Kirby Smart continues to receive alarming news. Georgia is heading into another uncertain season in 2025. Since their last championship win in 2022, the Bulldogs have been chasing another national championship title. They came so close this past season only to get a rude awakening in the CFP quarterfinals. That defeat was a major setback. To add to that concern, roster gaps are emerging particularly in the RB room. And now, Smart bears the pressure to bring the Dawgs back to their former glory. If not, it could spell big trouble in Athens. 

Pat Forde and Ross Dellenger joined Dan Wetzel in a new episode on Yahoo! Sports to paint a grim picture of Kirby Smart’s current situation. “This past year was pretty messy,” Forde put it bluntly. “You get beaten in the playoffs by Notre Dame and so, just between the off-the-field stuff and a slight slippage from the heyday of 2021 and 2022, I just think there’s enough people out there saying ‘Kirby, what are we doing?’… You don’t want to keep, I guess, sliding back from your high point even though that high point was ridiculously high.” 

Since taking over the program in 2016, Kirby Smart has built Georgia into a powerhouse with two notable back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022. It was the second 65-7 victory over TCU that set the margin of the largest CFP win ever! Like Forde said, it’s a ridiculous high point, something that might not be emulated. And to make that even more memorable, the Bulldogs hadn’t won a natty since 1980. Despite dominating the 2024 season and winning the SEC Championship against Texas, they failed in the hands of Alabama and Ole Miss in the regular season. 

Ross Dellenger echoed Forde’s stance and he attributes this to the new NIL era. “It’s funny we’re talking about Alabama and Georgia having kind of slipped a little bit,” he said. “I don’t think it’s coincidental that the two programs have maybe taken a step backward a little bit in the NIL era.” The NIL landscape has created a more level playing field, allowing more programs to compete at the highest level, potentially limiting the Bulldogs’ ability to maintain dominance. 

Now, programs with strong donor collectives and lucrative NIL deals have lured top recruits away from traditional powerhouses like how Carson Beck was swayed to Miami for a whopping $10M in NIL deals. This only brings more concern as Smart receives more upsetting news in his RB room. 

Will Kirby Smart address the RB depth issues?

Georgia’s new crisis heading into 2025 is the lack of depth behind their star RB Nate Frazier. The sophomore racked up 671 yards and eight TDs on 133 carries in his freshman season, showing promise. But the lack of a solid RB2 is a real cause for concern. A Dawgs insider remarked, “If I’m Kirby Smart, I am wrapping Nate Frazier up in a bubble wrap for the next six months because right now if that guy goes down, the Georgia Bulldogs are in serious, serious trouble at running back.” 

A trip down history will show that Georgia thrived with a formidable RB duo in the backfield. Think Zamir White and James Cook in 2021 who led them to a national title. But right now, Frazier is carrying the load alone with Trevor Etienne declaring for the NFL. And that’s a risky game. Key RBs like Branson Robinson and Roderick Robinson will return but they both suffered injuries in 2024 and will be working on getting healthy. If Georgia can’t find a reliable RB2, Kirby Smart’s squad will be walking a fine line between title contention and disaster. 

Kirby Smart has been here before. But this time, the challenges are adding up. Between roster gaps, NIL battles, and rising competition, Georgia’s 2025 season could go one of the two ways — redemption or disaster.