Sonny Smart, father of Georgia football coach Kirby Smart, died Saturday, the University of Georgia announced.
Sonny Smart fell and fractured his hip on New Year’s Eve in New Orleans, where he was visiting for the Bulldogs’ Sugar Bowl game against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff. He suffered complications after surgery. He was 76.
“The Smart family treasures everyone’s thoughts and prayers and now prays for God’s comfort, strength and guidance,” said the UGA press release. Sonny and his wife, Sharon, have three children: Karl, Kirby and Kendall.
Sonny Smart was a longtime high school football coach, including for seven seasons at Bainbridge High School in South Georgia and nine seasons at Rabun County High School in northeast Georgia. Growing up, Kirby Smart often spent time at the football field with his dad and played for him at Bainbridge High before starring at UGA as a defensive back.
“A lot of times I would come home and he would ask me things about what happened on the field that guys that I had playing had no clue to ask,” Sonny Smart said in 2015 when UGA hired Kirby Smart as coach. “I knew then that he had a real understanding of what was going on.”
Sonny Smart grew up in Columbia, Alabama, near the Georgia state line. He played football at Samford, a university near Birmingham where both he and Sharon graduated. The Smarts frequently attended Georgia football games, often seen on the field at Sanford Stadium after games. They were unable to attend Georgia’s national championship win versus TCU in Los Angeles in 2023 while Sonny recovered from undisclosed medical issues.
“Nothing worse than watching your parents grow old,” Kirby Smart said before the game. “It’s like taxes — it’s inevitable. They’re going to get old. And that’s been tough.”
Gov. Brian Kemp, in a social media post Saturday on X, called Sonny Smart an “incredible father and husband and a great coach in his own right.
“Sonny embodied the values and strength that we should all wish to have.”
University of Georgia President Jere Morehead and director of athletics Josh Brooks issued a joint statement on Saturday: “The entire University of Georgia community expresses our deepest sympathy to the Smart family following the passing of Sonny Smart. He and his wife Sharon have been a constant and supportive part of our Bulldog community, and we will miss Sonny’s faithful presence on the sidelines of UGA football games. We are holding the Smart family in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.”
» Read and sign the online guestbook for Sonny Smart
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