kirby smart contract
Kirby Smart’s current Georgia contract is a 10-year, $130 million deal that makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football, with extremely strong guarantees and lucrative performance bonuses.
Contract basics
- Georgia and Kirby Smart agreed to a 10-year contract worth about $130 million , running through the 2033 season.
- The deal pays him roughly $13 million per year , putting him at or near the top of all college coaches in annual salary.
- The contract followed Georgia’s sustained success under Smart, including multiple CFP appearances and national title contention.
Guarantees and buyout
- The contract is fully guaranteed if Smart is fired without cause through the end of 2028, meaning Georgia would owe him 100% of the remaining money in that window.
- From 2029 through 2033, the guarantee reportedly drops to around 85% of the remaining value if he is fired without cause.
- This structure results in one of the largest buyouts in the sport, effectively locking in long‑term security for both Smart and Georgia’s program.
Bonus and incentive structure
- Smart can earn up to about $1.775 million per year in performance bonuses on top of his base compensation.
- College Football Playoff incentives scale with advancement:
- First round appearance: around $250,000.
- Quarterfinals: around $500,000.
- Semifinals: around $750,000.
- A national championship appearance guarantees a big bonus (around $850,000), which increases to roughly $1.25 million if Georgia wins the title.
SEC and other incentives
- Reaching the SEC Championship Game earns Smart an additional bonus (around $100,000), with more if Georgia wins the SEC title (around $200,000 total for a win).
- These incentives reflect Georgia’s expectation that Smart will regularly compete for SEC and national championships.
What happens if Smart leaves?
- If Smart resigns , he owes Georgia a buyout that steps down over time:
- Around $5 million if he leaves by the end of 2026.
- The buyout then gradually decreases (to about $4 million and then down by $1 million per year in later years), reaching roughly $1 million near the end of the deal.
- This structure discourages early departure but becomes more flexible late in the contract as circumstances change.
TL;DR: Kirby Smart’s Georgia contract is a 10-year, $130M, heavily guaranteed deal with one of the biggest buyouts in college football, plus nearly $1.8M a year in CFP/SEC performance bonuses, making it designed to keep him in Athens long term.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.