Once upon a time, there was an overachiever young man who started his football journey at Georgia as a defensive back. We are talking about Kirby Smart, who shares strong ties with the Georgia campus, as he used to play on the same field. As a first-team All-SEC pick during his senior year, Kirby Smart completed his NFL career with 13 interceptions, and that record still stands at the sixth position in UGA annals. On top of that, Smart has contributed to the Bulldogs with six interceptions during the 1997 season and five interceptions for the next year’s season.

Afterward, he worked with famous programs like Florida State and LSU and collaborated with the Miami Dolphins NFL team. Following this, he joined as a defensive coordinator at Alabama for nine long years, and during his tenure, Alabama saw heights of success. Finally, when he joined the Georgia campus on December 6th, 2015, he never looked back, and the Bulldogs’s success skyrocketed. However, there must be numerous fans of him, but his wife, Mary Beth says, “I’m his number one fan. I see what he does behind the scenes, the sacrifices, and how he works.”

Mary Beth Lycett Smart was born and raised in Georgia by her parents, Paul Lycett and the late Linda Lycett. Her father has worked for the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. Back in her days, Mary Smart’s mom was a teacher and used to teach English to the specially-abled kids in Clayton County. While Mary was studying in the seventh and eighth grades, her mom used to teach her at Adamson Middle School. Although Mary Beth was quite close to her mom, their happiness could not last longer as breast cancer took her mom away at the age of 62.

Smart family on and off the field

On the work front, she started her basketball career at Morrow High School in Georgia. After learning the basics of the game, she went to the University of Georgia for her collegiate journey. By looking at her skills on the court, she was named Miss Georgia Basketball in 1999. At the time of her flourishing playing days, she showcased her talent by emerging as Academic All-SEC multiple times. Mary Beth played an important role and contributed to the team’s success, which led her to be called the MVP of the team.

Apart from her basketball career, if we talk about her personal life and how she met her husband, well, that too happened on the campus of Georgia. However, despite being at the same school, they never met during their early days; it happened later, dating back to 2005, when Kirby Smart was working as a running backs coach for Georgia and Mary Beth used to work in the athletic association office. After dating for some time together, they tied the knot in 2006 at St. Methodist Church. 

After getting married, the two of them became each other’s biggest supporters and even ran the Kirby Smart Family Foundation together. The motto of their foundation is to help the families of children living in Georgia who need help. Along with continuing a noble cause together, Mary Beth also continued walking on her athletic journey by playing tennis and participating in the Chicago marathon. The Smart family is a family of five, including their elder twins Weston Smart and Julia Smart, a boy and a girl, and their baby brother Andrew Smart. Like father, like children, Weston Smart is seeking his way in tennis and golf, while Julia is a swimmer and a soccer player. However, the youngest Andrew loves to play football, just like his dad.

At home, Kirby Smart is a loving husband and a caring father, while at work, Georgia’s players consider him like a father figure. However, there had been a little speculation going on about Smart moving to Texas A&M, but Smart has put a stop to these rumors by leading the Bulldogs to consecutive victories in 2021 and 2022. Looking at his collab with the team, his chances of leaving Georgia are very low, and he will remain a dominant presence in college football and at Georgia for years to come.