’s text-messaging group chats.
“People say that all the time. Can you define what a ‘troll’ is for me, please?” Smart quizzed his questioner.
He was told it means Kiffin likes to “stir the pot” and “poke fun” during his in-person and social-media interactions.
“Yep,” Smart deadpanned. “That’s him.”
Kiffin certainly stirred the SEC pot this offseason, jumping from Ole Miss to LSU before the Rebels’ season ended.
He hasn’t posted to social media much lately, which is perhaps a sign the 51-year-old is maturing. But Kiffin did toss a line to Vanity Fair about the difficulties of recruiting Black players to Mississippi, which added fuel to the bridge he left burning behind him.
He’s known at a national level as a chaos agent, but Smart has an understanding of Kiffin that’s a bit more nuanced. He knows Kiffin’s pride as a father of three, including his son Knox, who is now a quarterback at University High in Baton Rouge.
He knows Kiffin’s love for his late father, Monte, the legendary Bucs defensive coordinator who was just as revered for the relationships he built as the plays he called.
Kiffin often brings up a text message he received from one of his dad’s best players, Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks, who still had Monte on his mind all these years later.
“You gotta have a group to share that with to get your self-worth and your motivation. I think him, sharing those things, reminds me a lot of times of my dad,” Smart said. “You want somebody to appreciate what your dad did. You don't have him to share that with.”
Kiffin has put together quite a career himself. He was fired by both the Raiders and Southern Cal before he revived his career as an Alabama assistant, climbing the ladder as a head coach again with Florida Atlantic and then Ole Miss.
Smart respects Kiffin because he not only helped Nick Saban win national titles but also pushed an old-school coach to rethink his offensive philosophies.
“He made coach Saban uncomfortable,” Smart said. “Let's just say what it is: He helped revolutionize that offense and bring it along and (do) some really good things in a day and age when people weren't doing them. But he does a great job. He's hard to play.”
Smart doesn’t think Kiffin gets enough credit for the team he built around Jaxson Dart, who amassed 10,000-plus passing yards with Ole Miss after transferring in from Southern Cal. He became a first-round pick of the Giants in 2025.
Kiffin just built a playoff team led by former Ferris State quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who threw for 3,937 yards and 22 scores last season.
“This guy (Chambliss) was not even spoken about at this time last year. Nobody knew who he was and he got his opportunity by way of injury. What if he didn’t?” Smart said. “He’s made players successful in his system just as easy as the players can make him successful.”
Smart will have to face Ole Miss and Chambliss this season, but he won’t game-plan against Kiffin unless LSU and Georgia match up in an SEC title game or the College Football Playoff.
But this week offered an opportunity for some verbal jabs to be thrown.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel joked Knoxville should load up with golf balls and mustard bottles for Kiffin, who left for Southern Cal after just one season coaching the Volunteers and had those items tossed at him during a 2021 return to Neyland Stadium as the Ole Miss coach.
Smart called Kiffin, who has become a hot yoga aficionado in recent years, “the Adonis of college football coaches” because of his increasingly toned physique. In self-deprecating fashion, Smart said his own appearance could be compared to a troll.
And yes, Kiffin could be described as one, just in a different sense.
“But he is very bright,” Smart said. “He does an incredible job of evolving college football.”